I was using RedHat/Fedora for along time, then Ubuntu, now Debian. I'm not new in Linux, just Debian. And I'm still having trouble understanding some of the terminology.
I want to run the stable distribution--Squeeze--except I need newer versions of some key programs I use in my work, like LyX and R. And since the kernel included with Squeeze crashes when I unplug the USB headset, I need to run a newer kernel that has a patch for that problem. (I'm afraid of testing because it does not appear it ever pauses for a "snapshot." If Debian testing had "freeze points" like "Fedora 14" or "Ubuntu 11.04" or such, I would probably run testing. But testing never pauses for a mostly working snapshot. Right?) I've followed discussion on this in here and in the web, some people suggest a pinning setup, some people suggest waiting for debian-backports to introduce the updated versions of programs, and some people suggested setting the repositories for Debian Wheezy (same as testing at the moment, right?) to get the applications from there, and just allow apt (or synaptic, somehow different from apt in dependency management?) to just take what is required to run the new version. I've experimented quite a bit with this, and have not yet found a satisfactory plan. If I temporarily enable the Wheezy repositories and install new versions of things, and then disable Wheezy repositories, then I don't get security or other updates on the testing plan. If I re-enable Wheezy repositories, then the proposed update list includes almost all packages, not just the ones I specifically installed from Wheezy. I *think* pinning might be the right way to fix this, but I have not found a configuration that would install updates from Wheezy when I want them and take them from Squeeze when I don't. For example, Squeeze still has the two editions of tcl and tk, with names like tcl8.4 and tcl8.5, whereas Wheezy updates want to remove the 8.4 editions and just go with 8.5. I use some applications that will not work if that happens. pj -- Paul E. Johnson Professor, Political Science 1541 Lilac Lane, Room 504 University of Kansas -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/BANLkTi=A0ie6AOxJeTRg=nf_qe3tgt_...@mail.gmail.com
