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Debian

Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Released 480

Posted by michael from the still-no-kde3-in-unstable dept.
emissary47 writes "The Debian Project is pleased to announce the release of Debian GNU/Linux version 3.0. Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, which now supports a total of eleven processor architectures, includes KDE and GNOME desktop environments, features cryptographic software, is compatible with the FHS v2.2 and supports software developed for the LSB. The Release Notes are available here."
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Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Released More

Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Released

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  • Hell has frozen over! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:34PM (#3919608)
    In other news... Hell has frozen over, pigs are flying, and the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series.
  • Can any of the Debian insiders comment on what the future of Debian looks like?

    • Re:Didn't they promise to speed up release cycle? (Score:5, Informative)

      by noahm ( 4459 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:39PM (#3919661) Homepage Journal
      Can any of the Debian insiders comment on what the future of Debian looks like?

      The whole point of Debian is that everything is done in the open. There's very little to be an "insider" on. Just subscribe to the mailing lists or read the archives [debian.org] and you'll be an insider.

      Having said that, the future of Debian looks like a blue sky, with fluffy white clouds here and there. And a little flying saucer off in the distance.

      noah

    • Re:Didn't they promise to speed up release cycle? (Score:5, Funny)

      by henley ( 29988 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @07:00PM (#3919808) Homepage

      The future of Debian looks like the past.

      There will be, lo, much wailing and gnashing of teeth because Random Cool Package vX+1 isn't in the STABLE release. There will be much complaining by users (of which I am one!) when RCP vX+1 takes longer than 15 nanoseconds to hit the UNSTABLE release, regardless of how complicated it is to support on N (where N>=11) different architectures.

      In about 3 months time, there will be much complaining about how long the freeze for "Sid" is taking, and how out of date "Woody" has become (completely ignoring the fact that most people using Debian on servers are probably more than happy to continue to use "Potato" or earlier, just so long as they can apt-get from security.debian.org).

      In about 2.5 years, there will be another announcement on /. announcing Debian 4.0.

      And all through this, real honest-to-goodness users will be able to keep right up to the bleeding edge of free software just by adding a single line to their sources.list, and won't notice a thing.

      By someone who's apparently been running Debian 3.0 for some time now (a number of days, anyway) and didn't even notice. Thanks, apt-get dist-upgrade!

    • Re:Didn't they promise to speed up release cycle? (Score:4, Informative)

      by dbarclay10 ( 70443 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @07:24PM (#3919941)
      Can any of the Debian insiders comment on what the future of Debian looks like?

      Well, there are no real "Debian insiders". However, not everybody is an active member of Debian community, so I can explain a few things in that context.

      First, before I go into what's being discussed with respect to Debian's very long release cycle, I'd just like to explain a few things.

      Debian/stable releases are typically meant for server environments, and as a stable development platform. With that in mind, where tradeoffs are made, stability is favoured over the newest software available. "Stability" doesn't just mean apps that don't crash. It also means things that don't change out from underneath you.

      System integrators, OEMs, businesses with a large base of deployed Debian machines, and developers of commercial, closed-source software all appreciate slow release cycles. A distribution which gets only critical updates over a few years is an easy distribution to target. Nothing will break for them, they can get to know the system extremely well.

      For the server environment, well-proven applications will almost always be preffered. Where a newer package is required for some feature that they wish, options ARE available.

      Debian is split into three trees. There's Debian/stable, Debian/testing, and Debian/unstable. Generally speaking, when a new package is uploaded to Debian, it first goes to "unstable" . After a suitable period of testing, and if there are no more bugs in the new package than the old package, it will be migrated to "testing". Actually, a lot more is considered, but those are probably the two most important aspects of the process.

      So, first a package is uploaded to "unstable". If it's good, it's migrated to "testing". At an arbitrary point, when things seem pretty stable, "testing" will be frozen. Developers have ample warning of this; if a version of their package in "testing" is too old for their liking, they have the opportunity to update it before the freeze.

      During the freeze, only important updates are made to packages. Security updates, updates which fix release-critical bugs, etc., etc.. When all the release-critical bugs have been fixed, the "testing" tree is made the "stable" tree, and we have a new Debian release. That's what we saw happen today :)

      Once a Debian tree has been released, only important updates are made. If Debian/stable has OpenSSH version 3.4, and there's an important security fix made in 3.5, instead of 3.5 being uploaded, the fix will be made to 3.4, and a new update to that package uploaded.

