Re: We might need a better wording for our release page

Justin B Rye <[email protected]> writes:

> Andreas Tille wrote:

>>  How are we defining a "release"

>> I've considered pointing to
>> 
>>    https://www.debian.org/releases/index.en.html
>> 
>> but hmmm, when reading the page I can't really make my point
>  sufficiently clear.  Could the publicity team find some better wording
>> to avoid this confusion?
>
>  https://wiki.debian.org/Glossary#release has:
>
> # *release*
> #
> # see [Debian Release]
> #
> # * The occasion of a new [stable] version of Debian being declared
> #   ready for production use.

This describes the launch event, rather than the thing being released: i
think this should be downplayed


> #
> # * A [suite] that has been or is going to be released; more generally,
> #   a synonym for [suite] - even [sid] has a `Release` file and is
> #   traditionally (if oxymoronically) referred to as "the unstable
> #   release".
>
> (And see also https://wiki.debian.org/Glossary#distribution .)
>
> So if somebody comes up with a good answer it can go there...

The glossary is definitly better than the debian.org page, which uses
"distribution" in a rather odd way "The stable distribution contains the
latest officially released distribution of Debian."

I would find it clearer if "distribution" was only used to mean Debian,
ie a "linux distro", which is how people describe it. Stable, testing,
unstable, bookworm are vesions (i suppose "release" also works) of
Debian.

------------------- Suggested revision below ---------------------

Debian Releases

Debian is avialable in three main versions available: stable, testing
and unstable.

stable
------
The stable version is the latest production-ready version of
Debian. This is the version which we recommend using for live services
and for beginners.

The name "stable" refers to the fact that it does not change often:
although we regularly release security fixes, we (amost?) never change
the versions of software from it. We do make minor updates which can
introduce minor changes, but care is taken to not break anything. We
generally release a new vesion of stable every couple of years, but
there is no fixed timetable: we release a new stable version when it is
ready.

The current stable distribution of Debian is version 12, codenamed
bookworm. It was initially released on June 10th, 2023 and its latest
update, version 12.8, was released on November 9th, 2024. The next
version of Debian will be named trixie.

testing
-------

The 'testing' suite is where the next version of Debian is tested. It
can be thought of as a bit like a 'rolling release' as it is updated
daily with newer versions of software. It is less tested and requires
more active administration than using stable. Packages are uploaded to
unstable (see below) and automatically moved to testing unless critical
bugs are found: in practice many people use find it a good compromise
between stability and having access to new software.

See the Debian FAQ for more information.


unstable
--------
The 'unstable' suite (also referred to as 'sid') is where active
development of Debian occurs. Generally, unstable is used by developers
and advanced users who like to live on the edge. It is recommended that
users running unstable subscribe to the debian-devel-announce mailing
list to receive notifications of major changes.