Thread: Debian packages for Postgres 8.2
Hi, I'm running several productive servers on Debian etch (stable) with Postgres 8.2 which has been in lenny (testing) and made available for etch through the backports project [1]. Unfortunately, they discontinued maintaining 8.2 and switched to 8.3 in testing and thus also for the backports. As I don't currently want to switch to 8.3 due to the involved downtime and upgrading troubles involved. So I've compiled up to date Debian packages for Postgres 8.2.10. You can get them (maybe just temporarily) from here: http://www.bluegap.ch/debian, I'm providing packages as etch-backports for amd64 and i386. Upgrading from earlier 8.2 backports should work just fine. I'm trying to convince the backports people to re-add Postgres 8.2. As soon as that happens my own repository will probably disappear again. Please drop me a note if you are interested in 8.2 for etch. (Postgres 8.3 should become available via the backports within a few days, I guess). Regards Markus Wanner [1]: backports of newer software for stable Debian versions: http://www.backports.org
Markus Wanner wrote: > Hi, > > I'm running several productive servers on Debian etch (stable) with > Postgres 8.2 which has been in lenny (testing) and made available for > etch through the backports project [1]. Unfortunately, they > discontinued maintaining 8.2 and switched to 8.3 in testing and thus > also for the backports. > > As I don't currently want to switch to 8.3 due to the involved > downtime and upgrading troubles involved. So I've compiled up to date > Debian packages for Postgres 8.2.10. You can get them (maybe just > temporarily) from here: http://www.bluegap.ch/debian, I'm providing > packages as etch-backports for amd64 and i386. Upgrading from earlier > 8.2 backports should work just fine. > > I'm trying to convince the backports people to re-add Postgres 8.2. As > soon as that happens my own repository will probably disappear again. > > Please drop me a note if you are interested in 8.2 for etch. (Postgres > 8.3 should become available via the backports within a few days, I > guess). I still have interest and I'm actually actively using it. Its a shame, as the postgresql community still support 8.2 and probably more rely on it. Besides this, Debian's tools are well polished and support many versions side-by-side. The good question would be for what reason they have removed the backports package? Maybe shortage on maintainers? - Joris
Joris Dobbelsteen wrote: > The good question would be for what reason they have removed the > backports package? Maybe shortage on maintainers? As a matter of policy, backports are made from Debian testing. Continued maintenance of PG 8.2 packages is not really backporting, since there is nothing to backport from.
Hi, Peter Eisentraut wrote: > As a matter of policy, backports are made from Debian testing. Continued > maintenance of PG 8.2 packages is not really backporting, since there is > nothing to backport from. While that's certainly true, I think there's enough of a reason for an exception. Otherwise the efforts to backport any newer Postgres major version could be saved entirely, because you never known if it suddenly ceases from testing and backports. So, please, either decide to backport a Postgres major version and continue to update it even if it gets dropped from testing *or* don't backport it at all. Regards Markus Wanner
Markus Wanner wrote: > So, please, either decide to backport a Postgres major version and > continue to update it even if it gets dropped from testing *or* don't > backport it at all. I understand how this use case ends up falling through the cracks. But the backports infrastructure is not set up for maintaining original packages (which PG 8.2 would be become, without a references package in testing). So you will probably have to put in a bit more effort to come up with a sustainable maintenance model, plus the resources to enact it.
Hi, Peter Eisentraut wrote: > I understand how this use case ends up falling through the cracks. But > the backports infrastructure is not set up for maintaining original > packages (which PG 8.2 would be become, without a references package in > testing). Uh.. so you are proposing to keep (revive) postgresql-8.2 in testing and backporting from there? That sounds like more trouble and work. Or do you think that's feasible? Doesn't that violate the policy of 'testing'? Otherwise, as stated, I'd recommend to never backport a Postgres major version which may be removed from testing in the future. Just to keep users from believing it's safe to use and maintained. Either way is better than status quo of Postgres in backports, IMO. (Which relies on the flaky assumption that pg_upgradecluster can be used to upgrade between major versions). > So you will probably have to put in a bit more effort to come > up with a sustainable maintenance model, plus the resources to enact it. Well, I'm providing the necessary packages for i386 and amd64. And I'm offering to maintain them. But I am not in the position to decide where to make these available - besides offering them from my own server as I already do. I'd be happy to upload to testing or etch-backports or both... or even help maintaining the official Postgres packages for Debian. Regards Markus Wanner