      This is all done in the interest of providing a robust, stable, easy-to-target distribution.

      The "testing" and "unstable" trees will almost always have newer versions of packages than "stable". If a user using "stable" wishes a newer package, then they can either migrate to "testing" or "unstable", or simply install the newer package and its newer dependencies. Simple as pie.

      So, really, a faster release process isn't strictly required. However, there are some very vocal parts of the Debian community which would appreciate a faster release cycle. I'm undecided on my own feelings, but there have been many, many, many suggestions.

      Basically, they all revolve around freezing "testing" earlier than has been the norm. For more information, read the list archives at http://lists.debian.org/

      For the rest of Debian's future? Package updates :) What else would be in Debian's future?
      Thanks :)

  • Neat! (Score:3, Funny)

    by TriCCer ( 591321 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:36PM (#3919624) Homepage Journal
    I can't wait 'till Debian releases a stable version of Debian GNU/HURD ;)=

  • Great, sid will go back to normal! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by greenfly ( 40953 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:37PM (#3919644)
    Finally. Now all us sid users can finally start getting the cutting-edge stuff again. It's sad apt-get upgrading every few days and only having a handful of packages updated. My sources.list file is pretty large now with all the additions I had to add to get updated stuff like mplayer, xine, openoffice, and kde3.

    I say give the developers a week or two, and we will start seeing the cutting edge stuff back into sid.
    • The testing scripts haven't been running since (according to aj's updates... I had to look back in -devel-announce for this) May 1st. There hasn't been any reason for developers to hold off on uploading new versions of packages to sid since then, except for the fact that they're not finished (kde, xfree86, etc) or that it would be illegal (mplayer).
      • mplayer is wholly GPL now, isn't it?

        • They've said that ("ok, *now* it's GPL!") several times. I'm running it myself, but I'm not going to be arsed to check every file to see if i can legally distribute the whole thing, especially when I'm *not* going to get any co-operation from upstream.
      • Yes, but the developers *were* holding back some packages, or at least they weren't finished yet, because they were waiting on Woody to be released.

        I remember reading that the main reason kde3 wasn't out yet for sid was that they were waiting on woody to be released.
        • I'd ask calc about that. Or just look through the -devel archives. kde.txt [calc.cx] has had those big warnings on it for a while.

          Now, I'm not saying this is the case everywhere. A lot of developers have spent time on fixing RC bugs everywhere rather than updating their sid packages. And since this is the first time we've done what has essentially a freeze without a "frozen" distribution, not everyone may have understood what aj was on about.
    • Great, sid will go back to normal!

      Sid will never be normal, haven't you seen Toy Story? :-) That's also why unstable will always be codenamed Sid (while the testing code name will eventually move on to stable).

      But I know what you mean...

  • Doh (Score:3, Funny)

    by toby360 ( 524944 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:37PM (#3919645)
    And I just finished my 3 disk all day long download for Debian 2.2r7~! Looking forward to trying this, debians great=)

  • Please allow some time (Score:4, Informative)

    by mrdlinux ( 132182 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:38PM (#3919649)
    Please keep in mind that the mirrors need to sync, and the ISOs probably won't be ready for a little bit. The official release announcement is due shortly.

    • Please keep in mind that the mirrors need to sync, and the ISOs probably won't be ready for a little bit. The official release announcement is due shortly.

      Well, all of the official mirrors should by in sync now. Mine [mit.edu] is a step down from the tier 1 mirrors, and it has updated already.

      noah

    • Re:Please allow some time (Score:4, Informative)

      by dex@ruunat ( 106172 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:44PM (#3919705)
      CD images won't be up until monday at least (and possibly not until a few days later). You can make your own CD images using jidgo [debian.org], which download individual packages from your favourite mirror and generates an iso image from them.

  • Where to download Debian (Score:5, Informative)

    by Grip3n ( 470031 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:39PM (#3919658) Homepage
    DEBIAN MINIMAL CD IMAGE MIRRORS for the lazy (because this info is burried rather deep within the site):

    • Re:Where to download Debian (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I think you really should try the recommended way to get debian ISO: http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/

