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Two Major Debian Releases In One Day

Posted by kdawson on Sun Apr 08, 2007 01:19 AM
from the busy-busy dept.
Debian Software Upgrades Linux
AndyCater writes "If all goes according to plan, Debian should release both an update to Debian Sarge (3.1r6, henceforth to be oldstable) and a new stable release (Debian 4.0, which was codenamed Etch) — and announce the results of the election for Debian Project Leader — all within 12 hours. Sarge was updated late on April 7th UTC, Sam Hocevar was announced as DPL at about 00:30 UTC, and preparations for the release of Debian Etch are ongoing and look good for later on the 8th."
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[+] Debian 4.0 'Etch' Released 245 comments
An anonymous reader writes "Earlier today we discussed the possibility that Debian Etch might be released soon. Well, according to debian.org, it has already happened. Etch has been released: 'The Debian Project is pleased to announce the official release of Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0, codenamed etch, after 21 months of constant development. Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system which supports a total of eleven processor architectures and includes the KDE, GNOME and Xfce desktop environments. It also features cryptographic software and compatibility with the FHS v2.3 and software developed for version 3.1 of the LSB.'"
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  • TWO! in one day? (Score:5, Funny)

    by utexas delirium (908530) on Sunday April 08 2007, @01:23AM (#18653367)
    I don't know if the Universe can withstand that.
  • Openoffice 2.0
    firef.. er Iceweasel 2.0
    php5
    life is good again.

    • You have got to be fucking kidding me (Score:4, Funny)

      by ZakuSage (874456) on Sunday April 08 2007, @07:44AM (#18654597)
      I literally spent the bulk of yesterday installing Sarge to a new server I set up. Son of a fucking bitch.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by petermgreen (876956)
          It's Debian. If you have stable in your sources.conf, you'll get upgraded next time you run apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade (once it is released).
          which is why admins with a clue don't put stable in thier sources.list (the installer used to do this but i belive it has been changed).

          the reality is while the package managers get most stuff right there is nearly always some level of handholding involved in an upgrade from one stable release to the next (e.g. on sarge-etch it is easy to end up wit

  • Hmm... I can still see bugs in their tracker (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Cyberax (705495) on Sunday April 08 2007, @01:30AM (#18653391)
    I can still see 17 release-critical bugs in their bugtracker: http://bts.turmzimmer.net/details.php?bydist=etch [turmzimmer.net]

    Have they decided to postpone their resolution until R2?

    • release-critical bug is not what you think it is. (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 08 2007, @05:21AM (#18654147)
      They aren't bugs that will prevent the release of Etch.

      They are bugs that threaten the package's inclusion in Etch.

      • Re:Hmm... I can still see bugs in their tracker (Score:5, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 08 2007, @05:20AM (#18654143)
        Some explanations about how to count:

        The official release-critical bug tracker[1] is still not updated to handle "versioned bug-reports". Meaning it counts _all_ open bug reports, while in reality the bug might be "closed" in the _version_ of the package in Etch but the entire bug in not closed (because it still effects Sarge and older?). So the official sources are a bit misleading.
        A debian developer called "Sesse" has an updated tracker[2]. This one gives a bit better indication about the truth. Hopefully his code will be moved over to become the official version.
        As also previously mentioned, Andreas "aba" Barth has his own bug tracking tool[3]. This gives a bit more information about each release-critical bug and has filtering capabilities.
        All sources indicate that there are many "RC" bugs left, but using aba's tool[3] you can see that most open bug reports are security issues. Security issues will come up all the time. There is already infrastructure in place to provide security updates for the stable distribution, so there's no need to hold back the release because of these issues as they can be fixed at any time.
        The few remaining issues are new bugs that has just recently surfaces and hasn't yet been analyzed. They might have a too high severity set, noone knows until they have been analyzed. This also doesn't give much reason to hold back the released, there will always be a few really new bugs that there hasn't been time to analyze yet.
        All in all, having all bugs fixed looks promising, even if noone can promise that the CD-images are 100% bug-free.

