[wellylug] NZ Ubuntu Repository

[Daniel Pittman]

"Jim Cheetham" <jim at gonzul.net> writes:
> On 21/05/07, Jeff Hunt <jeffhunt90 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The New Zealand Repository seems to be always way out of date.  For
>> example I get Firefox 1.5 Am I missing something, should I complain
>> to someone, or do I change to an overseas one?
>
> The NZ repository for which Ubuntu?
> Ubuntu 6.06 will *always* have Firefox 1.5 in it ...
> The Ubuntu 7.04 should have FF 2.0.
> Do you need to upgrade your distribution perhaps?

Also, let me add a little to this comment: not only will the 6.06
repository always have Firefox 1.5[1] but this is exactly the way it
should be, and is a good thing.

Keeping the same version of software in an Ubuntu release is by design,
and is done because it avoids any surprises.  You can come in, apply all
the updates each day[2] and be sure that you have a secure system -- and
that nothing will break as a result.[3]


This is a good thing when, for example, you depend on your machine to
"just work" day after day -- a key feature in business environments and
for those of us old enough to be cynical about the shiny! new! versions!
of software.


If you want newer versions of software, not just the same old thing plus
security, you should upgrade to a newer release of Ubuntu.  This is
trivial to do online -- and getting easier in the development releases.

That means you will have to deal with incompatibilities all over the
place, upgrading any third party software, etc, etc, but only once, and
only on a time line *you* set.

You can schedule your Saturday to spend upgrading your system rather
than two hours Monday morning while you /should/ be working, for
example.

Regards,
        Daniel

Footnotes: 
[1]  Actually, Firefox is the package most likely to change because the
     complexity of the software and the upstream security ... process
     mean that it can't always be made secure, forcing a version upgrade
     and the consequent binary incompatibility.

[2]  Well, when there are any.

[3]  For example, Firefox *minor* version bumps have been ABI
     incompatible with some extensions, requiring them to also upgrade.

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