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Debian 'Stretch' Updated With 9.1 Release (debian.org)

An anonymous reader quotes Debian.org: The Debian project is pleased to announce the first update of its stable distribution Debian 9 (codename "stretch"). This point release mainly adds corrections for security issues, along with a few adjustments for serious problems... Please note that the point release does not constitute a new version of Debian 9 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old "stretch" media... Those who frequently install updates from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages, and most such updates are included in the point release.

40 comments

  1. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Debian is the holy trinity of desktop, server and laptop OS.

    It's under your radar because thousands of admins put it on everything without the burning desire to shove it down everyone's throat like arch people. You also have no idea what you're talking about since stretch has released with newer packages in it than Ubuntu.

  2. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by aliquis · · Score: 1

    Old i could buy. But insecure?

  3. Debian... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For when you want to know what was current in open source five years ago! I used to use Debian for a while in 2000s, but when it took them something like 5 years to do a stable release, and reasons for packages being held up were things like "the maintainer has final exams" I realized this is not suitable for professional use.

  4. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by reiscw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have used a lot of major distributions as a desktop (no server experience): Fedora, Ubuntu (including MATE/Gnome/XFCE), Linux Mint, Manjaro, and openSUSE. I always go back to Debian (albeit using Cinnamon as the desktop). It is generally the most problem-free of the distributions, especially considering that I run it on a laptop. Granted, software does sometimes get out of date when you run stable; this is mitigated by the fact that when testing enters the freeze process you can usually switch to it (and again, by that point, it is usually more problem-free than many other distributions). The other day a dosbox bug became an issue, but I just grabbed the SVN version and compiled it and it works great. Typically if there is a new version of software that you must have, you can compile from source or use backports (I prefer compiling from source). Because Ubuntu is built on Debian, many tutorials for Ubuntu are applicable (this is helpful). Many packages for Ubuntu (e.g. Google Chrome, Crossover Linux, etc.) are in common.

    I tested Fedora 26 the other day because I do like Fedora (I loved Fedora 24). After installing updates and a number of software packages that I use regularly it started behaving badly (weird mouse/keyboard behavior that wouldn't go away after rebooting). That is not what you typically get with Debian. Debian is more work (you have to download a special iso or enable a special repository to get nonfree codecs, and you need to do some configuration to enable TRIM on a SSD (if you want to)) but in general it's not the back-breaking type of work that you can typically run into if you run a rolling release distribution like Manjaro.

    One of the things that I like the most about Debian is that it is developed by a large, international community of people who are not controlled by the same corporation (I don't think I can say that about any other distribution, but feel free to correct me, I would love to be proven wrong on that).

  5. Devuan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
    1. Re:Devuan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Devuan: the distribution made by "friendly" people that are busy with ad-hominem attacks while being challenged with renewing SSL certificates for years.

    2. Re:Devuan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Friendlier than that noob Leonnard that's closing bugs EWONTFIX with a lame excuse based on inexperience and lack of knowledge, while at the same time introducing security vulnerabilities scored 10 on standard and accepted scales.

      I wish I could check those SSL links you posted, but you see, i'm running ubuntu and systemd-resolved doesn't work (because Leonnard doesnt have a clue about DNS standards and protocols). maybe in 17.10 it'll start to work again. naah, who am i kidding.

    3. Re:Devuan by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      i'm running ubuntu and systemd-resolved doesn't work (because Leonnard doesnt have a clue about DNS standards and protocols).

      Hahaha! Good Joke! systemd-resolved is broken! It doesn't resolve hostnames with underscores in them! Poetering should have read the DNS standards!

      What that's you say?

      The DNS standards say hostnames must not contain underscores?

      Damn it, he's going to WONTFIX that bug!

      What's that you say? The "bug" is in an external library, not in systemd-resolved? ... walks off into darkness, muttering madly...

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  6. Woohoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Since this update makes Debian stable, that means they finally removed SystemD!

