Keeping slack updated
 

Hi,

I'd like to know if following Slackware security advisories is enough to keep your Slack secure and updated, or if I should also install swaret and upgrade every program everytime new versions appear.

Thanks...

If you're on a not-so-good connection, you might want to keep the number of downloads as low as possible and only get the absolutely necessary updates, in which case the Slackware security advisories serve as a good guide. Otherwise, my choice would be (and is) to use swaret, and keep the entire system updated. Personally I stay -current, but -9.1 is possibly a safer choice (although I haven't yet experienced any problems with the -current branch myself).

Patches and current
 

All known security vulnerabilities are patched for the numbered releases and advertised via Slackware security advisories, so if you keep them up to date you should be reasonably safe.

Now, som people think that all bugs should be considered security risks (the OpenBSD people, for example), but Slackware only releases patches marked as security patches by the software maintainers. Keeping up with current guarantees you get all patches, whether they're marked as security related or not. However, the current series also upgrades packages with new features, which of course also means a greater risk of new bugs, and less well-tested software.

So it is really up to your own thoughts about security. I still stick with my recommendation from the first paragraph, though. If it's security (and stability) you're after, go with the security advisories.

/Odie

you can use the SLACKPKG ( slackpkg.sourceforge.net ) you can update, install new packages, security patches..


regards,
Ricardson

Now does swaret download the files in the patches directory or just the 9.1 or current?

I'm assuming that just using the patches directory should be enough for security reasons, no?

The swaret faq seems to indicate patches are handled automatically...or manually, if that's preferred.