Those are packages that lot of other packages rely on and so as a result just needs more testing. Sometimes Arch is faster, sometimes other distros are faster. This is relatively normal.
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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To add to this, all of the packages mentioned have a -git version in the AUR. The people who really need the absolute newest version can always install these packages. The rest of the people (those who prefer stability) can continue using a slightly older, but well-tested versions of these programs.
Yeah but I want the latest stable lol, only way to get that is build from source.
The only way to get it stable is to work out the kinks before releasing it to your user base and breaking their stuff in the process.
They're a small group of volunteers. It's amazing that they keep up as much as they already do.
No what you want is unstable Arch which you can freely do by changing the repos, but your user experience will be fraught with pain and issues. You can move to Debian and do the same by running their unstable branches, same results though, most likely a broken system.
Both will get you the newest releases.
And you can also install packages from the Arch testing repos - which I really wouldn't want to - but it's entirely up to you.
I appreciate the work that goes into testing and patching stuff for Arch a lot. I don't want my OS to break for no good reason. Getting an update a month earlier is no good reason.
Wasn’t Python being behind the reason GNOME 44 took a little while to come out? It does seem like things move a little slower than they used to. Might be a good thing for stability in the long run. Think people need to be reminded that Arch is community run too. So updates might lag behind compared to these distros with big corporations behind them.
And also the Arch community isn't as big as Debian, for example.
I believe I read there was only one package maintainer for Gnome on Arch, which is why the release took longer. We have to remember it's often just regular people, or in that case, person, who maintains this stuff for free or very little. And just because upstream made a release doesn't mean it's a simple drop-in to our distro of choice.
In general, I would like to note that a rolling distribution does not necessarily always have to offer the latest packages as soon as possible. Rolling primarily only means that updates are offered gradually via the same package sources.
But this is just a general remark. :-)
The Arch narrative is changing! We're witnessing a historical moment!
It does seem a bit slower than it used to, but it also seems more stable than it used to and I don't think that's a coincidence. These days I also see the occasional package pulled when it introduces issues which is not something I recall happening in earlier years. I think it's great, personally.
I use old packages, btw
Worth noting that Arch just migrated to GitLab and changed its repo structure, while also deprecating Python 2.
I'd imagine that took some folks some time
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is really good at keeping up with the latest packages while remaining really stable. Despite recieving gigabytes of updates since February when I first installed it I had a far better experience compared to the "stable" Ubuntu I was using before.
All right, enough of this debian bashing, this isn't 2007 anymore, they're actually using up-to-date packages and kernels, you'll need to find someone else to kick around now.
I ... liked... arch for a while, but they broke a few times (library dependency failure, think it was expat) and I'm not in this just for smug.
Gentoo did the same, but probably going back to them as a hybrid distro, debian as the base, gentoo as the lxc working distro with some DE apps.
Have a ton of cores, gentoo should be fun.
I just kind of sigh these days when I see Debian FUD. It's as up to date as any, basically a rolling release, solid as hell. I think the issue is it just freaking works and people like to dick around with their distro instead of actually using it.
Oh I used to bash it too back when it was years behind the times.
But the last few years they've kept their cadence tight, and have made a really top-tier distro, the best now imho, because it just works, and nails all the basics perfectly.
It's so no-nonsense it makes rhel look sloppy.
I usually don't mind when most packages get behind, but the one I always notice is GNOME. It's been taking longer than I would generally expect for Arch to ship a new major update for GNOME. Fedora seems to have more up-to-date packages in most areas and ships them vanilla like Arch, as well as coming with a host of other sane defaults, so I've been thinking of making the switch...soon.
IIRC it's because they wait for the X.1 release of GNOME before actually updating
Oh, I didn't know that! All I've ever seen when this question gets asked in the BBS is "it'll be done when it's done :)" which is fair enough. If they're waiting for the .1 release as an indicator of stability, then that explains why it feels like a while.
Arch will end up like Gentoo.
Could you expand on this a little bit for me? I’m interested, never used gentoo, how did it ‘end up?’
Yeah I thought gentoo was still going strong.
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