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Re: How automatic are backport package updates?

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On Lu, 15 feb 21, 08:20:39, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 13, 2021 at 10:47:41AM -0500, Michael Grant wrote:
> > One comment though, in the 10+ years of running Debian Testing, I have
> > to say that Testing is actually very reliable, way more reliable than
> > it's name implies!
> 
> This can be true for many users.  It can also be catastrophically false
> for a few users.
> 
> > I initially moved to Testing because there were some packages that I
> > needed which were not in Backports and were regularlly maintained in
> > Testing.
> 
> To be fully clear: nothing is "maintained in testing".  That's not how
> testing works at all.  It's a mis-perception on your part.
> 
> There is an automated software system that will copy a package from sid
> into testing when certain conditions are met.  Those conditions include:
> 
>  1) There isn't a (hard) freeze on testing currently.
>  2) The package in unstable has no release-critical bugs.

That is, the package in unstable doesn't introduce *new* RC bugs. It 
will migrate if it still has the same RC bugs as the version in testing.

>  3) The package's dependencies are all met in testing.
>  4) The package has been in unstable for N days (the value of N varies
>     based on the importance of the package and other factors).
> 
> In the case of your package, what probably happened is the Debian
> developer who maintains that package was actively working on it, so
> it received regular uploads to unstable (sid).  Then, because the
> package's dependencies were already satisfied in testing, and likely
> did not change during the uploads to sid, the package was free to
> "trickle down" to testing N days after the upload, consistently.
> 
> This will not always be the case.  What happens frequently in testing is
> that a gargantuan package suite (like GNOME or other desktop environment)
> will be held up by one bug, and will be stuck that way for months or
> years, even if there are uploads being made to sid.  No new versions will
> trickle down to testing until that one bug is resolved, and then suddenly
> the whole thing comes gushing down all at once.

Security fixes will also get stuck if a dependency is not ready to 
migrate.

Kind regards,
Andrei
-- 
http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser

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Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-01-09 07:00 +0100
  Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Thorsten Glaser <t.glaser@tarent.de> - 2021-01-09 15:00 +0100
    Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-01-10 10:10 +0100
      Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2021-01-11 14:10 +0100
        Re: How automatic are backport package updates? songbird <songbird@anthive.com> - 2021-01-11 16:40 +0100
          Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org> - 2021-01-12 16:30 +0100
            Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-01-12 16:40 +0100
              Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org> - 2021-01-12 17:10 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-01-12 17:30 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-01-12 20:30 +0100
              Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org> - 2021-02-12 18:10 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Tixy <tixy@yxit.co.uk> - 2021-02-12 18:20 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? "Andrew M.A. Cater" <amacater@einval.com> - 2021-02-13 15:40 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org> - 2021-02-13 16:50 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? songbird <songbird@anthive.com> - 2021-02-13 17:40 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org> - 2021-02-13 18:00 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-02-13 18:10 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-02-13 18:30 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-02-13 18:30 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-02-13 18:00 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org> - 2021-02-13 18:20 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2021-02-15 14:30 +0100
                Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-02-16 10:20 +0100
            Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-01-12 21:00 +0100
        Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-01-11 20:30 +0100
          Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-01-11 21:00 +0100
            Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2021-01-11 22:00 +0100
              Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-01-12 01:20 +0100
            Re: How automatic are backport package updates? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-01-12 09:00 +0100

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