Differences between revisions 10 and 11
Revision 10 as of 2009-02-15 17:47:51
Size: 2522
Editor: GeoffSimmons
Comment: Amend 5.0.1 link, add info on micro version scheme.
Revision 11 as of 2009-02-15 17:52:08
Size: 2484
Editor: FranklinPiat
Comment: Lenny's curreny point release really is 5.0.0 (5.0.1 is being prepared)
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 12: Line 12:
 * [:DebianReleases/PointReleases/5.0.1:5.0.1]  * 5.0.0

Point Releases

Even [:DebianStable:stable] is updated once in a while. Those updates are called "Point Releases". They usually incorporate the security fixes released until the time of the update and fixes for grave bugs in the current release. They are prepared by the [wiki:Teams/ReleaseManager Stable Release Managers (SRM)]. As of February 2009 they should happen at about every two months. [:DebianOldStable:oldstable] is subjected to a similar handling until it is end-of-life'd, although the periods may be longer.

Debian Etch 4.0r4 (name [:EtchAndAHalf:Etch and a half]) was be the first point release to introduce improved hardware support in a point release, through optional packages. A similar effort is planned for Lenny.

Current point releases

Lenny:

  • 5.0.0

Etch:

  • 4.0r7

Version scheme

The initial release always gets r0 appended, but it is normally omitted: for example Debian Etch started off as 4.0r0. Point Releases increment the digit after the "r" to specify a certain revision of a release with updates included.

As of [:DebianLenny:Lenny]'s release, this scheme has changed. A micro version number is used to indicate the point release (eg. 5.0.1). ?FootNote([http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2009/02/msg00003.html "Preparing the first point-release" -- Debian squeeze waiting for development])

Announcement of Point Releases

Point Releases are announced on:

Details are also available in each repository, like [http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/etch/ChangeLog] (or something like [http://archive.debian.org/dists/potato/ChangeLog] for archived distributions).

How to propose an update for a Point Release

First please be sure that a bug report exists for the problem. Secondly a patch should be attached to it. If possible the fix should be tested in unstable and testing first. However a patch often needs backporting to the older version in stable. If this is done it can be tested in the etch-proposed-updates suite, which is generally available to the public. Please contact debian-release@lists.debian.org about the bug with a debdiff of the proposed upload attached to the mail.