Package: synaptic
Version: 0.84.2
I just found a friend's computer (with a desktop install) running
stretch. My friend usually uses synaptic for package management.
I think something ought io have warned my friend that their distro was
very out of date. Even a warning which doesn't link to useful
instructions, or some kind of "everything is totally broken", would
have been better than silently not doing needed updates, as that would
hopefully have led to my friend seeking help from an expert earlier.
I'm not sure exactly what the best behaviour would but I think at a
minimum:
* Detect that the Debian release has become obsolete
* Report this in the UI
I had a look through the apt metadata on ftp.debian.org and sadly the
support status is not really readily visible.
I suggest the following heuristic:
Look at all entries in sources.list that have Origin: Debian
Find the Suite tags in the Release files, and count the number
of times "old" appears at the front.
Examine the *minimum* number of "old" in every such source.
If there are Debian sources, but no non-"old*" Debian sources, report
in the UI as follows:
If the latest (least bad) is "old" (minimum "old" count is 1):
The system is running an older Debian release.
A new release is available, and you should consider installing it.
If the latest is "oldold" or worse (minimum "old" count >= 2):
The system is running a very old Debian release.
A much newer releases is available, and you should install it.
This proposal is a bit of a bodge. Really the supported/EOL status
ought to be in the Release file.
I found a similar bug #988406 against base. I think systems for
notifying users of release EOL ought to exist *both* at the command
line / text layers (eg base-files, unattended-upgrades, ...) and in
the GUI environment.
This assumes that Debian will never have an actual release codename
that starts "old", which I think is reasonable. It may break if we
change our release conventions but we havne't done that for many many
years and if we do there will be time to update things.
Ian.
--
Ian Jackson <ijack...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> These opinions are my own.
Pronouns: they/he. If I emailed you from @fyvzl.net or @evade.org.uk,
that is a private address which bypasses my fierce spamfilter.
