Application developers expect to be in control of there software version, and on nearly all platforms this is true. On android this is true, on iOS this is true, on window this true, on Mac OS this is true on windows phone this is true. Linux desktop is the only platform where a dev has no control over the version used.
Debian's definition of stable is rather out dated. By locking down the version you don't increase stability, you just lock in the current instability. Well maintained software gets better with time, bugs get fixed, security holes get fixed, the developer tests, then decides when there software is stable and then releases it. When they make the new release they do so because they believe the new version is better, if this was not so they wouldn't bother releasing it they would have just left it as it was.
The trend now is towards always using the latest stable version of software (decided by the developers not the OS). Browsers update themselves, webpages have only one version, the latest. And increasingly this is required for security. Most security improvements are not published they just happen as part of development, often not making it into the change log at all. Not running the latest stable version of software as defined by its devs slash publishers is just plain irresponsible.
Power management, mobile and firmware developer on Linux. Security developer at nvidia. Ex-biologist. Content here should not be interpreted as the opinion of my employer. Also on Mastodon and Bluesky.
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Date: 2016-04-05 10:09 am (UTC)Debian's definition of stable is rather out dated. By locking down the version you don't increase stability, you just lock in the current instability. Well maintained software gets better with time, bugs get fixed, security holes get fixed, the developer tests, then decides when there software is stable and then releases it. When they make the new release they do so because they believe the new version is better, if this was not so they wouldn't bother releasing it they would have just left it as it was.
The trend now is towards always using the latest stable version of software (decided by the developers not the OS). Browsers update themselves, webpages have only one version, the latest. And increasingly this is required for security. Most security improvements are not published they just happen as part of development, often not making it into the change log at all. Not running the latest stable version of software as defined by its devs slash publishers is just plain irresponsible.