    • Re:Where to download Debian (Score:4, Informative)

      by lordsutch ( 14777 ) <chris@lordsutch.com> on Friday July 19, 2002 @08:48PM (#3920298) Homepage
      The LordSutch.com mini-ISO is also available at:

      trumpetti.atm.tut.fi: (Finland)
      HTTP: http://trumpetti.atm.tut.fi/ftp/debian-woody-multi boot/
      FTP: ftp://trumpetti.atm.tut.fi/pub/debian-woody-multib oot/
      RSYNC: rsync://trumpetti.atm.tut.fi/debian-woody-multiboo t/

      ftp.acc.umu.se: (Sweden)
      HTTP: http://ftp.acc.umu.se/pub/cd-images/debian-minicd/
      FTP: ftp://ftp.acc.umu.se/pub/cd-images/debian-minicd/
      RSYNC: rsync://ftp.acc.umu.se/mirror/relativity.phy.olemi ss.edu/cnlawren/

      people.debian.org: (United States - California)
      HTTP: http://people.debian.org/~hertzog/debian-cd/

      planetmirror.com: (Australia)
      HTTP: http://planetmirror.com/pub/debian-minicd/woody/
      FTP: ftp://planetmirror.com/pub/debian-minicd/woody/

      tranzpeer.net: (New Zealand)
      HTTP: http://ftp.tranzpeer.net/debian-minicd/
      FTP: ftp://ftp.tranzpeer.net/debian-minicd/

      mirrors.xmission.com: (United States - Utah)
      HTTP: http://mirrors.xmission.com/debian-minicd/
      FTP: ftp://mirrors.xmission.com/debian-minicd/
      RSYNC: rsync://mirrors.xmission.com/debian-minicd/

      Also the image is slightly out-of-date: the only upgrade you should need is libc6 and its dependencies; just make sure a network source is in your sources.list and you'll be set the first time apt-get runs.

      Also, major props to mod_throttle for making the master site possible...

  • Debian is very well though out... plz discuss (Score:3, Interesting)

    by shamu247 ( 564772 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:40PM (#3919668)
    Debian appears to me to be very well thought out in comparison to other distributions. Everything seems to be done in a calm reasonable manner with the exception of my constant kick/banning from #debian on openprojects. Other distributions may throw in candy for the kiddies that is not ready but debian waits and in turn creates quality. Please discuss.. I cant wait for gnome2 to leave experimental and hit sid. Jonathan Taylor

  • This slashdotting is *terrible*! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Saint Aardvark ( 159009 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:40PM (#3919669) Homepage Journal
    C'mon, people -- I'm doing an apt-get dist-upgrade from work, and I'm getting 1000 kb/s download.

    Can't you kids do a proper slashdotting these days? It won't work unless we all pull together!

    • Because the poozers on /. who actually use Linux use RH or Mandrake (because Mandrake is 'leet). FWIW, debian.org is slowing down quite a bit for web page stuff.

      I'm getting things in order. Plan on sticking with Woody, and to hell with Sarge.

  • This is good. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Martin Marvinski ( 581860 )
    I like the balance of distos. Some like Redhat allow you to try the latest and greatest, while Debian goes for the tried and tested. Linux has a distro for everyone!! This is consumer choise, where it proves that you don't need to be upgrading every year to boost MS's profits while subjecting you as a beta tester for a "final release."
  • OK, this may be a Stupid Question, but, the announcement said that, "As always, Debian GNU/Linux systems can be upgraded painlessly, in place, without any forced downtime."

    How do you upgrade the kernel without a reboot?

    • Re:No forced downtime? (Score:4, Informative)

      by kenthorvath ( 225950 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:45PM (#3919718)
      It installs the new kernel for you first. Then you choose to boot it at your leisure. No FORCED downtime.
    • come check out the wonders of apt-get dist-upgrade, you don't need a new kernel in order to upgrade all of the packages...

    • "Debian GNU/Linux systems can be upgraded painlessly, in place, without any forced downtime." How do you upgrade the kernel without a reboot?

      Reboot != downtime. If you're running a high-availability server cluster, you can bring your spare machine up and have it do the job of each server in your rack until you upgrade your cluster to Debian 3. If you're running a workstation, reboot your machine over coffee break, or pull out your Game Boy Advance and play Tetanus On Drugs [pineight.com]. Otherwise, I don't think a reboot at 3 A.M. California time is going to affect many users, especially if planned a week in advance.

    • The kernel is probably the one and only package that you need to reboot for to have "changes take effect".

      But you are not forced to do so. The system will continue to work if you don't.

      Thus: no *forced* reboot.

