2mo ago

Question about updating packages with aptitude in Debian 12

[Solved] So I disabled the CD ROM repository using the software and updates application on Debian 12 because it kept asking me to insert the CD ROM when I would try to install stuff.

After disabling it I used Aptitude to update the packages I had already installed but I noticed that before I disabled the CD ROM repository it told me that because I didn't have it inserted that it used some older versions of software.

After removing the CD rom repository it just updated everything and didn't show that message.

My concern is that I know Debian uses some older versions of stuff because of its stability and I read very briefly about "Franken Debian" situations where people use versions of stuff that weren't intended to be used with the stable version of Debian.

Did I mess up by doing that and create a situation like that? And if so, after a fresh reinstall when I get here again is virtually mounting the USB stick I have the Debian DVD ROM on an option for it to stick with that CD ROM repository? (I don't have a physical CD ROM on this machine)

8 comments

If you use netinstall you won't have any CD-ROM sources in sources.list. I think that's kind of stupid that the full iso installer even adds the CD-ROM line. The vast majority of people wouldn't want that and it just confuses new users.

Hey! Congrats on getting everything installed and situated so far.
- Thank you so much! Its been a lot of fun learning and all of you on here have made it a super enjoyable experience.
- Really. For a new user, fixing the repos is one of the less intuitive things to do.

Did I mess up by doing that and create a situation like that?
No, this is standard procedure. Your system and software have been updated to the latest, stable version. Unless you actively add a repo containing unstable software versions, there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
- Perfect I just wanted to make sure I was worried it may have automatically added them without the CD ROM one holding it in place or something like that. Thank you so much!
  
  You really only need the "CD ROM" repo for the base install from physical media; maybe there are edge cases where you'd want to roll back, but on the whole you're in safe hands with the official, Debian stable repos 🙂
  Enjoy the Linux journey! Debian is a great starting point to learn from, IMHO.

On debian i just comment out all except the main official repos that I want. As long as you have the main deb and security and updates ones i think you'll be fine.
I tend to go for flatpak or appimage for anything not in those. I'd avoid any testing, unstable , backport sources unless you know what you're getting into.
I guess you're maybe using aptitude to avoid cli, but i'd recommend at least looking at the /etc/apt/soures.list file, and any stuff in the subfolder /etc/apt/soures.list.d
This is the list of where it looks for software. If it can't connect to any of those, It'll probably warn you about an unavailable source.
https://wiki.debian.org/SourcesList

8 comments