Sparky Stable Repos

[kendew]

Hi
I installed SparkyLinux Stable edition as a client in VirtualBox (Arch host) from file sparkylinux-4.6-rc-x86_64-minimalgui-stb.iso.  My interest is in a stable system.  I've already had a working Debian Stretch installation for some time. 
I noticed in Synaptic that both Sparky stable and testing repositories came enabled by default.  Also, since the minimal gui turns out to be OpenBox, I noticed obmenu-generator being used by default.  I'd like to understand how Sparky is managing to use apps from testing and at the same time, keep stability.  I like obmenu-generator and appreciate it being there, and I also like playing with different browsers like PaleMoon or SlimJet, all of which are in testing repository but not in stable, or in Stretch on my Debian system. I'm just concerned about stability.
I'd appreciate an education on this.
Kendew

[paxmark1]

Hello.  I will be transitioning to stable after the transition of stable from jessie to stretch on one machine.  Two other machines will continue with testing. 

from my debian testing netinstall frim January (that had non-free) here is some of /etc/apt/sources.list

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#deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux stretch-DI-alpha5 _Stretch_ - Official Snapshot amd64 NETINST Binary-1 20160108-10:53]/ stretch contrib main non-free

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

#  deb http://www.preining.info/debian/ calibre main
#  deb-src http://www.preining.info/debian/ calibre main


Note the commented out calibre since it is maintained well enough now in testing.  I have pretty much the exact same lxqt dm in Sparky - but etc/apt/... has testing instead of stretch   It also has Sparky repos. 

If you like what you have, one choice is to change all instances of testing in your debian section to stretch.  So when testing based on stretch changes to testing being based on "buster", your dist-upgrades will cease and you will transition seamlessly to stable.  Pavroo should have more info about the first stable Sparky and advice about backports and how to keep the Sparky programs "pinned" 

The freeze is still on and the transition from stretch to buster will not happen this week imho.  So Pavroo might comment more and more intelligently. 

But check out the debian section of your /etc/apt and see if it has testing or stretch or stable.  And listen to Pavroo.  You are in a good place.  Peace out

[pavroo]

Hi
The most important is that Debian hierarchy is clear: first stable, then testing, then unstable, but a little different than Sparky's.
The first, developed for a few years, is testing line. The stable is being added so i decided to not make a mess with that and keep it as it is.

So, all packages from sparky's testing repos are compatible with testing and upcoming stable line.
If not, some packages are already re-built to be used on stable line only.

So, to make it clear:
- Sparky based on testing line uses packages from testing repos only
- Sparky based on upcoming stable line uses packages from testing repos, and if exist from stable repos. To do so, there is preference file configured, which says to the APT which packages have to be installed, if the same package (but different version) exist in sparky's stable and testing repos.

More info is available via the wiki page: https://sparkylinux.org/wiki/doku.php/repository

[kendew]

Thanks.  Both replies are very helpful and appreciated!
I also read the wiki page linked to.  It is clear and well written.  However, I have some questions about pin priorities.
I used the package sparky-apt to install the preference file.  What it installed was very different than the wiki page recommendation.
First, for release o=SparkyLinux, a=stable, the Pin-Priority is -10, which, to my understanding means Stable will never be used.
For release o=SparkyLinux,a=testing, the Pn-Priority is 1001.  I understand 1001 allows for downgrading, and I wonder why it should be so.
For a=unstable, the Pin-Priority generated by sparky-apt was 500, same as in wiki.
Anyway, the sparky-apt generated pin priorities don't make sense to me as my interest is in stability, while at the same time getting just a few extra packages from testing, so I'm editing them.  I wonder what would be the best pin priority settings from the point of view of stability.
Secondly, one of the reasons I'm so interested in stability is I'm passing this computer on to someone.  After I install the few packages I want, should I comment out the testing repositories or change them to something else?  For example, guessing that some of these packages may be backported to Stretch stable?
Thanks to all who have contributed to the Sparky project.
Kendew

[pavroo]

I suppose you have installed sparky-apt version 5 which is targeted to sparky testing line.
You should install version 4 for stable.

Grab sparky-apt 4 deb from the repos:
https://sparkylinux.org/repo/pool/main/s/sparky-apt/
and install it manually using dpkg (in a dir where you downloaded the deb):

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sudo dpkg -i sparky-apt_4~blabla.deb
Then refresh package list.