      You might want to check this [debian.org] before shutdowning in any case.
    • Debian *never* upgrades the kernel unless you ask it to. That is the only piece that you may have to boot in order to get other than that it is 2 commands like the ones I just ran on my servers and will be doing on my home machine later today. Now granted these where put on testing long ago and thus it is about a 6 package upgrade for the servers it will be a bit more for the home box. But in any case unless you need/want a new kernel it can be done easier than any other distro that I know of.
      • How do you upgrade the kernel without a reboot?
      I wonder if that would be possible .. swiping the kernel out from underneath all the processes and putting a new one in its place.

      You'd need ways of retaining all the state data for each module during the change, and having it translated to the replacement modules. It would have to be done in a certain order, from least critical modules to most critical.

      Very difficult to do I'm sure, and would require massive redesign of the thing. But wouldn't it be neat eh?
    • You'll have to take the system by surprise.
      Do something unexpected and then switch kernel while the system is still confused.

  • Debian Released Notes (Score:4, Informative)

    by Grip3n ( 470031 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:42PM (#3919694) Homepage
    (because it's getting Slashdotted like mad)

    The Debian Project is pleased to announce the release of Debian GNU/Linux version 3.0. Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, which now supports a total of eleven processor architectures, includes KDE and GNOME desktop environments, features cryptographic software, is compatible with the FHS v2.2 and supports software developed for the LSB.

    With the addition of the IA-64 (ia64), HP PA-RISC (hppa), MIPS (mips, mipsel), and S/390 (s390) architectures, Debian GNU/Linux now supports a total of eleven architectures. It now runs on computers ranging from palmtops to supercomputers, and nearly everything in between, including the latest generation of 64 bit machines.

    This is the first version of Debian to feature cryptographic software integrated into the main distribution. OpenSSH and GNU Privacy Guard are included in the default installation, and strong encryption is now present in web browsers and web servers, databases, and so forth. Further integration of cryptographic software is planned for future releases.

    For the first time, Debian comes with the K Desktop Environment 2.2 (KDE). The GNOME desktop environment is upgraded to version 1.4, and X itself is upgraded to the much improved XFree86 4.1. With the addition of several full-featured free graphical web browsers in the form of Mozilla, Galeon, and Konqueror, Debian's desktop offerings have radically improved.

    This version of Debian supports the 2.2 and 2.4 releases of the Linux kernel. Along with better support for a greater variety of new hardware (such as USB) and significant improvements in usability and stability, the 2.4 kernel provides support for the ext3 and reiserfs journaling filesystems.

    Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 features a more streamlined and polished installation, which is translated into numerous languages. The task system has been revamped and made more flexible. The debconf tool makes configuration of the system easier and more user friendly. Debian GNU/Linux can be installed from CD, or from the network and a few floppies. It can be downloaded now, and will soon be available on CD-ROM from numerous vendors.

    Upgrades to Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 from earlier releases are automatically handled by the apt package management tool. As always, Debian GNU/Linux systems can be upgraded painlessly, in place, without any forced downtime. For detailed instructions about installing and upgrading Debian GNU/Linux, please see the release notes.

    This is the first release of Debian that is compatible with version 2.2 of the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). Debian GNU/Linux now also supports software developed for the Linux Standard Base (LSB), though it is not yet LSB certified.

    Current Debian users may be interested to know that this release of Debian supports build dependencies, to aid in building packages from source, and apt pinning, to ease partial upgrades to our testing or unstable branch. This release of Debian features aptitude as an alternative for the venerable dselect program, which will make it easier to select packages. About four thousand new software packages were added to the distribution in Debian GNU/Linux 3.0.

  • Mirrors people! (Score:4, Informative)

    by idiot900 ( 166952 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:44PM (#3919708)
    I know that lots of others will post saying to please use mirrors. Time for redundancy!
    http://www.debian.org/misc/README.mir rors
    [debian.org]
    http://www.debian.org/misc/README.mirrors

    The mirror I maintain is updating as I type this.
    [wustl.edu]
    http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/debian

    For apt lines, go to
    [wustl.edu]
    http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/users/tom/debian/

  • still-no-kde3-in-unstable (Score:5, Informative)

    by n1k0 ( 553546 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:44PM (#3919710)

    Add these to your sources.list and be thankful for all the good things Debian _has_ that other distributions _don't_. ;)

    deb http://kde3.geniussystems.net/debian ./
    deb-src http://kde3.geniussystems.net/debian ./

    ...and see this page [calc.cx] for more information.

    niko

    • ARgh! No Alpha packages! I'd compile it myself, but downloading piles of source over dialup HURTS.

