Subject: Dselect

From: Servo <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 02:59:35 -0400

Hi all!  I [used to be] an avid Slackware fan.  Then I meet Debian about two
months ago, and I am VERY Impressed.  So far, I am running 2 Debian Boxes,
and a third is in the works (Where is the Free Hardware Foundation when you
need it?:) 

I know i have not read all there is to read about Debian, but I was wondering...

When I first ftp'd debian, i got it from the 'buzz' directory.  I now see
the current directory is 'rex'?  I'm a bit confused on the seperation.  Is
this per-version directories?  

Thanks for any response I get!

Daniel Stringfield
(Network Adminstrator)

---

From: Mark Phillips <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 11:19:30 +1000

>this per-version directories?  

As I understand it, buzz is the current stable version and rex is
the current unstable version.  Ie, buzz contains the latest official
release, where as rex is the latest "work in progress".  The reason
for the strange names is to make mirroring the debian site easier.
When rex becomes officially released, all that needs changing will be
symbolic links rather than the copying and deleting of huge numbers of
files unneccessarily.

I hope this helps.

Mark Phillips.  ([email-masked])

---

From: Dale Scheetz <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 08:57:08 -0400 (EDT)

> Thanks for any response I get!
Each Debian distribution is given a name at the beginning of the
development cycle. Debian-1.1 has the name buzz, and is static since the
last release. Since that time the next release has been being built in rex
(otherwise known as unstable). You should feel free to try packages in
this area, but be advised that this system is under development (not for
the faint of heart) and should be used with caution and the ability to
return to your previous state (thank Ian for dpkg). When the next release
of Debian occurs, rex will become static (with the addition of a rex-fixed
for bug fixes) and there will be a new name assigned to
unstable/development.
Hope this helps.

Luck,

Dwarf

------------                                          --------------

aka   Dale Scheetz                   Phone:   1 (904) 877-0257
      Flexible Software              Fax:     NONE 
      Black Creek Critters           e-mail:  [email-masked]

------------ If you don't see what you want, just ask --------------

---

From: Guy Maor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 11:13:39 -0500 (CDT)

On Tue, 10 Sep 1996, Mark Phillips wrote:

> the current unstable version.

buzz is *NOT* the current stable version.  buzz is the version that was
pressed on all CDs.  If you use buzz, you will be exposing yourself to
major security holes discovered since buzz was released.

Please use buzz-fixed, aka stable, aka Debian-1.1-fixed, aka
Debian-1.1.<x>.  (x is incremented whenever a change is made).

The easiest way to stay current is to use the ftp method of dselect and
point it at stable.  Alternatively you can install all the packages in
/debian/buzz-updates/binary.

The READMEs in the /debian, /debian/buzz, /debian/buzz-updates, and
/debian/buzz-fixed explain all this.

Guy