• interceder270@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Looks like Canonical is trying to sell me security updates I would be getting for free on Debian.

    Debian 12 likely isn’t that different, but I don’t want to follow a Debian 11 setup guide then run into issues.

    • FOSS Is Fun@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      This has always been the case with Ubuntu. Ubuntu only ever supported its main repository with security updates. Now they offer (paid) support for the universe repository in addition, which is a bonus for Ubuntu users, as they now have a greater selection of packages with security updates.

      If you don’t opt-in to use Ubuntu Pro, nothing changes and Ubuntu will be as secure (or insecure) as it has always been. If you disable universe and multiverse you have a Ubuntu system where all packages receive guaranteed security updates for free.

      Please note: I still don’t recommend Ubuntu due to snapd not supporting third-party repositories, but that’s no reason not to get the facts right.


      Debian has always been the better choice if you required security updates for the complete package repository.

      Personally I have my doubts if Debian actually manages to reliably backport security updates for all its packages. Afterall Eclipse was stuck on version 3.8 for multiple Debian releases due to lack of a maintainer …

      • ares35@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        debian’s repo is massive. there are holes here and there from time-to-time as is likely the case in any distro–paid updates or not.

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Thank you for the information.

        I’ll still be going with Debian because Ubuntu keeps telling me I have 2 security updates locked behind their paywall.

        • TigrisMorte@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Because the updates are not anyone “trying to sell me security updates I would be getting for free on Debian.”

          • interceder270@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Really? Which part isn’t true, the selling me updates or that they’re available on Debian?

            Come on man, use your words lol.

            • TigrisMorte@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              It is entirely untrue. Where as you made the claim, and I am merely calling you a liar while making no claim of my own, it would seem that you must prove your claim with say a sales promotion or some other solicitation plus a credible report that these updates would otherwise exist without the charge from those whose business use case depends upon them.

              If you wish to hate upon ubuntu do so, but don’t lie about it.

    • dan@upvote.au
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      1 year ago

      security updates I would be getting for free on Debian.

      Debian contrib doesn’t get official security updates, the same as Ubuntu universe. https://www.debian.org/security/faq#contrib

      In both Debian and Ubuntu, only the main repo gets official security updates for free. Ubuntu has a paid option for universe whereas Debian doesn’t have that option and relies on the package maintainer to provide any updates.

      I’d still recommend Debian over Ubuntu though, for various reasons.

        • dan@upvote.au
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          1 year ago

          Definitely on Debian, and I think on Ubuntu too.

          Package maintainers can be slow to update packages though. Debian have a separate security team that get patches out ASAP, and those packages go into a separate security repo. I imagine Ubuntu does the same. It’s that security team that only deals with “official” packages, meaning anything that’s not in contrib, non-free, or non-free-firmware.

          • interceder270@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            To me, it looks like Debian and Ubuntu are both secure but you have to pay extra to make Ubuntu at least as secure as Debian.

            • dan@upvote.au
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              1 year ago

              What you’re paying extra for are timely security updates for community-maintained packages that aren’t an official part of the OS. Debian doesn’t provide that for free either. Debian doesnt provide it at all since they don’t have any paid options.

                • dan@upvote.au
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                  1 year ago

                  No. All the official packages in the main repo get security updates from the Debian security team.

                  Only the packages in contrib, non-free and non-free-firmware don’t have official security updates and rely on the package maintainers. These are not considered part of the Debian distro, and I don’t even have them enabled on my servers.

                  Out-of-the-box, Debian only enables the main repo, plus the non-free-firmware one if any of your devices require it (e.g. Nvidia graphics, Realtek Bluetooth, etc). You have to manually enable contrib and non-free, and by doing that, it’s assumed you know what you’re doing.

                  In the case of non-free and non-free-firmware, they can be closed source software (like the Nvidia drivers) or have a non-open-source license that doesn’t allow distributing modified versions. In those cases, the Debian team is unable to patch them even if they wanted to.