      Anybody know of anyplace I can find precompiled Alpha debs of KDE 3?
    • With Conectiva, you have the benefits of apt-get, with up-to-date packages. Best of both worlds. Better yet, you can ask for support around the internet without having to read endless rants on why it's really GNU/linux and all that shit...

    • Just wait a little bit. (Score:3, Informative)

      by Benley ( 102665 )
      There is no KDE3 in Unstable yet because everyone has been waiting patiently for Woody to be released. Just wait a little bit, and it will start to appear. Along with Gnome 2, I expect.

  • So Pleased (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tacocat ( 527354 ) <tallison1&twmi,rr,com> on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:46PM (#3919724)

    I have been working with a variety of distributions out there and have come to the conclusion that, if you want it to work and work well, the Debian is probably the most trusted distribution out there. If you want bells and whistles, then you need to go someplace else.

    On thing I have to mention here. If Debian merged with GenTOO, then there would be no stopping them! Optimal package compiles coupled with the best package management system AND the BEST PACKAGE MANAGERS out there. Now that would be cool!

    I have to hand it to the Debian folks. They have an excellent policy that puts quality and reliability in front of everything else. I can trust this distribution to work on machines that I can't even access directly.

    • Re:So Pleased (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Bostik ( 92589 ) on Saturday July 20, 2002 @02:07AM (#3921369)

      Yes, I have been following Gentoo a bit as well. A friend uses it, and has fallen in love with the idea of having hugely optimized linux binaries. I gave it a thought - having something like ports/portage for Debian packages would indeed sound good.

      Then I came across this: apt-src [google.com] is in the making. Imagine Debian's package and dependency system combined with ports. Instead of doing a dist-upgrade for binary packages, you would have the choice of doing the same thing, but automatically from source debs. This is already possible for individual programs:

      apt-get -b source $package
      does just that but doesn't do recursive builds. It only builds that particular package. Having all the build-dep packages built as well, that would indeed make a difference. Over time, it would allow to incrementally optimize all of the packages.

      Personally, I'm thrilled.

  • good lord (Score:5, Funny)

    by Doktor Memory ( 237313 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @06:48PM (#3919746) Journal
    In one day we have had:
    • Vorbis 1.0
    • Perl 5.8.0
    • ...and now Debian 3.0
    REPENT, REPENT, THE END IS NIGH!

  • Yabba Dabba Do! (Score:5, Funny)

    by m0nkyman ( 7101 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @07:11PM (#3919873) Homepage Journal
    finally my woody is stable!

  • Kernel Sn(u|o)bbery (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Snafoo ( 38566 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @07:19PM (#3919912) Homepage
    The release notes for x86 indicate that the thing
    ships with 2.2.20, with an optional 2.4.x for the bleeding-edgers, with (as explanation) a catty remark about the Debian developers not considering 2.4 a 'stable' branch.

    Admittedly, I prefer Debian for the work that I do mainly because of the stability. But really -- 2.4 has been utterly reliable since ~2.4.14. Isn't this just a little paranoid? C'mon, folks, the thing is solid! I mean, the VM subsystem hasn't been completely re-written in *months*! ;)

    • Re:Kernel Sn(u|o)bbery (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Benley ( 102665 )
      I believe that the reason for a 2.2 kernel by default comes mostly from the extremely large number of architectures supported in this release. On some of the eleven architectures, 2.4.x is not as stable as it should be (or so I hear), so they went with a 2.2 by default. Please note that there is *nothing* keeping you from installing 2.4.18 or whatever other kernel you want on Woody - in fact there are prebuilt binaries if you wish to use them.

  • Darn (Score:2, Funny)

    by Cro Magnon ( 467622 )
    Now I can't joke about Stale Potatos & Frozen Woodys
  • I'm halfway through a 56k download of woody. damn it. damn it. arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
  • Drill Sarg: Whats your name scumbag?!?!? Private: Sir, private woody, sir! Drill Sarg: BULLSHIT! From now on your name is private STABLE!!! Do you like that name ?!?!?!?! Private: Sir YES Sir!!! Drill Sarg: Well there's one thing you won't like private stable, they don't serve gcc 2.96 and KDE3 on a daily basis in my mess hall!!!!! Private: Sir, yes, sir!!!!

  • KDE 2.2 ?!? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Oxide ( 92607 )
    Alright... I know about this testing stuff and how long has woody been on but KDE 2.2 ? I mean come on, Redhat 7.3 was released before this one and it came with KDE 3.