        [1] http://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/ [debian.org]
        [2] http://people.debian.org/~sesse/bugscan/ [debian.org]
        [3] http://bts.turmzimmer.net/details.php?bydist=etch [turmzimmer.net]

        Regards,
        fatal

  • Great News (Score:5, Informative)

    by dracocat (554744) <dracocat@hotmail.com> on Sunday April 08 2007, @01:30AM (#18653393)
    Seriously, this is very good news for us.

    This means we can finally start buying new Dell Servers again, instead of relying on ebay to obtain servers that had hard disks compatible with the stable release of debian. For the past two years, Dell had been phasing in new Sata drivers that sarge just refused to work with, but that etch has had no problems with. Hurray! Any chance of an upgrade path so we don't have to support both sarge AND etch?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Exter-C (310390)
      Actually you can always use these images which include a backported kernel. They work well http://kmuto.jp/debian/d-i/ [kmuto.jp] with opensource being opensource you can easily just make your own kernels and build it all up no problems.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by cortana (588495)
      FYI, you could always have used etch's kernel 'backported' to sarge if you went to http://backports.org/ [backports.org]. Another option is Kenshi Muto's Backported d-i images archive [kmuto.jp] page.

      These pages will probably continue to be useful once Etch's default kernel gets out of date; although they may not be necessary as I have heard rumours of plans to push out updated Linux kernel image packages from time to time, with point releases of Debian 4.0 (etch).
      • What if I went outside of the package tree? Should I uninstall those first or will they get wiped out by apt anyways?

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by cortana (588495)
          It can't hurt to remove third-party packages before upgrading. You can always install them again after the upgrade. If you have a recent version of aptitude installed, you can run aptitude search '~S~i!~Odebian' to find out which these packages are. If you have the version that shipped with sarge, then comment out any third-party repositories from your sources.list, then run aptitude (which will get you to the interactive, text-mode user interface), and scroll down to 'obsolete & locally created package

      • Re:Great News (Score:5, Informative)

        by pedestrian crossing (802349) on Sunday April 08 2007, @02:58AM (#18653709) Homepage Journal

        Testing ran fine, but what do I do now? Do I have to do anything special to stay on Debian Etch, I mean 4.0? Or is such a thing not possible.

        It depends on your /etc/apt/sources.list.

        Each line will either end with the word "Etch" or "Testing".

        If it ends with Etch, then you will stay with Etch (Stable).

        If it ends with Testing, then you will start getting the new Testing packages.

        Probably the best thing to do is to stay with Etch for a couple of months while the new Testing settles down, then dist-upgrade back to Testing.

          • Re:Great News (Score:5, Informative)

            by pedestrian crossing (802349) on Sunday April 08 2007, @03:33AM (#18653839) Homepage Journal

            The reason I suggested staying with Etch for a little while is that there is likely to be some breakage in Testing as the backlog of Unstable updates move into Testing. For newbies (like the GP), this can be disconcerting.

            If it's only a couple of months, the dist-upgrade back to testing isn't likely to be too big of a deal. I think Testing is the sweet-spot for the desktop, so it makes sense to be there, but Testing can be a little unstable immediately after a release.

  • Sam Hocevar won DPL elections (Score:5, Informative)

    by timecop (16217) on Sunday April 08 2007, @01:30AM (#18653399) Homepage
    Sam Hocevar [zoy.org] won the Debian Project Leader election by 8 votes over Steve McIntyre
  • western nations base their entire diet around bread, so passover takes a huge chunk out of nerd diets (i know first hand), so to compensate for the scarcity of kosher food, they must have guzzled more caffeinated beverages.. thus resulting in the warp speed rush to 4.0 ..

    well that's at least my theory : D

  • List of Etch release parties (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tyndareos (206375) on Sunday April 08 2007, @01:34AM (#18653419) Homepage
    If you would like to celebrate the release of Etch, check out if there's a party planned near you or throw one yourself :)
    http://wiki.debian.org/ReleasePartyEtch [debian.org]

  • The Wow Starts Now! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jazzer_Techie (800432) on Sunday April 08 2007, @01:38AM (#18653443)
    Cue the:
    Two releases in one day! This is like a turtle suddenly accelerating to lightspeed. It should shut up the people who say the Debian cycle is slow! Good thing they've nearly caught up to Windows; only 2.0 more versions to go!

