Hi I am using debian stable, and I was just wondering how would you update it to 2.6??? I have seen alot of unstable debian upgrades but none for stable debian.

What is the deference between stable debian and unstable debian?

Check the link
http://www.us.debian.org/releases/

Basically, Stable is very stable, never gets new packages (only security updates) and generally has older packages than other distros. This is OK, because it is generally intended for "Mission Critical" type computers. The current stable release is V3.1, called Sarge.

Testing is less stable than stable, but contains newer packages. It can have conflicts between packages, but is OK for most uses. Testing will eventually become Stable when it is ready. The current Testing is called Etch.

Unstable is for people who like cutting edge packages. It can have major problems, and is called Sid.

If you just want a 2.6 kernel, Debian Sarge comes with Kernel 2.6.8, and you can install it using .

If you want to upgrade Sarge to Etch, simply edit /etc/apt/sources.list and change where it says stable to testing. Then run "apt-get update" and "apt-get dist-updgrade". Make sure that you back up any important config file, because the upgrade can damage things sometimes.

If you just want certain packages from testing, check out backports.

I hope this helps
--Ian

I don't think I would do that right now unless you kind of know what you're doing. The conversion from xfree to xorg is very likely to break things. Probably one of the biggest things that need attention b4 Etch can become Stable.

If you want to upgrade to Etch (a good idea), I would back up your home directory, and do a fresh netinstal of Etch, then move whatever files you need into the new system.

in netinstal how do I change from to Etch? because I like have no files I wish to save.

Actually, Debian Etch is on its own CD. It's not final yet, but the daily build is available here: cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso

I find it much better to use on a desktop, and it seems pretty stable so far.

Editing your sources.list will just give you access to testing packages on a stable distribution. I don't think they are the same thing, but I could be wrong.

Like, get the correct netinstal .iso for your hardware here. Put the image on a cd, and just overwrite your old system. You need a broadband connection.

okay, I did that and now I am using etch, the only problem is I don't know how to get get my sound blaster live working again.

# apt-get install alsa-base alsa-utils
# alsaconf