During the past week and the days that are running this week, Debian developers have released some pretty cool news related to the distribution as they have shared information about the work related to version 11 (testing) as well as version 8.
Of these news the most remarkable thing is the announcement of the extended support what do you giveaa to Debian version 8 "Jessie" which will continue to receive support for 5 more years, also highlights the freezing of the testing version of Debian 11 "Bullseye" that is scheduled for next year and other news.
Debian 8 "Jessie" will have 5 more years of support
The LTS team responsible for generating updates for Debian LTS releases released the news that Debian 8 will continue to receive updates after completing the cycle regular five-year maintenance.
Initially, it was planned to stop supporting the branch Debian 8 LTS in July 2020, but Freexian (a service company specialized in free software) expressed willingness to release updates on their own with the removal of the package vulnerabilities as part of the extended program "Extended LTS".
The additional support will cover a limited set of packages and apply only to the amd64 and i386 (possibly armel) architectures.
Support will not cover packages like Linux 3.16 kernel (Debian 4.9 "Stretch" backed kernel 9 will be offered), openjdk-7 (openjdk-8 will be offered) and tomcat7 (maintenance will last until March 2021).
Updates will be distributed through an external repository maintained by Freexian. Access will be free for all interested parties, and the range of packages accepted will depend on the total number of sponsors and packages that interest them.
Debian 11's feature freeze phase will be in the spring of next year
Another piece of news released by the Debian developers is the release of a plan to freeze the Debian 11 ″ Bullseye release base » which is expected to launch in mid-2021.
Within the plan it is contemplated that As of January 12, 2021, the first stage of freezing the package base will begin, within which transitions will stop (updating packages that require fixes for other packages, which will temporarily remove packages from testing), and will also stop updating packages required for assembly (build essential).
On February 12, 2021, a "Soft Freeze" will take place de the base of the package, in which the reception of new packets will be stopped source and the ability to re-enable previously removed packages will be closed.
On March 12, 2021, it will apply a freeze «Full Freeze » before launch, in which the process of transferring key packages and packages without automatic tests instability-proof will stop completely and it will begin the stage of intensive testing and the resolution of the problems that block the launch.
Debian 11 Installer Second Alpha Release
Finally, another of the news that was released is the presentation of the second alpha version of the installer for the next major release of Debian, "Bullseye".
Inside the key changes in the installer Compared to the first alpha version, they are:
- Kernel updated to version 5.4
- Updated templates for information blocks about installing the system clock
- Pkgsel adds verification of taskel installationregardless of its priority.
- A debconf template has been added, allowing you to completely bypass the taskel while maintaining access to other pkgsel functions.
- When installed with a dark design theme, the inclusion of increased contrast mode is guaranteed.
- Added support for compiz ezoom.
- Multiple console usage has been adjusted: if the default option is on, instead of starting multiple consoles in parallel, only one priority console is started.
- In systemd, udev-udeb uses the 73-usb-net-by-mac.link file.
- Input, kvm, and render are added to the list of reserved usernames (udev.postinst adds them as system groups).
- Added support for Librem 5 and OLPC XO-1.75 devices.