Re: Debian vs. other distros?

From: Carlos Moreno (moreno_at_mochima_dot_com_at_x.xxx)
Date: 01/09/04 

Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2004 18:01:02 -0500

Roger Leigh wrote:

> Certainly, if you stick to the "stable" distribution
> (currently Woody), you get a solid and reliable system, albeit dated
> slightly: do you want a cutting-edge yet not entirely reliable system,
> or an older, but solid and dependable system. Both have their place,
> but if you need the reliability, the choice is easy.

Hmmm, I do understand the principle. But in practice, doesn't
often happen that older versions have more bugs and more
security issues? I mean, that's more or less how the Open
Source works, right? Bugs and problems are discovered over
time, and after being discovered, they are usually fixed
promptly and made available through newer releases.

For isntance, I just upgraded our three servers to PostgreSQL
7.4.1 -- and I did it because I wanted more reliability and
better performance and better security (though PostgreSQL
may well hold the record of fewer bugs discovered... Not
sure if that means that no-one uses it or that it has less
bugs... My bet is on the second option :-))

I think it's not too different with the kernel... Right?
I mean, you stick to an older kernel and you have several
critical security flaws that by now are long fixed, and
so if you get the latest version you're rather safe.

Am I off track here? Or did I misinterpret what you were
trying to say?

Thanks!

Carlos 

--

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