Would you use a PureOS "rolling release" or do you want a "stable" PureOS?

Software PureOS
83

We’re currently working on a rolling release for all the rolling release fans! I’ll mention its availability here first. :smile:

5 Likes
84

i’ll be happy to listen to “Bad Company - Rock Steady” in q2-2020 when i get my L5… you guys did good with doing both “rolling” and “stable”.

85

I learned how to chroot because of Arch :sweat_smile:

3 Likes
86

Stabilize it and test the hell out of it. I want core functionality like calls, messages, music, email to just work. My understanding is it’s already working. Most software doesn’t work as a rolling release because there are no meaningful features that need to be rushed. If the MP3 player plays MP3s, it’s done. If email client can send email, it’s done. Kali works as rolling release because tools need to constantly be updated and patched to stay relevant. It doesn’t make sense unless you want to get invested in the development and debugging. I don’t want that forced on me because I want to use Librem as my main phone.

2 Likes
87

So, I updated to amber finally and noticed

  • still can’t update libmariadb3 without uninstalling kodi (T776) (minor pain)
  • kernel is 4.19 (just sayin’ :wink:)

Basically I’m wondering if a more recent kernel would make sense, even in amber / stable.
It’s not something that causes me sleepless nights, I just thought I bring it up :slight_smile:
I realize it’s an LTS kernel that is used by upstream.

However, you’re probably aware that knowledgeable people like Greg Kroah-Hartman tend to recommend the latest stable release, especially for Laptop/Desktop use:
What stable kernel should I use?

I understand that reasoning as there seems little risk for breakage, potential for performance & efficiency improvements and a reduced risk for missing / broken security fixes.

Just a few days ago I read about this Spectre fix that was “bug-ported” to all LTS kernels, including 4.19:
https://grsecurity.net/teardown_of_a_failed_linux_lts_spectre_fix.php

2 Likes
88

I’m not a hardcore “enthusiast.” Two questions:

  1. How do I know which version I’m on? If this is the contents of my /etc/apt/sources.list then I assume I’m on stable (“green”)? --> deb https://repo.puri.sm/pureos green main
  2. How do I opt in to just the amber-security suite? I don’t care about bleeding edge updates, but I do care that my system gets protection as soon as possible.
1 Like
89

amber is the stable one. After you update the basefiles package, you should have that in sources.list

1 Like
90

Stable releases receive security updates (backports) almost with the same (ok, a lillbit slower) frequency as rolling. It’s just rolling are receiving not only backported patches but also new features. Which is exactly the reason it’s so hard to upgrade a release - so many dependencies are getting broken because of a) backports b) new features. In rolling it’s just b.

91

On the command line you can do this command to tell you which version you’re on;

$ cat /etc/os-release

Which on my machine produces;
ID=pureos
NAME=PureOS
PRETTY_NAME=PureOS
VERSION_ID=8.0
VERSION_CODENAME=amber
HOME_URL=“https://pureos.net/”
SUPPORT_URL=“https://puri.sm/faq/#faq-WherecanIfindoutmoreaboutPureOS”
BUG_REPORT_URL=“https://tracker.pureos.net/”

1 Like
92

Thanks! Apparently I done goof’d. Somehow I converted the system to Debian.

jon@librem:~$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)”
NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux”
VERSION_ID=“10”
VERSION=“10 (buster)”
VERSION_CODENAME=buster
ID=debian
HOME_URL=“https://www.debian.org/”
SUPPORT_URL=“https://www.debian.org/support”
BUG_REPORT_URL=“https://bugs.debian.org/”

1 Like
93

That’s okay of course, it is up to you what software you run! :slight_smile:

If you want to move back to PureOS you ought to be able to by editing your /etc/apt/sources.list either via the command line or via the GNOME Software tool.

94

Well, that’s what’s weird.

jon@librem:~$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
deb https://repo.puri.sm/pureos green main
# deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free

I had added the Debian lines to that file to troubleshoot a separate issue, but they’ve been commented out and I still can’t get back onto PureOS (tried sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade).

95

Change “green” to “amber”, then apt update && apt upgrade.

96

Just tried that. Some packages got upgraded but my /etc/os-release remains unchanged (still Debian Buster).

97

Did you update your “base-files”? That is the package that ought to hold the change. Also, do you have any other repos in your sources.list? Or in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*?

98

jon@librem:~$ ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
jon@librem:~$ sudo apt install base-files
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
base-files is already the newest version (10.3).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

I’m at a loss.

jon@librem:~$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)”
[…]

99

Mine says: 10.1pureos5

Can you paste your /etc/apt/sources.list here?

100

jon@librem:~$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
deb https://repo.puri.sm/pureos amber main
# deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free

101

Please add;

deb https://repo.pureos.net/pureos/ amber-updates main
deb https://repo.pureos.net/pureos/ amber-security main
102

Thanks for your help. I added those lines.

jon@librem:~$ for i in clean update upgrade; do sudo apt $i; done

I got quite a few new/upgraded packages, but my /etc/os-release is still the Debian Buster stuff.

I didn’t mean to derail this thread with my technical issue, and it’s really not much of an issue. I’m fairly certain I won’t be missing any major critical OS security patches with this setup, so I suppose it’s fine. Just strange.

1 Like