The Inevitable Upgrade

[ElderDryas]

The current post on updating salix to xfce 4.10 has gotten me thinking (yeah, I know...bad idea).

Sooner or later (read: when it's ready) there is going to be a new Slackware release and therefore a new Salix release. I really don't care about when or where, but what...specifically what apps will be updated and to what versions.

I do not follow Slackware, either on the mail lists, forum or irc, and even if I did I would not know who was worth listening to and who was just blowing hot air. So I am asking here, in a forum I do follow:

When it finally happens, what updated meta/packages can I expect: XFCE 4.6/8/10, VLC1/2, GIMP2.6/8...that sort of thing. I realize it's all crystal ball gazing, but I'm interested in what folks here have to say.

[Shador]

Those packages you specifically listed are all Salix packages except gimp, which is at 2.6.11 in Slackware current: http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/slackware/ ... CKAGES.TXT

Neither are maintained by me so I hope I don't go out on a limb, but unless there are any stability problems I'm fairly certain that you'll see the most recent or a very recent version with the next release. But Thorsten and George are the maintainers of those packages.

[JRD]

I have packages for Xfce 4.10, based on the work of Ralvex.
I need to put this on a repo so that you can add this to your slapt-get.rc file.
Will be done in few days. 32 bits are quite ready, 64 bits will be too. But it will not be official (Slackware or Salix), so use it carefully
I'll update here with it when done.
You can also try SalixBang (done by Ralvex) which have already done some packages for Xfce 4.10

[ElderDryas]

Sorry for the confusion, but I was not talking about the specific apps/packages mentioned. I've never gone thru a Slackware (and Salix) upgrade, so I have no knowledge on what to expect in the way of app updates.

XFCE is a good example. Slack/Salix runs 4.6, not the 4.8 that most XFCE distros do...and now 4.10 has been released. In that case I was wonder what Slack/Salix would do, upgrade to 4.8 (as the more recent and stable version) or 4.10 (as the most recent and maybe stable).

GIMP is another example. 4.8 has been released...would Slack/Salix include it with the upgrade?

I'm not really interested in upgrading XFCE right now (or even soon). I guess what I'm after is a sense of how "stable" and "current" interact in a major Slack/Salix upgrade.

[Shador]

In that case I was wonder what Slack/Salix would do, upgrade to 4.8 (as the more recent and stable version) or 4.10 (as the most recent and maybe stable).

There is no general one fits them all rule. It depends entirely on the application. But I for my part always package the latest version unless it has stability problems or is severly broken (like doesn't build on that Salix version). Slackware is generally a bit more conservative. But this makes sense in many cases for packages likely to have issue and which are widely deployed. Therefor a relatively likely issue would have a great impact and would affect pretty much every user. Some examples would be kernel, Xorg, Xfce, gtk libs, ... That's not really the case for any of my packages.#

Generally speaking for normal applications, which are not built on by many parts of the system, you can always expect the latest version AT the time of the repository freeze. Unless of course there are problems. Don't expect the latest for core system packages like udev, kernel, glibc, ... For other basic but not as crucial packages it depends a lot on the individual project and how stable their releases generally are.

That's my 5 cents. Other devs might have a bit different opinions. But I think as recent as easily possible makes sense (no old bugs fixed since ages by upstream, new features, ...). But not at any cost. Still talking about current before the freeze of course.

[ElderDryas]

Thanks Shador, that was what I was looking for. Although your answer could be assumed (and yes I know what "assume" implies), I've been bitterly disappointed before. It's nice to have a/the dev(s) actually say it. Like I said, I've never been through a major Slack/Salix upgrade and have noting to base any expectations on.

[JRD]

Shador summarized it very well in my opinion.
For Xfce, probably 4.10. I see no reason to upgrade only to 4.8.
For GIMP, it depends. GIMP has changed a lot of dependancies minimum versions. So if this libraries versions are available, probably the last Gimp too...otherwise, the mose recent compatible with the libraries available.