Brian May writes: > >>>>> "Russell" == Russell Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > Russell> I propose that Debian eliminate the concept of the stable > Russell> vs unstable distributions, and instead have a > Russell> meta-package called "stable". If I say "apt-get upgrade > Russell> stable", that upgrades me to the latest version of > Russell> stable, which of course also fetches all the packages it > Russell> depends on. > > If I understand correctly, you want to be able to: > > apt-get install stable (to install stable) > apt-get install xyz (to install the latest unstable version of xyz) > > the second operation would automatically remove stable - not good...
No, because stable specifies all its dependencies in terms of ">=x.y". For people who want the stable distribution, this always works, because they never install anything that stable doesn't specify. So, they *always* have exactly what's specified in stable. If the latest unstable version of xyz required a package which conflicted with something from stable, and many packages required that something, THEN I might have a problem. But at least I'd know about it. Obviously this requires care with the dependcies. But Debian *already* requires careful specification of dependencies. If the dependencies are so good, why aren't we *really* using them? > Also, what happens if I were to type in: > > apt-get upgrade > > would that automatically replace all packages on my mostly stable > system with unstable packages? No, "apt-get upgrade" is part of the concept that goes away. You'd have to say "apt-get upgrade stable". > Have you looked at the new features in the new version of apt (CVS > version, or has that been released now?). They might already address > the problems you want to fix. I doubt it. It doesn't change the stable/unstable split, does it? -- -russ nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://russnelson.com Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | "This is Unix... 521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | Stop acting so helpless." Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | --Daniel J. Bernstein
