What happens to Etch once Lenny becomes stable?

bspus · 12-05-2008, 11:47 AM

Though nobody will say when, with Lenny frozen for a few months now, it shouldn't be long before it becomes the new stable version.

I have an old (5-6 years) laptop and I was thinking of installing Etch on it, as i don't need it to be running the latest stuff, and Etch will probably be faster on it than Lenny, since it's almost 2 years old

I have no idea though what happens to the repositories of old stable debian versions. If I'm forced to upgrade within a few months I might as well go with Lenny from the start.

How long before the repositories die out (official as well as the multimedia one)?
I don't care about them getting updated, just there when I need them.

rickh · 12-05-2008, 11:53 AM

It becomes "oldstable" and will continue to be supported (with security related upgrades) for another 12-18 months.

Quote:

I might as well go with Lenny from the start.

Yes you should do that, and you will have a release supported for about 3 years.

jlinkels · 12-06-2008, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bspus

and Etch will probably be faster on it than Lenny, since it's almost 2 years old

Not so. Lenny has several speed improvements over Etch. This is not the other OS where each release needs more processor power and memory.

There is also no speed penalty for dist-upgrading versus clean install. Once dist-upgraded the system is as clean as after a new install. There is no registry which get more loaded and slower with each update.

Beware of KDE4 tough, that seems to be a resource hog, but it won't appear in Lenny.

jlinkels

bspus · 12-07-2008, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlinkels

Not so. Lenny has several speed improvements over Etch. This is not the other OS where each release needs more processor power and memory.

There is also no speed penalty for dist-upgrading versus clean install. Once dist-upgraded the system is as clean as after a new install. There is no registry which get more loaded and slower with each update.

Haha, I was not thinking of windows. My linux experience over the last 4 years comes mostly from fedora, which I have found to become ever more bloated with every new release while not getting all that better.

I only tried debian a couple of months ago and wish I had done so sooner. I'll stick with stable though. I put Etch on it now. Once Lenny is stable it will go on the desktop and I'll consider upgrading the laptop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlinkels

Beware of KDE4 tough, that seems to be a resource hog, but it won't appear in Lenny.

Thankfully, I'm a gnome guy

rickh · 12-07-2008, 08:38 AM

Quote:

I don't care about them getting updated, just there when I need them.
...
I'll stick with stable though. I put Etch on it now. Once Lenny is stable it will go on the desktop and I'll consider upgrading the laptop.

You do whatever seems necessary, but Testing is a far superior branch for the average home/hobbyist desktop user. OTOH, if you're not planning on upgrading regularly, you obviously don't much give a damn anyway. No matter what distribution or release you are using, it should get a complete upgrade at least monthly, better weekly.