On 5 October 2010 15:56, Tux99 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Quote: Ahmad Samir wrote on Tue, 05 October 2010 15:47 >> >> Again a rolling distro is something that's not clearly defined. And to >> be honest, a rolling distro isn't suitable for new or inexperienced >> users. Simply because you can't guarantee that a new package won't >> introduce regressions (or totally break an app), in this case an >> experienced user will know how to revert to an older version, a new or >> inexperienced user won't. > > I don't think you really read or understood my proposal. > I'm not talking about a real rolling distro like Gentoo, I'm only talking > about foregoing backported security fixes for newer versions with regards > to apps that don't have anything depending on them. >
Which, if you read the umpteen emails up there :), can and will introduce new fixes/features and also new regressions, I don't think any QA team can handle such kind of flow all year long. > Mandriva already does that with very few apps (like Firefox), I'm just > proposing to extend that to more apps where it can be done safely. That's *one* app, and a sort of a special case, and when updating firefox, it's not just one package, sec. team has to update the localisation packages, new libnss, new libnspr... etc, as a new firefox version requires newer libs sometimes. > A backported security fix can introduce as much regressions or instability > (IMHO actually more, because it's essentially a fork so less tested)than > upgrading to a new version. > Not really, I think a sec. fix/patch has much less chances of breaking an app than a whole new version. > Of course it's up to the packager to use good judgement, if the new version > of a particular app is a complete rewrite, then it might not be safe to > provide the new version, but there are many case where it is perfectly > safe and beneficial for the user. > >> Look at the rolling distros that've been mentioned, Debian or Gentoo, >> right? would anyone recommend Debian or Gentoo for a >> new/inexperienced/non-power user? > > Sorry, but that comparison is nonsense, Debian and even mre so Gentoo are > not suite for novices for many reasons, not because they are rolling > distros. > > No, it isn't nonsense (not just because I posted it :)); Cooker/Cauldron is the same, it _is_not_ for new/inexperienced users, too much work, you have to figure out when to update / skip an update, how to revert to an older package to get a working system again... etc. Read cooker ML archives, many examples on this. -- Ahmad Samir
