Kumar Appaiah wrote:
In what sense? Is it in terms of the up-to-dateness of packages? Well, then I'd agree, though I won't agree that that is a bad thing. The philosophy has always been that stable should have packages which work well and not release with the latest upstream versions. Since the release process occurs a few months after freeze (no new package versions admitted), no new software versions are uploaded.
In what sense? What sense could it mean?? Hmm... lets THINK for a while shall we? Lets focus on the statement "Lenny is a billion years behind other distros". What attribute could "behind" be applied to in the sense of a Linux distribution... Hmm... Could it be the packages that are supplied with the distro? Hmm... sounds plausible, doesn't it? :| Lets see if Kartik can figure this one out.
Anyway, my point stands and it stands well. Lenny is a billion years behind what other distros are currently offering. It is Debian *stable*. I cant possible begin to stress the "STABLE" aspect enough.
I think the question, however badly framed, still asks you the magnitude of problems you are facing. Unfortunately, you have managed to convert this to a personal rebuke. I also use sid, and I (and several others) usually don't seem to face as many problems as you do, so it seems unfair that you pass your experiences as the general verdict.
No. They're not my personal experiences. They are general, known facts. There are several bugs open against the packages in Sid and thats the whole point of Sid. Its meant for developers / testers who are capable of fixing broken packages. It is NOT meant for end users. Lenny is for end users. BUT unfortunately, Lenny's kernel isn't the latest so certain drivers are not included.
An amazing factoid for the dufuses on this list who blindly write replies without first thinking, Intel generally releases drivers for Linux as soon as it puts out its hardware. Last june they released GMA 4500MHD chip and Intel 5100 / 5300 wifi chips. Unfortunately they released the drivers only for 2.6.27 kernel while they *did* backport it to the older kernels but there was no easy way to get them working especially if you have only ONE machine at your disposal.
Sid did not have the 2.6.27 kernel, while Ubuntu, Fedora and <insert your favorite distro -debian> had it already and Fedora guys had already integrated the iwlagn driver which ensured the wifi cards worked out of the box.
Hence my comment to the OP that Sid/Lenny isn't the best choice when trying to get hardware working. Sid is meant for a different purpose and people often misunderstand it!
I'm a Debian supporter but I'm a professional at the same time. I believe "Use whatever is best suited for the job". Is Lenny really suited for the OP's problem? I dont believe so. Why? because Lenny has packages which are OLD.
- Dinesh