- If you have a look at the Debian FTP server or one of its
- mirrors, you'll discover that there is one additional
- directory level on top of the directory tree, as described
- in the previous chapter. These directories are the
- <em/distribution directories/.
- <p>
- There is always a distribution called <em/stable/ and one
- called <em/unstable/. This reflects the development process
- of the Debian project:
- <p>
- The ``development'' is done in the <em/unstable/
- distribution (that's why this distribution is sometimes
- called <em/development distribution/). Every Debian
- developer can update his/her packages in this distribution
- at any time. Thus, the contents of this distribution changes
- from day to day and since no special effort is done to test
- this distribution it's sometimes ``unstable.''
- <p>
- After about two months of development, the <em/unstable/
- distribution is copied in a new distribution directory,
- called <em/frozen/. After that, no changes are allowed to
- the frozen distribution, except bug fixes. (That's why it's
- called ``frozen.'')
- <p>
- After another month or a little longer, the <em/frozen/
- distribution is renamed to <em/stable/, overriding the old
- <em/stable/ distribution, which is removed at that time.
- <p>
- This development cycle is based on the assumption, that the
- once `unstable' distribution finally becomes `stable' after
- passing one month of testing. Unfortunately, a few bugs
- still remain--that's why the stable distribution is updated
- every few weeks. However, these updates are tested very
- carefully and have to be acknowledged individually to reduce
- the risk of introducing new bugs.
- <p>
- Note, that development is continued during the ``freeze''
- period, since a new ``unstable'' distribution will be
- created at that time.
- <p>
- In summary, there is always a <em/stable/ and an
- <em/unstable/ distribution available and the <em/frozen/
- distribution shows up for a month from time to time.
- <p>
-
- <sect>Release code names
- <p>
- Every released Debian distribution has a <em/code name/:
- Debian 1.1 is called <em/buzz/, Debian 1.2 <em/rex/, Debian
- 1.3 <em/bo/, Debian 2.0 <em/hamm/, etc.
- <p>
- Since the Debian has an open development (i.e. everyone can
- participate and follow the development) even the
- ``development versions'' (unstable) are distributed via the
- Internet on the Debian FTP server. This FTP server is
- mirrored by lots of other systems. Thus, if we'd call the
- directory which contains the development version simply
- `unstable', then we would have to rename it to `stable' when
- the version is released, which would cause all FTP mirrors
- to re-get the whole distribution (which is already very
- large!).
- <p>
- On the other hand, if we would call the distribution
- directories <em>Debian-x.y</em> from the beginning, people
- would think that Debian release <em>x.y</> is
- available. (This happened in the past, where a CD-ROM vendor
- built a Debian 1.0 CD-ROM based on a pre-1.0 development
- version. That's the reason why the first official Debian
- release was 1.1, and not 1.0.)
- <p>
- Thus, the names of the distribution directories in the
- archive should stay the same during the development period
- and after the release but there may be symbolic links, which
- can be changed.
- <p>
- That's why the distribution directories use the <em/code
- names/ and there are symbolic links <em/stable/,
- <em/unstable/, <em/frozen/, etc. which point to the
- appriopriate release directories.
- <p>
-
- <chapt>Package uploads<p>
+ <sect1>Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen
+ <p>
+There is always a distribution called <em/stable/ (residing in
+<tt>dists/stable</tt>) and one called <em/unstable/ (residing in
+<tt>dists/unstable</tt>. This reflects the development process of the
+Debian project.
+ <p>
+The ``development'' is done in the <em/unstable/ distribution (that's
+why this distribution is sometimes called the <em/development
+distribution/). Every Debian developer can update his or her packages in
+this distribution at any time. Thus, the contents of this distribution
+change from day to day and since no special effort is done to test
+this distribution it's sometimes ``unstable.''
+ <p>
+After a period of development, the <em/unstable/ distribution is
+copied in a new distribution directory, called <em/frozen/. When that
+occurs, no changes are allowed to the frozen distribution except bug
+fixes; that's why it's called ``frozen.'' After another month or a
+little longer, the <em/frozen/ distribution is renamed to <em/stable/,
+overriding the old <em/stable/ distribution, which is removed at that
+time.
