Debian Lenny goes to 5.0.4, and so do I

When Debian issues a point release, as it just did with the current Stable distribution Lenny going from the 5.0.3 to 5.0.4, it's no big deal. They happen. But you don't need to throw out your Lenny install CDs or do any kind of reinstallation.

The updates have been flowing to your Debian-running machine (assuming you have one) all along if you've been using the Update Manager that ships in the standard desktop, or regularly checking for updates with Aptitude or apt.

If you are in need of a new Debian install CD, be it the network installer, the business-card size installer or a full CD or DVD, there will be new images with all the patches up through 5.0.4. But you can always install with even a 5.0.0 disc made when Lenny went Stable (Feb. 15, 2009) and then update the box and have everything in 5.0.4.

And Debian installations are generally upgradeable from one distribution to another, say from Lenny to the current Testing branch, Squeeze, or to Squeeze once it becomes stable itself (sending Lenny into Old Stable territory, at which time it will still get security patches for an additional year).

I'm no expert on Debian point releases, but I did think it was unusual to have, as I did, 29 updates waiting for me. I've been waiting to install them until I wrote this blog post, and as such I will be letting Update Manager do its thing.

One thing I noticed was that via the Update Manager, in recent weeks (many, actually) I haven't been able to see the "changes" notes on the various packages ready for upgrade. Now I can. I don't know what fix was made previously in Debian, either to my installation or to the way the packages are configured at the Debian mirrors, but it's nice in any event to see that information in Update Manager.

Once again I'll give my pitch for Debian Stable. It doesn't have the newest packages, but everything is of an acceptable age for my purposes. Debian runs faster than Ubuntu on my old hardware, and I really enjoy not needing to mess around with xorg.conf settings or any kernel mode setting configuration, as I have all too often in the past six months running mostly Ubuntu.

I'm not saying I won't be giving Ubuntu Lucid a try. In fact, I already have. It looks good ... with the VESA driver. If the folks at Xorg/Ubuntu/Debian/the Linux kernel can see fit to allow my Intel 830m video chip to work with either the Intel or i810 drivers (and why the i810 driver has been drummed out of the Xorg world is both a mystery and a personal affront to me).

My whole sense of open-source operating systems used to be that the newest hardware isn't so well-supported since drivers haven't been written/ported, and the very oldest hardware is tough because all of that stuff is falling out of the kernel/system. I found more than a few distributions/projects that could handle my aging stable of computers (with much success using OpenBSD, Debian and Puppy Linux).

But the Xorg issues I began having way back in Debian Lenny's Testing days have caused me a whole lot of trouble. Now that I've overcome enough problems to run X in Lenny, all the Ubuntus up through Karmic, as well as OpenBSD 4.6, I'm worried once again; I've had to resort to the VESA driver not just in Ubuntu Lucid Alpha 2 but also in Sidux 2009-04 (which I tried to give me a clue as to how Debian Squeeze will turn out).

Thus my holding onto Debian Lenny with both hands. I'll be looking into Debian Backports with an eye toward upgrading a few key apps and staying in Lenny longer than I otherwise might.