My Debian Adventure, Part 2: Lenny

I'm using Lenny instead of Etch on one laptop because Lenny is more compatible with it, but I do have Etch running on a desktop system, and I'd hate to have the whole thing hosed by a crappy backport. Don't they test these things?

sure they test it ... however, if it was stable on all platforms and in all cases then it would be in Stable and not a backport at all :-D

I can tell you as one of the lead developers in CentOS, it is impossible to test every incarnation / combination of libraries that a user can install.

This is not the first time I've heard of problems with backports. They're usually fine, but are not a substitute for using an updated distro. I had problems (not a hosed system) with backports not working.

If you want to run Debian stable, stick with the stable repos. Otherwise you lose the only advantage stable offers. Testing is in my experience better than stable plus a bunch of backports/third-party software/compiled software.

I know that it's possible to manage the shared libraries in order to make backports work, but it does sound like a nightmare in the making.

I always say that when you find an application that you need, and it only runs after an upgrade, then it's time to do that upgrade.

I heard that backports.org is about to become official Debian-endorsed "distribution" so maybe it will improve...

> maybe it will improve

Possibly, but it's already pretty good. AFAICT, it's probably about as good as it can be, given the limited amount of testing before they are made available. Debian stable is tested for months or years, while backports are more or less tested after they're on your system. It's an impossible task IMO to add anything to Debian stable and expect it to be the same quality as stable itself.

I didn't read the article that closely, but especially if the backport was installed with Aptitude (even though most people probably use apt-get or Synaptic), it should be possible to restore the system to some kind of health.

That said, if I had such a problem, I wouldn't be adverse to a reinstall of Debian, preserving my /home environment, and just forgetting the whole thing ever happened.