Debian Testing or Debian Sid

debian

I'm currently downloading Debian 6 DVD.

I don't want to use Stable, I want to use Testing or Sid, but I don't know wich one is better for me.

Is Sid really unstable ? Is Testing up-to-date like Arch does ? Or it's like a non-rolling release distro ?

Thanks

Best Answer

There is an interesting part of Debian GNU/Linux FAQ devoted to this question. In particular the choice depends on

  • security/stability considerations
  • expertise of the user
  • need for newer versions of software
  • support for new hardware

I would like to point out the following passage from that page:

  • Stable is rock solid. It does not break.

  • Testing breaks less often than Unstable. But when it breaks, it takes a long time for things to get rectified. Sometimes this could be days and it could be months at times.

  • Unstable changes a lot, and it can break at any point. However, fixes get rectified in many occasions in a couple of days and it always has the latest releases of software packaged for Debian.

Related Question