[wellylug] Debian vs Debian Woody

[Rik Wade]

On 26 Feb 2005, at 00:07, Grant McLean wrote:
>
> I definitely wouldn't recommend Woody for a desktop machine.  The
> versions of packages it includes are frustratingly old.  Sure you can
> get backported versions of many things but I'd recommend just running
> Sarge.
>
> I ran Woody on the desktop for a year and it was ok.  I've been running
> Sarge for the last year and it's great.

The reasons for recommending Woody were twofold.

Firstly, so that a new Debian user doesn't go hunting around for Sarge 
or Sid on CD when the vast majority of Debian CDs available are Woody. 
Secondly, because running Woody gives a solid, stable, OS with 
controlled updates and security patching. A new user does not really 
need to be worrying about running newer versions of packages because 
this knowledge and expertise will come with experience. By the time the 
user realises that (s)he wants to run the latest release of GNOME (for 
example), then (s)he's almost certainly got the expertise to think 
about upgrading to a newer OS release.

Personally, I run Sarge too. However, I wouldn't recommend a new user 
to install Woody and straight away upgrade to it.
--
Rik Wade