Be the signal » SLUG http://bethesignal.org where we're going, we don't need roads... Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:52:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Understanding the Ubuntu package repositories http://bethesignal.org/blog/2008/03/31/understanding-the-ubuntu-package-repositories/ http://bethesignal.org/blog/2008/03/31/understanding-the-ubuntu-package-repositories/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:08:34 +0000 Jeff Waugh http://bethesignal.org/blog/2008/03/31/understanding-the-ubuntu-package-repositories/ Continue reading →]]> During a thread about daylight savings confusion here in Sydney, Martin Barry asked the SLUG list why updates to Ubuntu packages go into a separate “updates” repository. John Ferlito suggested that I blog my answer…

I’ve never understood the ${ubuntu_release}-updates thing.

A separate repositry for security I understand due to the need to bypass mirror lag.

But anything worthy of going into ${ubuntu_release}-updates is surely worth putting straight into ${ubuntu_release} ? Or is it just me?

Post-release, that archive is never touched. It means that users get to choose how much damage they’re willing to accept:

  • $release: Don’t touch it, I like consistency, even with my bugs.
  • $release-security: I’ll accept patches to existing versions (and very rare version upgrades if absolutely necessary) in the process of keeping my system secure.
  • $release-updates: Okay, some bugs are worth fixing, and I trust you this much (holds up two fingers like Maxwell Smart).
  • $release-backports: I have something akin to technology ADHD, needing the latest of everything I can possibly get, but I’m a sooky little wuss-fart because I can’t handle running the development branch.
  • $devel: I can take it. Seriously. If you break my X, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. I’ll file and maybe even fix the bugs and I’ll do it even if power management is not so much ‘managed’ as vomited all over the wall. Come get some.
  • Debian: We do the work so you don’t have to.

Amazingly, a number of followups suggest that this summary should form some kind of official description on the Ubuntu Wiki or similar. I’m sure someone in Ubuntu land will be keen to… revise some of my verbiage… should they choose to use it. :-)

]]> http://bethesignal.org/blog/2008/03/31/understanding-the-ubuntu-package-repositories/feed/ 10 Quiet Little Tributes http://bethesignal.org/blog/2006/05/29/quiet-little-tributes/ http://bethesignal.org/blog/2006/05/29/quiet-little-tributes/#comments Mon, 29 May 2006 05:02:34 +0000 Jeff Waugh http://perkypants.org/blog/2006/05/29/quiet-little-tributes/ Continue reading →]]> Once upon a time, a 4U server was donated to SLUG, for use as a web and list server. Though it wasn’t wildly powerful, it became known as “The Six Million Dollar” machine, because it had really earned its keep in a past life.

As soon as it was delivered, I used the Linuxcare Bootable Business Card to install slink. But it was the faultless, online upgrade to potato (using Progsoc‘s bountiful university bandwidth) that really blew my mind. Setting up the SLUG machine was my first experience installing Debian. I’ve been using it ever since.

Though it was unimaginatively known as ‘slug’ for a spell, the machine was later blessed as ‘maddog’, a tribute to Jon ‘maddog’ Hall — wise uncle, grandfather and godfather to the Linux community, and speaker at linux.conf.au 2001.

A couple of months ago, after a number of hardware maladies, ‘maddog’ was decommissioned. The SLUG web and mail services are now operating under a Xen virtual machine called ‘rusty’, a tribute to Rusty Russell — goofy big brother and whip-cracker to the Linux Australia community.

Quiet little tributes.

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