    In all seriousness, this stable came out over a year more quickly than 3.0 -> 3.1. That's nice to see. I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Seumas (6865)

      over a year more quickly
      Ouch. You hurt my brain, you bastard.

    • Back to normal? (Score:5, Informative)

      by pavon (30274) on Sunday April 08 2007, @11:29AM (#18655777)
      I know that slashdotters like to dig on Debian for having slow releases, but sarge is the only one that took a ridiculously long amount of time to get out the door:

      1.1 - 1.2: 6 months
      1.2 - 1.3: 6 months
      1.3 - 2.0: 13 months
      2.0 - 2.1: 8 months
      2.1 - 2.2: 17 months
      2.2 - 3.0: 23 months
      3.0 - 3.1: 35 months
      3.1 - 4.0: 20 months

      I think that 18 months is a reasonable amount of time between stable releases. If Debian can stick close to that in the future then I will be happy.

  • Kinda OT (Score:2, Interesting)

    by systems (764012)
    But I can't help but to think, life is changing

    Distros are not a hot topic anymore
    where are all the debate about the best distro
    or the best desktop environment

    the source based vs binary based

    where is gentoo where is mandriva where is slackware

    The distro arena kinda became dry, or it matured I dunno

    Is it time to really standardize linux?

  • I hate to nitpick, but is there any actual evidence that Etch will replace Sarge as stable today, or is this just unsubstantiated rumor?

  • finally, sid and testing can get moving again (Score:5, Interesting)

    by phrasebook (740834) on Sunday April 08 2007, @02:17AM (#18653575)
    For me there is nothing exciting about the stable release itself. The real significance is that all the new stuff backed up in experimental can start moving into sid, then into testing again. Debian should have a way of branching testing and making a release out of that branch, rather than bringing the whole thing to a halt while a release gestates.

    • Re:finally, sid and testing can get moving again (Score:5, Informative)

      by Cthefuture (665326) on Sunday April 08 2007, @07:41AM (#18654587)
      If you want all that then it's already available and the branch is called Ubuntu [ubuntu.com]. Even better is that it is stabilized and releases are made every 6 months.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by mcubed (556032)
        For many Debian desktop users, testing, under normal circumstances, represents the sweet spot of desktop distros: just timely enough, just stable enough; not as fast-moving or susceptible to breakage as Sid, not as hopelessly dated as stable. As a rule, not a bug-ridden as distros based off Sid (Ubuntu, etc.). Those circumstances change, however, when Debian goes into release-mode. And in Debian, releases take months to complete. Testing stagnates, at least from the point of view of those of us who nor
  • I wonder if the "holyshit" tag is appropriate here.

  • Article? (Score:5, Funny)

    by gringer (252588) on Sunday April 08 2007, @03:28AM (#18653813)
    How can I not read the article if there's no article avaliable to not read?

  • Where's the actual source for this posting? (Score:5, Informative)

    by advocate_one (662832) on Sunday April 08 2007, @04:12AM (#18653969)
    I can't find anything on the Debian site itself...

  • In tribute of this momentous occasion (Score:4, Funny)

    by mushadv (909107) on Sunday April 08 2007, @05:04AM (#18654091)
    Hell and winged pigs have collaborated in an effort to simultaneously freeze over and fly. Unfortunately, Satan's poor planning concerning the sequence of these events has rendered the high temperature conditions of the pig launchers devastatingly unsuitable for the hopeful swine. Meteorologists the world over predict a torrential rain of bacon.

  • Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 released (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 08 2007, @08:43AM (#18654833)
    Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 released

    The Debian Project is pleased to announce the official release of
    Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0, codenamed "etch", after 21 months of
    constant development. Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system
    which supports a total of eleven processor architectures and includes
    the KDE, GNOME and Xfce desktop environments. It also features
    cryptographic software and compatibility with the FHS v2.3 and
    software developed for version 3.1 of the LSB.

