LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) is one of the most popular rolling release Linux distributions. Well, it used to be rolling release based on Debian Testing, but after a while they switched to a semi-rolling system. This means that – although they still used Debian Testing as a base, but – they had their own repositories (instead of using Debian’s) and they released Update Packs every once in a while. Those Update Packs were tested before launched so they ensured they’re ready to use, won’t make any conflicts, which happened before, when it was a real rolling release system.
Just a couple of minutes ago Clem posted the Monthly news of July 2014 where he mentions that LMDE stops being a (semi) rolling release distribution but uses Debian Stable branch instead.
After a long reflection and many discussions the decision was made to switch Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) from its current snapshot cycle to a Debian Stable package base. The transition from Update Pack 8 to Debian Jessie should be smooth and similar to a traditional UP upgrade, in sync with the upstream Jessie freeze planned for November this year.
It is unclear why this decision was made and I also wonder how the users of LMDE will react to this announcement.
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