Debian distributions (was: Re: [plug] Mandrake community or Mandrake 10 ?)

[Cameron Patrick]

Long answer - this is a kinda-FAQ and hopefully copy-and-pasting will
possible from here on :-)

ranime wrote:
| What is "Sid", is this the testing version of Debian ?

Kinda - it's the unstable version, which is even more bleeding edge
than testing (currently named "Sarge").  Unstable contains the latest
packages immediately after they've been uploaded by a developer.
Testing contains packages from unstable that have passed some
automated testing (been around for X amount of time, no bugs that
weren't present in the previous version, can be installed properly,
etc).  The main problem with testing is that it, due to lack of man
power, it doesn't get security updates except those which propagate
through via unstable in usual manner (which can take a few days even
in the best case).

Currently, stable = woody, testing = sarge and unstable = sid.  When
sarge is deemed to be release-worthy, then the code names will change,
with stable = sarge, testing = (something new made up by the release
manager), and unstable = sid.  Unstable is always sid, named after the
kid who destroyed toys in Toy Story.  Consider that a caution :-)

There's also an "experimental" distribution (with no code name).  It
doesn't contain a complete system, so you use it in combination with
unstable.  Tools like apt-get won't install packages from experimental
unless specifically instructed to do (in /etc/apt/preferences or via
the command line).  Packages in experimental are expected to be broken
for many people.  Usually people just install individual packages that
they want to try from it.  (e.g. I'm using the experimental version of
Gnome, but I'm not brave enough to use an experimental "apt" or "libc"!)

Cameron.