    Using a now fully integrated installation process, Debian GNU/Linux
    4.0 comes with out-of-the-box support for encrypted partitions. This
    release introduces a newly developed graphical frontend to the
    installation system supporting scripts using composed characters and
    complex languages; the installation system for Debian GNU/Linux has
    now been translated to 58 languages.

    Also beginning with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, the package management
    system has been improved regarding security and efficiency. Secure
    APT allows the verification of the integrity of packages downloaded
    from a mirror. Updated package indices won't be downloaded in their
    entirety, but instead patched with smaller files containing only
    differences from earlier versions.

    Debian GNU/Linux runs on computers ranging from palmtops and handheld
    systems to supercomputers, and on nearly everything in between. A
    total of eleven architectures are supported including: Sun SPARC
    (sparc), HP Alpha (alpha), Motorola/IBM PowerPC (powerpc), Intel
    IA-32 (i386) and IA-64 (ia64), HP PA-RISC (hppa), MIPS (mips,
    mipsel), ARM (arm), IBM S/390 (s390) and -- newly introduced with
    Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 -- AMD64 and Intel EM64T (amd64).

    Debian GNU/Linux can be installed from various installation media
    such as DVDs, CDs, USB sticks and floppies, or from the network.
    GNOME is the default desktop environment and is contained on the
    first CD. The K Desktop Environment (KDE) and the Xfce desktop can be
    installed through two new alternative CD images. Also newly available
    with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 are multi-arch CDs and DVDs supporting
    installation of multiple architectures from a single disc.

    Debian GNU/Linux can be downloaded right now via bittorent (the
    recommended way), jigdo or HTTP; see for
    further information. It will soon be available on DVD and CD-ROM from
    numerous vendors , too.

    This release includes a number of updated software packages, such as
    the K Desktop Environment 3.5 (KDE), an updated version of the GNOME
    desktop environment 2.14, the Xfce 4.4 desktop environment, the
    GNUstep desktop 5.2, X.Org 7.1, OpenOffice.org 2.0.4a, GIMP 2.2.13,
    Iceweasel (an unbranded version of Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3), Icedove
    (an unbranded version of Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5), Iceape (an
    unbranded version of Mozilla Seamonkey 1.0.Cool, PostgreSQL 8.1.8,
    MySQL 5.0.32, GNU Compiler Collection 4.1.1, Linux kernel version
    2.6.18, Apache 2.2.3, Samba 3.0.24, Python 2.4.4 and 2.5, Perl 5.8.8,
    PHP 4.4.4 and 5.2.0, Asterisk 1.2.13, and more than 18,000 other
    ready to use software packages.

    Upgrades to Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 from the previous release, Debian
    GNU/Linux 3.1 codenamed "sarge", are automatically handled by the
    aptitude package management tool for most configurations, and to a
    certain degree also by the apt-get package management tool. As
    always, Debian GNU/Linux systems can be upgraded quite painlessly, in
    place, without any forced downtime, but it is strongly recommended to
    read the release notes for possible issues. For detailed instructions
    about installing and upgrading Debian GNU/Linux, please see the
    release notes .
    Please note that the release notes will be further improved and
    translated to additional languages in the coming weeks.

    ISO download: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/4.0_r0/i386/is o-cd/ [debian.org]

        • Re:AMD64 (Score:4, Informative)

          by Ash-Fox (726320) on Sunday April 08 2007, @02:15PM (#18657049) Homepage

          Why not run Solaris on those boxes?
          Solaris doesn't work on my Athlon 64 hardware. It doesn't recognize the SATA controllers nor does it have a 3d accelerated X-server with my graphics card.

          Besides, it's slower (package management, admin tools, the same software I've ran on both OSes) and doesn't have a large repository (like Debian's) of software available on demand.

          ven the guy who invented Debian has dumped it and switched to Solaris.
          Ian Murdock went to work for Sun, but I can't find any information on 'switching' the OSes he uses.

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