Freeze of Stretch

[paxmark1]

Well, how does the Debian Freeze of Stretch (a major basis of Sparky's   program base) affect us here at Sparky? The "freeze" thing happens to Debian Testing about every 2 years before a new stable is released. For the next few months, Debian-Testing will still be Stretch,  A nice well mannered, but mostly dull guy for the next few months until he becomes very dull when he becomes the next Stable, taking over from Jessie.  Buster will become the next Testing then.

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianStretch     ## timeline is

2014-11-09: Distribution codename announced
    2015-04-26: Jessie released, development on Stretch started
    2016-03-03: Decided to defer everything by 2 months to release with Linux 4.10
    Q3 2016: Please finish up things for Stretch
    2016-11-05: Transition freeze (general freeze of transitions)
    2017-01-05: "Soft" freeze (no new packages, no re-entry, normal migrations)
    2017-02-05: Full freeze

When will it be released as stable? The mantra for a couple decades is "When it is done".  April, May, July, who knows? People run servers off of stable and Debian has earned peoples trust and will continue to release as close to a bug free stable as possible.  Also, Debian wants to include a very stable 4.10 kernel. 

One thing that people may have noticed is that programs can suddenly disappear during the freeze. 
https://release.debian.org/stretch/freeze_policy.html#autoremovals

Throughout the freeze, we will continue to remove non-key packages with RC bugs in testing and their reverse dependencies automatically. As usual, the auto-removal system will send a notice before this happens. Please note that it is not enough for the bug to be fixed in unstable. The fix (in unstable or testing-proposed-updates) must be done in such a way that the fixed package can be unblocked and allowed to migrate to testing, based on the rules listed above. You must contact us to ensure the fix is unblocked - do not rely on the release team to notice on their own.

For those of us in Sparky the road can fork at this point.  We can choose to continue with stretch and become stable, or we can continue as testing. 

For my main box, with plain Debian testing, I will choose to transition to stable. 
/etc/apt/sources.list

Code Select Expand

deb http://debian.mirror.rafal.ca/debian/ stretch main non-free contrib
deb-src http://debian.mirror.rafal.ca/debian/ stretch main non-free contrib

deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security stretch/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://security.debian.org/debian-security stretch/updates main contrib non-free

However for my Sparky computer, there is no "stretch"  in my sourcelists.  All instances are "testing", and will remain so.  This is called a "rolling release."  When Buster arrives as the new Testing - it might be a bumpy ride for a bit, new programs will have been piling up in unstable-Sid and a flood of transitions and new programs will fly down. 

Pavroo previously stated that his intent is to provide a Sparky stable version when Stretch goes to testing. That is fantastic. Myself, twice I stepped into testing for CrunchBang (#!) linux and then went back to stable on my main box.  Things are good.  Enjoy the journey.

[paxmark1]

https://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html

That is the page  that shows requirements for Stretch to go stable.  It is another source of finding possible bugs instead of the Debian BTS and also might show or let you know in advance why program zed disappeared from Stretch. 

Over 1000 to go.   Today is Jan 05, and although we had our warmest November ever in Winterpeg, it does fell like a hard freeze has taken effect.  A dead car battery merely accentuates things like that (fixed now). 

[blaze]

Thanks for the link paxmark1, just what I was looking for. :)

The intention of a stable Sparky is really both exciting and interesting news. Since this is my first run of Sparky, I must confess that it so far has been a very positive experience. Until I bork...;D

[paxmark1]

From  https://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html

Total number of release-critical bugs: 292
Number that have a patch: 46
Number that have a fix prepared and waiting to upload: 8
Number that are being ignored: 8
Number concerning the current stable release: 79
Number concerning the next release: 292

Which is a lot less than the 1100 plus last January ( I believe)

February 05 marks the first official day of the freeze. 

Usually there is a monthly summation at Planet Debian about this and this month is no different,

https://nthykier.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/the-stretch-freeze-is-coming/

As Sparky users we mostly just cheer from the sidelines (unless we have a second computer with  pure Debian or a virtual Debian testing machine and can then file bugs).  The numbers are much less than last 2015 and (dare I say it) the elegance of the transition is ever so much more in evidence.  And if you miss the faster pace of uploads and keeping an "eagle eye"  on you upgrades for problems, that will be solved in a few months.  The dam will not break but the Buster "spill way:  of new upgrades and transitions will again occur 5 days after Stretch goes Stable. 

[paxmark1]

Another month.  The output of      https://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html

[bTotal number of release-critical bugs: 226
Number that have a patch: 44
Number that have a fix prepared and waiting to upload: 13
Number that are being ignored: 8
Number concerning the current stable release: 62
Number concerning the next release: 226

It was down to 220 yesterday, but new bugs were found.

And from Planet Debian an opinion about what should make for an RC bug (and what should not)         ##Note - much of post is not about the freeze.

https://gambaru.de/blog/2017/03/03/my-free-software-activities-in-february-2017/

I really do think that a package which fails to build from source is a bug and should be fixed but not every FTBFS is release critical, that's why we have for example release architectures and ports. We already make distinctions and we don't support every possible hardware configuration.  If a package FTBFS on my laptops because 64 MB RAM or a 6 GB hard disk don't cut it anymore I'm not going to file RC bugs against the package in question, I'll try with a slightly more powerful machine again. RC bugs are a big hammer and we should be really considerate when we file them because as a consequence, if we can't fix them in time the package will not be part of the next stable release or even removed from Debian. We certainly don't have a shortage of bugs and if there is disagreement we should make case-by-case decisions and not blindly act "by the book". Threatening people to escalate bugs to Debian's Technical Committee isn't helpful either.

Here's to an early release.  And hope to see RC3.  peace out.

[paxmark1]

Another month
https://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html

Total number of release-critical bugs: 166
Number that have a patch: 23
Number that have a fix prepared and waiting to upload: 6
Number that are being ignored: 1
Number concerning the current stable release: 53
Number concerning the next release: 166

Still RC2 

[paxmark1]

Busy on road and things in the near future.  A couple days shy of a month and

https://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html

Total number of release-critical bugs: 153
Number that have a patch: 23
Number that have a fix prepared and waiting to upload: 4
Number that are being ignored: 2
Number concerning the current stable release: 48
Number concerning the next release: 153

So a very short freeze does not seem to be in the works.  I hope for June.  It is not uncommon for the numbers to edge up during the freeze.  Debian is Debian and it will ship when it ships. 

[pavroo]

Debian is Debian and it will ship when it ships. 

That's the point :)

[paxmark1]

Stretch enters Stable status today.  Buster is the new testing.  After a few days in Sid-Unstable new programs will enter testing - a higher pace of change. Dull and boring for a few more days. 

From https://bugs.debian.org/release-critical/other/testing.html

Total number of release-critical bugs: 77
Number that have a patch: 10
Number that have a fix prepared and waiting to upload: 1
Number that are being ignored: 1
Number concerning the current stable release: 43
Number concerning the next release: 77

Way too much info on transition, but for info junkies
5https://micronews.debian.org

peace out mark