    Party in the streets tonight!

    Captcha: despair

  7. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by AlanObject · · Score: 1

    I always go back to Debian (albeit using Cinnamon as the desktop). It is generally the most problem-free of the distributions, especially considering that I run it on a laptop.

    Just curious ... what advantage do you see with Debian over Ubuntu? It sounds like you are calling them out for a negative value-add.

    I'm not trying to pick a fight. I just use Ubuntu a lot and I wonder if I am missing something.

  8. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Debian just works with minimal fuss. I like more operating systems to be boring as hell.

  9. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by reiscw · · Score: 2

    I don't mind the question. I do like Cinnamon, which means Ubuntu is out because there's not an official Cinnamon-based edition (yes, I could install it from the repos, but I hesitate to do that). I've tried Linux Mint also, but there's been some controversy in that area because of the way they package security updates (it's also less problem-free, I've had a lot more weird reproducible bugs in Mint, like trying to run a full screen game and getting screen flickering that didn't happen in Ubuntu or Debian.

    I know that a lot of Ubuntu developers work on Debian also and I appreciate their efforts.

  10. Not reallyRe:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's just another redhat derivative now, mostly freedesktop/gnome/systemd dominated in it's direction. Which leaves little room for any other direction.

    Not so universal when it comes to platforms either. So not really the thing it once was.

    1. Re:Not reallyRe:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      t's just another redhat derivative now, mostly freedesktop/gnome/systemd dominated in it's direction.

      apt-get install sysvinit-core
      apt-get install kde-desktop

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  11. Re:I got something you can stretch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    bash: balls: command not found

  12. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by kzwork · · Score: 1

    I get from time to time popups in Ubuntu that some program experience issues - never seen these in Debian it is unavoidable to introduce new bugs which don't exist in Debian (the same applies to Mint) . Also you have only one Ubuntu current release, I have 3 in Debian: Stable,Testing and Unstable. I am using Stable for servers and Testing for desktops. Testing and Unstable are rolling releases, you just keep updating them. Sometimes I borrow newer versions of packages from unstable, you guys in Ubuntu will see them after maybe an year eventually in the next cadence. For example apt or when they implemented multi threaded downloads from repositories - it is still not implemented in Ubuntu we have that maybe since 2 years. Bash Completion supports more programs and more options in Debian than Ubuntu. Debian reached 94% of packages reproducible builds, Ubuntu even don't think about that. Debian supports more architectures (Raspberry Pi anyone). Debian has more robust process/infrastructure for accepting new packages (that is why everybody builds on top of them) - first enters in staging(experimental), then in Unstable, then Testing and at the end in Stable. Packet is being tested in each phase by tons of users. Debian doesn't rely on some single corporation (like Canonical) to make strategic decisions. Debian guys make more practical decisions and less politics and history proves that. Debian supports all DE equally - no preferred one even choosing one of them as default.

  13. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just one of the many reasons why Ubuntu sucks:

    Ubuntu: LTS means only prolonged support/updates of packages inside the Main repository, which is like 3k packages out of 90k. The whole ton of packages beyond core-components is in Universe and wont get any updates anymore - not even security related.
    So running a 4 year old LTS means pretty much a pwned system, if you are using something more than vim/emacs.

    Debian: Every release is a true "LTS" and all packages are basically frozen and security relevant patches to packages are backported.

  14. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ubuntu made linux more usable and they really did a good job on that.

    Then they started doing this "we need to replace some component the whole world is accustomed to with our own in-house version, which is not better, has its own problems/bugs, will be retired anyway soon, as noone will care about it, but lets force it our users down the throats, because... its our own!" crap.

    Examples are
    - mir
    - upstart
    - unity

  15. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You see these popups in Ubuntu because the daemon which does this, apport, is only used in Ubuntu. So you have no idea if the same happens in Debian sinxe tjere is no system in place to notify you.

