Debian recently froze Lenny. Which means that Debian 5.0 is coming out soon. September is an estimate I’m hearing.
But I’m already using the “testing” (or Lenny) version of Debian. This lets me use fairly new software (like Firefox 3.0), without having to wait a year and a half for it to get into the “stable” version. So how does Lenny being frozen help me? Well, when Lenny is released, I’ll be able to upgrade to Sid (which will become the new testing)!
I’ve been able to get my hands on most freshly baked software, once it passes stability testing. Like the mentioned Firefox 3 which I got only recently. Although still not hot out of the oven, it works for me. The one thing I haven’t been able to get is KDE 4. This has been out for some time now. And has recently been upgraded to 4.1. Don’t get me wrong Debian releases KDE 4 packages as fast as the coders can write them. The problem is that they’re released to “experimental” or more recently, “unstable”.
I could just wait till September for Lenny to be released, upgrade to Sid, and get KDE 4. Or I could upgrade to Sid right now. I’m not very eager about the latter though. My system is running pretty neatly and I don’t want it to become unstable just because I want a better desktop. On the other hand, KDE 4 looks to be worth it. But its not just the eye candy. KDE 4 runs faster as well. Decisions, decisions…
In other news, the embassy hasn’t returned my passport yet. Which means I can’t attend the Fulbright Gateway Orientation in New York. I was kind of expecting this, so I didn’t get myself too excited about it in the first place. Anyway, good luck to all those who are going to the Gateway.
This also means I have a problem in paying my accommodation fees. Northwood housing at University of Michigan doesn’t take credit cards. Dang.
Back to square one: waiting for my passport again. Deja vu ca. 2006. Maybe this will give me more time to look into this KDE issue…
UPDATE: 21st August, 2008 - Turns out sid is not going to become the next testing. Which means that I’ll have to wait for lenny to get released and the new testing to come out. More waiting :/
My visa has yet to show its face. And today was the recommended date for arrival at the university. I still have some time till classes start on September 2, but its looking very unlikely that I’ll make it. Deferral, here I come… yippee…