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Groups > linux.debian.user > #197214

Re: Debian testing - release number

From John Crawley <john@bunsenlabs.org>
Newsgroups linux.debian.user
Subject Re: Debian testing - release number
Date 2018-07-05 04:20 +0200
Message-ID <w822e-72-5@gated-at.bofh.it> (permalink)
References (1 earlier) <w6I5z-1lO-1@gated-at.bofh.it> <w6Oum-53c-11@gated-at.bofh.it> <w7ECB-2jR-9@gated-at.bofh.it> <w7Smd-2hj-3@gated-at.bofh.it> <w80MN-7wC-7@gated-at.bofh.it>
Organization BunsenLabs

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On 2018-07-05 09:58, Richard Hector wrote:
> On 05/07/18 03:53, David Wright wrote:
>> On Wed 04 Jul 2018 at 13:18:14 (+1200), Richard Hector wrote:
>>> On 02/07/18 05:31, David Wright wrote:
>>>> On Sun 01 Jul 2018 at 22:44:17 (+1200), Richard Hector wrote:
>>>>> On 28/06/18 16:40, David Wright wrote:
>>>>>> On Wed 27 Jun 2018 at 19:49:13 (+0200), Martin Krämer wrote:
>>>>>>> I am wondering if it is possible to get the debian release number
>>>>>>> for debian testing (and maybe sid) from command line?
>>>>>> Yes.
>>>>>> # cat > /etc/debian_version
>>>>>> Write whatever you want here
>>>>>> Whether it's advisable to depend on its being numerical is a different matter.
>>>>>
>>>>> Wait, what? Are you trying to get it, or set it? Why would you want to
>>>>> edit that?
>>>>
>>>> As Brad has already pointed out, "[…] [testing] will get the official
>>>> release number 10 when buster becomes the stable branch of Debian."
>>>> That's been policy AIUI at least since Debian 1.0 was not released.
>>>> What seems to be lost on people who feel a pressing need for
>>>> /etc/debian_version to contain a number to satisfy some script that
>>>> they have written (which seems to be the usual reason) is that
>>>> /etc/debian_version is a configuration file. Look in the
>>>> .deb file and there it is, along with /etc/issue{,.net} which
>>>> determine how you are greeted {locally,remotely}. So admins are
>>>> free to set them all how they like.
>>>
>>> I accept that you _can_ edit it. I just don't see why you'd want to,
>>
>> I can only refer you to a recent iteration of bug reporting:
>> https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=866885
>>
>>> especially in terms of the OP's request to find out what the version
>>> number is. If the file has the version number, fine. If not, changing
>>> the file still isn't going to help.
>>
>> Eh? If the OP wants a version number, then changing the string to a
>> number will help.
> 
> Equally, if I want to know what the time is, I can ask you.
> If you don't know, I can tell you.
> Then I can ask you, and now you'll know, and I'll find out.
> 
> Right?
> 
> We must be looking at different problems.
> 
> I'm assuming that if you're trying to look up the version number, it's
> because you don't know what it is.

It would be relatively simple to make a script which read the words in 
/etc/debian_version, performed a mapping to some number and appended the 
result to that file. However Debian policy here implies that a version 
number _has_no_meaning_ until a release is made. You could still go 
ahead and add one, if it would save whatever scripts wanted that info 
from having to do the above mapping themselves, but there's no guarantee 
outside that sysadmin's domain of what such a number would mean.

-- 
John

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Thread

Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-06-28 06:50 +0200
  Re: Debian testing - release number Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2018-07-01 12:50 +0200
    Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-01 19:40 +0200
      Re: Debian testing - release number John Crawley <john@bunsenlabs.org> - 2018-07-04 03:00 +0200
        Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-04 17:20 +0200
          Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-05 14:20 +0200
      Re: Debian testing - release number Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2018-07-04 03:20 +0200
        Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-04 18:00 +0200
          Re: Debian testing - release number Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2018-07-05 03:00 +0200
            Re: Debian testing - release number John Crawley <john@bunsenlabs.org> - 2018-07-05 04:20 +0200
            Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-05 12:20 +0200
              Re: Debian testing - release number Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2018-07-05 13:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-05 13:50 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-05 18:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-05 18:50 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-05 20:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-05 20:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Nicholas Geovanis <nickgeovanis@gmail.com> - 2018-07-05 22:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-05 22:20 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Nicholas Geovanis <nickgeovanis@gmail.com> - 2018-07-05 22:30 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-05 22:50 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Nicholas Geovanis <nickgeovanis@gmail.com> - 2018-07-05 23:40 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-06 02:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2018-07-06 19:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-06 20:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2018-07-05 22:40 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-06 02:20 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-06 10:50 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-06 14:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-06 15:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number davidson <davidson@freevolt.org> - 2018-07-07 06:10 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-07 10:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2018-07-09 15:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-09 17:30 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-10 23:30 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2018-07-11 14:00 +0200
                Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-13 21:20 +0200
            Re: Debian testing - release number David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2018-07-05 16:50 +0200

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