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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Is Debian with automatic updates a good idea? (lemm.ee)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So a while back I threw Ubuntu 22 LTS on an old Surface Pro 3 and gave it to my Dad.

He loves it, but he's the type who's been burnt by updating software in the past, so he basically refuses any whenever prompted.

Been thinking about throwing Debian with Gnome on it for a while, and wondering if it's stable enough to just let updates happen automatically in the background?

I got no experience with Debian I basically jumped right on EndeavourOS as my main distro when I started using Linux full time.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Speaking of which, Debian users, how safe are distribution upgrades?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I just migrated a bunch of servers to Bookworm.
That was the first time ever I had any issues. There was a dependency loop that kept some packages from finishing installation.
Simply running apt dist-upgrade a second time fixed it.

That being said, don't just point your sources.list to the new version and dist-upgrade. It usually works, but for a production system, always read the guide and follow the steps that are relevant for you:
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/release-notes/ch-upgrading.html

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

I haven't had any issues ever on stable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Better than anything else, IME. My home server hasn't had a fresh install since Debian 8. It's now on 12 and each time I just dist-upgrade.

There are sometimes the odd breakage, but it's a lot less hassle than reinstalling everything. (we use EL at work and that takes months to migrate to new machines)