  16. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by F.Ultra · · Score: 3, Informative

    No it does not work like that. The main archive is supported by the Ubuntu core team, i.e the employed people. And tje rest is supported by the cummunity managers, like how 100Ã of the packages in Debian are supported.

  17. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

    Actually you have right now 2 LTS releases, 1 non-LTS release and one non-LTS alpha available from Ubuntu. And since Ubuntu is based on Debian they don't need to accept new packages because they get them once they enter Debian anyway. And btw those popups you get is due to apport, I don't think it's used outside Ubuntu which is why you don't see them on other distributions when apps crash there.

  18. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by F.Ultra · · Score: 2

    Just a stupid AC who doesn't understand that old does not mean unmaintained.

  19. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't agree. I've just completed a Debian 9 deployment and all is well, Stretch is pretty much Jesse, but far lighter and better.

    Additions include MariaDB (A plus from traditional mysql and has been hardened), PHP7 with php-fpm. Stretch's benchmarks look very good against predecessors and stability wise, and realistically these updates look like they'd have to be added to Jesse as well. They include OpenSSH and Apache, there is a kernel update but that's it from 9.0 to 9.1.

    Also to the "Debian is irrelevant" people. Debian fathered most of the globby UI heavy flavors of Linux such as Ubuntu so quit your bleeping, if you're not using Debian, Centos/Redhat you're using junk in serverland.

    =P

  20. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if you're not using Debian, Centos/Redhat you're probably not subjected to systemd.

    =P

    FTFY

  21. Re: Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Debian is my "go to" distro for everything, and with a reason. But still: don't knock on Arch. Its wiki alone is a gem, shining far beyond Arch (the distro) itself. Cool and committed community. Although I never used Arch (yet), I'm immensely grateful they exist.

  22. Time to switch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to a sane init system, e.g. an init system that does only init things.

    1. Re:Time to switch by Eunuchswear · · Score: 2

      apt-get install sysvinit-core

      This is Debian, not some toy version of Linux. You use whatever init system floats your boat.

      Debian -- giving the init system freedom that others promise but fail to give.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  23. Re: Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well you're in luck! There is a variantsl of Debian w/out systemd called Devuan Linux. Can't say that about most distros out there.

  24. Debian fix that bug? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did Debian get a proper init system yet or are they still using that tangled mess that caused it to get forked?

  25. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Don't agree. I've just completed a Debian 9 deployment and all is well, Stretch is pretty much Jesse, but far lighter and better.

    So calling Debian 9 a major release would be a......Stretch?

  26. Kernel panic on 9/9.1 w/GTX 660 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's a really obnoxious regression in the Nouveau module that causes a kernel panic on boot for people who have a GTX 660 (me being one of those people). This is the case on both a bare install and the live CD. It's apparently known and acknowledged but it hasn't been fixed in the stock kernel for 9.1 (kernel version 4.9). The 3.16 kernel in Debian 8 still works fine. I'll keep testing it as they make point releases I guess.

    1. Re:Kernel panic on 9/9.1 w/GTX 660 by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Has someone opened a Debian bug for this?

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    2. Re:Kernel panic on 9/9.1 w/GTX 660 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (GP here) I ran across one that I can't find anymore, and it had been closed with a note that it would probably be fixed in the point release. I'll dig around and post it here if I find it.

  27. Re: Cool by Eunuchswear · · Score: 3, Informative

    You're even luckier! There's a better supported version of Devuan without systemd, it's called Debian Stretch.

    apt-get install sysvinit-core

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  28. Re:Is "Debian" even a thing any more? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

    I think the above AC described it pretty well - Ubuntu did a great job making Linux more user friendly and easier to install. The thing is, now Debian is easy to install (and has been for at least 10 years but even easier now.)

    Debian is a lot more customization and does a better job letting you build from ground up. Ubuntu acts like it lets you do that but then has packages depend on so many others, it quickly ruins the point.