+ <p>
+This development cycle is based on the assumption that the
+<em/unstable/ distribution becomes <em/stable/ after passing a period
+of testing as <em/frozen/. Unfortunately, even once a distribution is
+considered stable, a few bugs inevitably remain--that's why the stable
+distribution is updated every now and then. However, these updates are
+tested very carefully and have to be introduced into the archive
+individually to reduce the risk of introducing new bugs. You can find
+proposed additions to <em/stable/ in the <tt/proposed-updates/
+directory. Those packages in <tt/proposed-updates/ that pass muster
+are periodically moved as a batch into the stable distribution and the
+revision level of the stable distribution is incremented (e.g., `1.3'
+becomes `1.3r1', `2.0r2' becomes `2.0r3', and so forth).
+ <p>
+Note that development is continued during the ``freeze'' period, since
+a new <em/unstable/ distribution is be created when the older
+<em/unstable/ is moved to <em/frozen/.
+ <p>
+In summary, there is always a <em/stable/ and an <em/unstable/
+distribution available, and the <em/frozen/ distribution shows up for
+a month or so from time to time.
+
+
+ <sect1>Experimental
+ <p>
+The <em/experimental/ distribution is a specialty distribution. It is
+not a full distribution in the same sense that 'stable' and 'unstable'
+are. Instead, it is meant to be a temporary staging area for highly
+experimental software where there's a good chance that the software
+could break your system. Users who download and install packages from
+<em/experimental/ are expected to have been duly warned. In short,
+all bets are off for the <em/experimental/ distribution.
+ <p>
+Developers should be very selective in the use of the
+<em/experimental/ distribution. Even if a package is highly unstable,
+it could well still go into <em/unstable/; just state a few warnings
+in the description. However, if there is a chance that the software
+could do grave damage to a system, it might be better to put it into
+<em/experimental/.
+ <p>
+For instance, an experimental encrypted file system should probably go
+into experimental. A new, beta, version of some software which uses
+completely different configuration might go into experimental at the
+maintainer's discretion. New software which isn't likely to damage
+your system can go into <em/unstable/.
+
+
+ <sect id="codenames">Release code names
+ <p>
+Every released Debian distribution has a <em/code name/: Debian 1.1 is
+called <em/buzz/; Debian 1.2, <em/rex/; Debian 1.3, <em/bo/; Debian
+2.0, <em/hamm/; Debian 2.1, <em/slink/. There is also a
+"pseudo-distribution", called <em/sid/, which is contains packages for
+architectures which are not yet officially supported or released by
+Debian. These architectures are planned to be integrated into the
+mainstream distribution at some future date.
+ <p>
+Since the Debian has an open development model (i.e., everyone can
+participate and follow the development) even the ``development
+versions'' (unstable) are distributed via the Internet on the Debian
+FTP server. This FTP server is mirrored by lots of other
+systems. Thus, if we'd call the directory which contains the
+development version simply `unstable', then we would have to rename it
+to `stable' when the version is released, which would cause all FTP
+mirrors to re-get the whole distribution (which is already very
+large!).
+ <p>
+On the other hand, if we would call the distribution directories
+<em>Debian-x.y</em> from the beginning, people would think that Debian
+release <em>x.y</> is available. (This happened in the past, where a
+CD-ROM vendor built a Debian 1.0 CD-ROM based on a pre-1.0 development
+version. That's the reason why the first official Debian release was
+1.1, and not 1.0.)
+ <p>
+Thus, the names of the distribution directories in the archive should
+stay the same during the development period and after the release but
+there may be symbolic links, which can be changed.
+ <p>
+That's why the distribution directories use the <em/code names/ and
+there are symbolic links <em/stable/, <em/unstable/, <em/frozen/,
+etc., which point to the appriopriate release directories.
+
+
+ <chapt id="upload">Package uploads