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Debian missing updates :(

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Lenny:

Iceweasel: 3.0.6

Flash Player: 10,0,22,87

Why???

It's a big security hole :(

I think I will switch to ubuntu on desktop :(:(:( omg :(:(

Comments

  • Goineasy9
    Goineasy9 Posts: 1,114
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    Debian stable will never be a source for the most up to date packages. That's why I ran testing or sid (sidux) when I ran Debian. I say "when", because, even though Debian and Debian based distros were all I ran since starting Linux, I found, except for stable, an increasing amount of instability running testing and sid.
    Now the Debian folks would tell you that testing and unstable (sid) are just what they are meant to be, testing and unstable repos, used to test apps for their inclusion in stable. But for 2 years I ran sid without a major hiccup (well, not many major hiccups), and I thought that even though it was called unstable, the maintainers tried to keep the unstable repo in a condition that allowed for smooth transitions between versions.
    Well, since the release of Lenny as stable, IMHO, the stability of the testing and sid branches has decreased to the point that I can not use straight Debian, except for stable, and then have to get used to using older versions of apps, or going to backports to try and upgrade them,
    Since the Debian Maintainers give of their time for free, one cannot fault them for the present condition of their distro. It is excellent for what is designed to do, which is to put out an ultra stable distro for use mainly in servers. While desktop users who can customize Debian are generally happy with their choice, many beginners would rather choose Mepis or Ubuntu, both Debian based, but, both having their own repos, so they can offer newer versions of apps that Debian does not list as stable.
    I have not looked into the Debian backports recently, since I have changed my main distro to Fedora (choice is great isn't it?), so I can't say if FF/Iceweasel 3.5 isn't available there. I do know that it's available in the Debian experimental repo. When I ran sid, I would occasionally pull down an app or two from experimental when I got impatient, but going to experimental for a download is not for the faint of heart (lol), and it's not something I would recommend except to those experienced with both Debian and Linux.
    Now, older versions of Firefox/Iceweasel are a security problem, and, why, one has to wait for an update in Lenny is confusing, especially since the version in experimental is stable. I would suspect that the economy and the amount of time the maintainers have to donate has something to do with it. Or, maybe Canonical has hired so many of the Debian maintainers that they are to busy working on Ubuntu, than giving their time to the Debian project (please, just rumor).
    OK, I guess that was more than just my two cents.

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