Yes, I'm learning the "if it ain't broke" rule the hard way. ::Sighs:: I think once I get this system back on its feet (the whole libc thing has just shot it to hell, that I'll do a fresh reinstall from floppies to potato, and upgrade only what's necessary for samba-tng.
Thanks for your suggestion. On Mon, 16 Jul 2001, Andy Saxena wrote: > Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 20:48:50 -0400 > From: Andy Saxena <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Brian Ballsun-Stanton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Newbieish question > > Hi Brian, > > I recently went through two upgrade cycles - from stable (AKA Potato) to > testing (AKA Woody), and then to unstable (AKA Sid). > > On Sid about a 100 or so packages are updated everyday. A few weeks ago, I > had a severely disabled system when the PAM modules failed to function. In > essence, I couldn't log into the system. It was a package dependency problem, > and was fixed the next day during the next round of package updates. To > ensure that my system is never disabled like this again, and to keep myself > abreast with the latest software I am in the process of developing guidelines > for myself about upgrading packages. Here are my guidelines. Hopefully, they > will offer some help. > > 1)Updates to the Sid packages can be divided into the following categories: > a) New upstream release. > b) Critical bug-fixes with priorities other than low. > c) Bug-fixes with priority "low". > 2)"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Many will recommend that a cron job be > run to update packages daily. I think this is wasteful for somebody trying to > maintain stability in an otherwise "unstable" setup. I subscribe to the > debian-devel-changes mailing list, and I filter the 100 or so messages that I > receive everyday regarding updates based on the criteria in point (1). This > leaves about five emails to peruse everyday and doesn't take more than five > minutes. > 3) More importantly, I don't try to upgrade a package unless I need a new > feature, or a critical bug-fix is needed. > 4) Some packages - like the libpam package - can break your sytem critically. > Be very wary when upgrading these packages. It would be wise to download the > package, and watch the mailing list for updates in the days following. Better > still, wait a few days and watch the bug reports posted for that package. > Once satisfied that the package is "stable", install it. > 5) One may wish to have the latest features for a piece of software. When an > upstream release occurs, wait a few days and follow the steps in point (3) > before updating. > 6) [Especially when multiple machines need to be updated]. Download the > package on one machine. Update it, ensure that the system is not disabled in > any manner. Use the same packages (share the download directory) and update > the other systems. > > > These guidelines are rather elementary, but so far they have proved > worthwhile :-). > > -Andy > > On Sunday July 15 2001 15:11, Brian Ballsun-Stanton wrote: > > Please take pity :) > > > > I'm an extreme newbie to debian (having installed it for the first time > > about a week ago. I was assiged the task of setting up a 50 seat network, > > and since we're an edcuational institution, we have a really tight > > budget: the savings of not having to buy a $9 per person liscence are > > quite hefty. > > > > Unfortuantly, we'll still be using w2k clients. Now, not having my head > > completly buried in my ::cough:: I knew that samba could provide file > > sharing. Little did I know that samba-tng would provide good w2k access. > > > > This is my dilemma: to run samba-tng, I have to upgrade to "unstable." My > > mandate explictly states that downtime is *BAD*, very, very, very, > > bad. How risky is running unstable? What shouldn't I do? Should I upgrade > > to 2.4.6? (I'm running a home box as a testbed for this, so I'll be warned > > slightly in advance, but...) > > > > I'd love any advice or assistance. > > > > If anyone wants to help, or discuss this over lunch, I live in LA, and > > I'll be going to rochester, NY, for 3 days next week. I'd love to actually > > discuss this with someone who knows what they're talking about. > > > > Thank you, > > -Brian >
