The Debian Security Team only maintains security updates for the current ' stable' release.

Sid exclusively gets security updates through its package maintainers. The ' Unstable' repository is updated every 6 hours. When packages have met certain criteria, they are automatically moved from Sid to the current ' testing' repository. Sid is where packages go after they've been uploaded by their maintainer, and cleared for release by the FTP master. From there, a new ' testing' repository will be created with the next planned code name, and packages will continue to trickle down from Sid into ' testing' just as before. When the current ' testing' repository becomes mature and is released, ' testing' becomes the latest ' stable' release. While other release code names progress in time from being ' testing' to being ' stable', Sid is forever doomed to being unstable. In the movie, Sid is the kid next door who breaks his toys and makes nasty creatures of them.

Can I use Sid packages on 'stable' or 'testing'?ĭebian Unstable (also known by its codename 'Sid') is not strictly a release, but rather a rolling development version of the Debian distribution containing the latest packages that have been introduced into Debian.Īs with all Debian release names, Sid takes its name from a ToyStory character.

What are some best practices for testing/sid users?.

Tor download unstable