[GRLUG] Debian

[john-thomas richards]

On Wed, Dec 07, 2005 at 01:48:12PM -0500, David Pembrook wrote:
> How do you know what version of a given package is in what state (stable,testing...) I've always left machines stock in that regard but I want to try say... the newest MySQL.. Whenever I've use apt on redhat, I'm just getting the latest in the current major release but never a jump from say 3.x to 4.x which makes sence as they've made substantial changes and you need to be carefull doing that kind of jump. Is Debian going to let me specify using apt what version of MySQL I get for instance? 

Debian packages themselves are ignorant of which Debian "version" to
which they belong.  If, for example, you have package "foo" installed,
there is nothing in the package that can indicate if the package is for
Stable, Testing, or Unstable.  *Every* Debian package starts out in
Unstable.  If a package (and its dependencies) is in Unstable for two
weeks without a serious bug, it is automatically moved to Testing.  It
is not recompiled or repackaged in any way and so the Debian package
does not have a field that gets updated when the package moves to
Testing.  When Testing is ready to become Stable, the packages are
simply moved; nothing is "updated".  (Can you imagine requiring all
14,000+ packages to be repackaged?  Oh, my...)

As Roberto pointed out, apt-pinning is your friend for mixing &
matching Debian versions.  See here:
http://jaqque.sbih.org/kplug/apt-pinning-html
-- 
john-thomas
------
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
William Pitt, British prime-minister (1759-1806)