    This is supposedly a major upgrade (2.2 -> 3.0) you'd think the least one can get things like the latest desktops. Not all of us use Linux as servers only.

  • There's something strange here (Score:3, Interesting)

    by njdj ( 458173 ) on Friday July 19, 2002 @08:45PM (#3920290)
    Release of Debian 3.0 is great news.
    But those of us who have been regularly checking their web site in anticipation will be surprised, because the number of release-critical bugs has increased lately, and stands at 186 as I type.
    Check for yourself [debian.org] - up from a low point of under 100 a month ago.
    Back to the release notes [debian.org]: we understand Debian likes to be eccentric, but isn't it silly to provide the release notes in Catalan? The total number of speakers of Catalan, worldwide, is far less than the number of native Chinese speakers in New York (or even in Queens). And less than the number of native German speakers in Paraguay. The release notes are not provided in either Chinese or German.

    • Re:There's something strange here (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dvdeug ( 5033 ) <dvdeug@@@email...ro> on Friday July 19, 2002 @09:53PM (#3920482)
      we understand Debian likes to be eccentric, but isn't it silly to provide the release notes in Catalan?

      That's the way Free Software works. Debian didn't hire translators to translate the release notes; they put out an email saying "anyone who wants to translate the release notes, here they are." Somebody translated them into Catalan. Nobody put the work into translating them into German or Chinese. That's just the way it goes. They'd be in all 5,000 human languages if we could, but we take what we can get.

      In any case, you're being a little hard on Catalan. There's 9 million Catalan speakers world wide; it's not one of the top ten world languages, but it is one of the top hundred.

    • Re:There's something strange here (Score:4, Insightful)

      by solferino ( 100959 ) <hazchemNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday July 19, 2002 @11:02PM (#3920836) Homepage

      Back to the release notes [debian.org]: we understand Debian likes to be eccentric, but isn't it silly to provide the release notes in Catalan? The total number of speakers of Catalan, worldwide, is far less than the number of native Chinese speakers in New York (or even in Queens). And less than the number of native German speakers in Paraguay. The release notes are not provided in either Chinese or German.

      yr comment shows that you do not understand th nature of a voluntary project

      work in a voluntary project is only done voluntarily - no-one points to another person and orders them to do this or that

      hence th fact that th release notes have been translated into catalan indicates that there was someone happy to do this task - a task which does benefit a community, albeit a rather small one

      i would imagine that german and chinese translations will also appear quite soon - however this again will be done voluntarily, and not by someone ordering someone else to do it

      i would also imagine that yr use of th word 'silly' is offensive to th person who did th catalan translation and who is providing real benefit to a section of th community however insignificant you consider it to be - perhaps you might like to contribute yrself rather than simply being irritatingly critical of work that has been voluntarily performed.

  • Now maybe the magazines will get it right (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Friday July 19, 2002 @09:04PM (#3920348) Homepage
    Ignoring all the obvious "woot" stuff, I'm glad that this will finally get all the magazines in line. Most of the major magazines (non-linux) such as PC World, etc. have been comparing Linux distros lately. They always compare the latest RH, Suse, Mandrake, etc, and version 2.2 of Debian. They always mark it down (because it's so old), but never mention that "Woody" was right around the corner. Now maybe they'll do some fair comparisons.

    And as we all know (except for the magazines) the branches of debian are like this compared to other distros:

    • Stable - The version 2 versions ago, that all the bugs are out of, and it's rock solid
    • Testing - The current version of every other distro. Currest software, current bugs, still great.
    • Unstable - The beta version of other distro, it's buggy, bug it rocks.

    Now all that's left to say is, I wonder what they'll do when then run out of Toy Story characters to name the releases after? Or if they switch, what they'll switch to?

  • Use the Graphical Installer for Woody! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Jagasian ( 129329 ) on Saturday July 20, 2002 @02:13AM (#3921383)
    You hear me! Use the beta version of the PGI ISO [debianplanet.org], the graphical user-friendly autohardware detecting installer for Woody. Check out the website here [progeny.com], and the ISOs are at the first link (only 100MB download for the entire ISO).

    Debian truely is the one true Linux distro. Its non-commercial, and developed by an open free internet community. Not only that, but Debian is superior to every other Linux distro. It is stable, easy to maintain, and it runs on any useful piece of computer hardware - no matter what platform that hardware is. Support Debian by simply spending the time to install and use it for your main Linux installation.

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