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OK i have sarge as my default release sources, and i told apt to get mozilla from unstable and i noticed it was getting files from sarge as well, and sid, so maybe that is better? i asked in irc and they still say it is bad, i don't know what to believe
You don't have to download a different disc if you want to run testing or unstable just change your /etc/apt/sources.list to say testing or unstable. Then "apt-get update" "apt-get dist-upgrade".
I think the "Unstable" label gives SID a bad name. I've been running it for two weeks now without a hitch. Well, at least not one related to running SID. But running packages from different branches of a distro? I'd be a little wary about doing that.
It can be a little harder to install packages sometimes because you have the mixed sources. I have only ever used a testing/unstable mix (sometimes with some packages from experimental when I want them as well) for my desktops and it has worked well for about 2 years now. You just have to be a little careful when you do it and always use the -s switch when installing to simulate the action first, so you can see where the packages are coming from. You should also install apt-listbugs and apt-listchanges so you can see the bug reports and the changelogs when using apt. This can save you from getting bitten by some nasty bug that makes it into unstable and the change log sometimes has info on changes to the locations of config files. Also you can end up with some funky install lines sometimes like apt-get install package/testing package1/unstable package3=x.y.z just to satisfy the dependencies but other than that it works well.
Originally posted by nowens well when i want a file from unstable/sid i do like apt-get install foo/unstable
You can also do if you need more than one package from unstable to get the orginal package you wanted installed apt-get -t unstable package package1 package2 ... .
Originally posted by nowens So it'd be alright to mix sources that way?
Yes it works fine here and has for a long while. You just need to be a little careful and watch what apt is going to do with the -s switch as already mentioned. You would want settings like this to do it properly.
The preferences file is used for the pinning so that apt will always take the packages from the testing branches first and you have to go out of your way to install from unstable. The APT::Get::Show-Versions "true"; in the apt.conf will show you the versions of the packages being updated when you are using apt so it makes it easier to see where the packages are coming from.
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