Re: How automatic are backport package updates?
On Sat, Feb 13, 2021 at 10:47:41AM -0500, Michael Grant wrote:
> One comment though, in the 10+ years of running Debian Testing, I have
> to say that Testing is actually very reliable, way more reliable than
> it's name implies!
This can be true for many users. It can also be catastrophically false
for a few users.
> I initially moved to Testing because there were some packages that I
> needed which were not in Backports and were regularlly maintained in
> Testing.
To be fully clear: nothing is "maintained in testing". That's not how
testing works at all. It's a mis-perception on your part.
There is an automated software system that will copy a package from sid
into testing when certain conditions are met. Those conditions include:
1) There isn't a (hard) freeze on testing currently.
2) The package in unstable has no release-critical bugs.
3) The package's dependencies are all met in testing.
4) The package has been in unstable for N days (the value of N varies
based on the importance of the package and other factors).
In the case of your package, what probably happened is the Debian
developer who maintains that package was actively working on it, so
it received regular uploads to unstable (sid). Then, because the
package's dependencies were already satisfied in testing, and likely
did not change during the uploads to sid, the package was free to
"trickle down" to testing N days after the upload, consistently.
This will not always be the case. What happens frequently in testing is
that a gargantuan package suite (like GNOME or other desktop environment)
will be held up by one bug, and will be stuck that way for months or
years, even if there are uploads being made to sid. No new versions will
trickle down to testing until that one bug is resolved, and then suddenly
the whole thing comes gushing down all at once.
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