AMD64 package archives for etch/testing and sid/unstable have been moved to the main Debian mirrors, the same as the ones used for other supported architectures (e.g. x86). This was announced mid-April 2006 in a message on the -devel-announce list
Sarge/stable remain on the old AMD64 mirrors, those using the old-style "/debian-amd64/" URLs. These old mirrors should no longer contain testing or unstable (see http://amd64.debian.net/debian-amd64/dists/etch/README)
What you need to do if you run sarge
Don't do anything. Continue using the /debian-amd64/ mirrors.
What you need to do if you run etch/testing
The old /debian-amd64/ mirrors no longer carry testing/etch and you should remove the lines from your sources.list
Whilst the official testing mirror is gaining all the packages via normal transitions from unstable the official mirrors will be lacking some packages.
You should move to using a normal etch/testing line like:
deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian testing main
Replace uk with your country code as appropriate.
What you need to do if you run unstable
Switch now to an official mirror and rid yourself forever of the /debian-amd64/ lines.
deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian unstable main
Replace uk with your country code as appropriate.
How do I know if I'm running the old style mirrors or not?
Well the observant amongst you will have noticed that this article keeps harping on about /debian-amd64/ in the URL. If your sources.list contains this then you are using the old style mirrors.
I upgraded to the official testing and now it doesn't have my favourite package...
Yes, as mentioned above, the testing mirror for amd64 isn't quite complete yet because of the way testing works. The packages are making their way into testing satisfying the normal rules and these rules occasionally hold packages out for a long time. Hopefully this situation will get better with time but until then you have the following options.
- Upgrade your entire system to official unstable (only do this if you know what you are doing and be aware that it isn't easy to cleanly go back).
- Install unstables version of the package you need (dependencies permitting, don't do this for libraries if you use your system to build packages for use by others).
- Build testings version yourself and install it.
- Build unstables version yourself and install it.
UPDATE: Xorg made it in and progress is being made with extra work on britney by the release team to push more packages in.