Hi all. I just begin using Linux more intensly and was wonder how I might be able to set up my Debian to update from Etch, but the thing is that I want to also be able to use packages from Sid without actually changing distros.

thanks for input

Stupid idea. Etch is Stable. That means, it will probably die if you try to mix Sid apps with it. Upgrade to Testing, then you'll be able to safely use some Sid apps.

I wouldn't recommend mixing Etch and SID - there are major incompatibilities. If you need new(er) versions of some software, have a look at www.backports.org or else build and install the software yourself. If you know what you're doing you can use some software from SID, but you have to check dependencies yourself. It's a hassle checking dependencies and you may find yourself wasting an awful lot of time.

Yeah but I just want a few packages and I still want to keep it as Etch. Isnt there a safe way? Cant I simply install them if I wanted to?

Well, it's really just a matter of adding repository lines with 'sid' in them and then running "apt-get update" to update the package lists. The system will continue to install only Etch packages; to install a Sid package you have to do something like:

apt-get -t sid install some_package

You've already been warned multiple times that this is not a good idea, so don't ask us how to fix things if you break anything.

One option is to build stuff from Sid from source.

See if the package has already been backported. Take a look at backports.org, etchnhalf, and perhaps volatile sources. If it hasn't, 1) Add a "deb-src ..." line ONLY for sid to your sources.list. 2) apt-get update 3) apt-get install build-essential; apt-get build-dep packagename;apt-get -b source packagename; 4) install the resultant debs

I am sorry, but pinniped is not right here. If you have also sid in your repositories, apt will install the newest version (being sid) of packages, unless your specify -t etch.

You can edit /etc/apt/preferences to make Etch the default version, but without that it is Sid. There is also a way to set the default version in /etc/apt/apt.conf. Check the manuals for the correct syntax.

I doubt whether it is useful to mix Sid and Etch. Usually the dependencies are such that almost all packages from Sid require upgrading of a few hundreds of packages. Essentially you won't be able to run Etch anymore.

jlinkels

Oh no - I must be going senile. Something like APT:efault-Release "etch"; in the apt_preferences file should help (man apt_preferences).

jlinkels is right - my previous post would have had apt asking you to upgrade a few hundred packages.

I am afraid that apt proposes to upgrade a few hundred packages anyway, whether you have set Etch to default or not (thank for speciying the correct syntax, pinniped).

If the package from Sid you want to install for example depends on a new version of libc6, apt wants to upgrade *all* packages using libc6. This is very likeley to happen, since Etch was released such a long time ago. Even with mixing Etch/Lenny would give you this problem.

jlinkels

@ KingPanda: As Jlinkels suggests, it isn't just a matter of adding this or that package. Since more or less all packages in Lenny and Sid depend on more recent versions of libc6 than you have installed in Etch, pretty much any package from Lenny or Sid will drag in a new version of libc6 as a dependency. That package is so central to your whole system that in short order you would end up in Lenny or Sid anyhow (as package after package needed to upgrade to follow the drift of your system). This is why people always say, "Don't mix Stable with Testing or Unstable."

So, your options in a nutshell: (1) check Backports, (2) try to build a newer package using sources from Lenny or Sid (rather than binaries) - see Craigevil's post for more on this, (3) download the source directly from whoever wrote it (the upstream source, untouched by Debian) and build that or (4) just upgrade all the way to Lenny or Sid. I usually recommend trying them in that order assuming it's just one or two things you want; if you want a lot of newer items, move (4) before (3).