18 Mar
2024
18 Mar
'24
3:15 a.m.
Gianluca Interlandi composed on 2024-03-17 18:51 (UTC-0700):
May be off topic. I am trying to understand why Debian
(especially stable)
has the reputation as being more conservative than other distributions. If
I look at distrowatch (for example comparing to openSUSE and Fedora):
Kernel LibreOffice Release date
Bookworm 6.1.27 7.4.5 2023-06-10
Trixie 6.6.15 24.2.0 2023-06-11
Leap 15.5 5.14.21 7.4.3.2 2023-06-07
Tumbleweed 6.7.9 24.2.1 2024-03-17
Fedora 6.5.6 7.6.2 2023-11-07
I don't know much about the meaning of kernel
versions, but I know that
major versions are often developed in parallel. Is 5.14.21 newer than
6.1.27? Judging alone from the kernel version numbers (and other
packages), it looks like Leap would be the most conservative while Debian
Testing (Trixie) almost as up-to-date (concerning newer Linux packages) as
Tumbleweed and ahead of Fedora (released later).
The kernel version in Leap has no relevance for purposes of comparison to other
distros' kernels. Its 5.14 is purely nominal, loaded with hardware support
backports and security patches. 15.6 is due for release in 9 or so weeks,
currently in beta testing with a 6.4 kernel, while current is 6.8.1. Fedora
doesn't stick with its release kernel. F39 and F38 are both currently on 6.7.9 or
so, same as Tumbleweed, which also offers 6.6.21 currently.
Among distros you listed, only Bookworm and Leap can truly be considered
"stable"
releases. TW is a rolling release, which by definition isn't stable, though unlike
other rolling releases, it has a continuous QA process that severely limits the
ability of serious problems to sneak out into the wild, and it comes standard with
BRFTS and convenient snapshot rollbacks enabled. Fedora OTOH, has a well deserved
bleeding edge reputation, as its policy of routinely upgrading kernels between
releases attests.
Bookworm does have a newer kernel available for those who actually need newer than
its release version.
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