Software repository question

[Liam Proven]

On 25 May 2011 11:47, Ioannis Vranos <ioannis.vranos at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 11:45 AM, Leo "TheHobbit" Cacciari
> <leothehobbit at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Il 05/24/2011 07:49 PM, dave boland ha scritto:
>>
>>> [...snip..]
>>> I agree it is getting easier, and I understand some of the challenges of
>>> keeping packages updated for all distributions.
>>>
>>> However, there is no point in having LTS versions if we have to live
>>> with outdated software.  Yes, there are some ways around that -- PPA's,
>>> GetDeb, etc.  But they are just that -- workaround solutions.  I do
>>> disagree that it should be a problem.  APT (as was well pointed out) can
>>> resolve dependency issues very well.  All that seems (to my limited
>>> visibility) to be done is to test the newer app on each current
>>> distribution of Ubuntu prior to releasing to the repository.
>>>
>>> The conundrum for LTS users is that we like not having to do complete
>>> upgrades every six months, but there are going to be times when a newer
>>> version of an app is needed -- bug fix, feature that is important,
>>> better performance, or some sort of external requirement.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Dave
>>
>> No. Or at least this is not the rationale behind LTS as I understand it.
>> The rationale is having a _stable_ release, i.e. one that do mot change
>> every two days :) This is a must in some production systems. Just as an
>> example, recent Net Snmp version introduced a binary incompatibility for
>> 64 bit systems, where you could have locally developed libraries stop
>> working. If on a critical 64bits system the net-snmp library where
>> changed only because it is upgraded upstream then the system could stop
>> doing its job, and this is definitely *not* a god thing. In this
>> specific case, and in other similar ones, the answer «you should know
>> what you do when you upgrade" is wrong. The binary incompatibility was
>> discovered _weeks_ after the release of net snmp.
>>
>> When a new Ubuntu (or any other distribution, of course) release is
>> produced, there is a "freeze" status, in which the versions of shipped
>> software are not changed any more and everything is checked (or should
>> be) for problems and problems are solved. The complete bunch is released
>> (or again should be released) only when no more problem remain.
>>
>> Doing an upgrade on a production system requires checking that your own
>> software, the one you developed and installed, the add-on and
>> configuration of installed software etc, that all this still works with
>> the new releases. This is not simply "a bother", its (often) a
>> nightmare! More to the point, is a *costly* process, thus people using
>> Ubuntu in production systems (like myself) like to have this done only
>> every some years rather than every six month and still have a system
>> that *works as expected*.
>
>
> Just a note, in the case of regular, non-LTS Ubuntu releases, the user
> doesn't have to change every 6 months, he can use the release and its
> stability, for 18 months.

Yes, true, but the official upgrade path is only from one release to
*the next*. If you stayed on 9.10, for example, the only
officially-sanctioned way to get current today is to go:

9.10 -> 10.04 -> 10.10 -> 11.04

So if you "stay behind" then it either means you are just postponing
the pain of multiple upgrades - you're still going to have to do them
sometime - or you are compelling yourself to do a wipe & reinstall at
some point down the line.

The only "exception" to this is that LTS-to-LTS upgrades are supported
- so you can stay on 8.04 and then to straight to 10.04 and later to
12.04.

In other words - it's probably best not to stay on the ordinary
releases if you're not prepared to upgrade every 6mth. If you don't
like regular upgrades, stay with LTS releases.


-- 
Liam Proven • Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven
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