What are Backports

Ubuntu releases a new version of its OS every 6 months. After a release, the version of all packages stays constant for the entire 6 months. For example, if Hoary ships with Firefox 1.0.1, Hoary will remain at Firefox 1.0.1 for the entire 6-month release cycle, even if 1.0.2, 1.0.3, or 1.0.4 gets released during this time. The Ubuntu team may apply important security fixes to 1.0.1, but any new features or non-security bugfixes won't be made available to Hoary.

This is where Ubuntu Backports comes in. The Backports team believes that the best update policy is a mix of Ubuntu's security-only policy AND providing new versions of some programs. Candidates for version updates are primarily desktop applications, such as your web browser, word processor, IRC client, IM client, and so on. These can be updated without replacing a chunk of the operating system that would affect stability of the whole system.

Backports also include an extras repository which holds some packages which are not found in the official package collections. These include mainly legally-risky packages, for example many multimedia formats which are patent protected or some freeware commercial programs like the Adobe Acrobat Reader or Sun's Java Runtime Enviroment/Development Kit which are protected by a strict EULA.

As of June 2005, we are also an official Ubuntu project, so we are acknowledged by the developers.

Stability

The new official backports currently do not receive testing (unlike the old unofficial backports). The stability of the packages should be the same as that of the Ubuntu unstable distribution (currently Breezy Badger). If you have problems with one package please report it in the [http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=47 Backports Forum] and not the official Bugtracker.

How to use

Just add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list and do a apt-get update:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary-backports main universe multiverse restricted

How to request new packages

When you need a package backported which isn't currently just start a new thread in the [http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=47 Backports Forum]. These are the rules we try to follow when backporting packages:

{{{0 Only packages currently in Ubuntu's development branches are eligible for backporting 1 Backports of large, interdepending applications stacks are bad! 2 New versions can be backported, when they're compatible with already OS and System relevant libraries. 3 No new libraries, which will "break" or better say, affecting other applications (e.g. libvorbis, libz etc.) unless the update fixes an exploit. 4 No changes to language interpreters (python, mono). These could affect existing packages in unexpected ways. 5 Applications to be backported must have meaningful bug/security fixes or features.}}}

How to Help

TODO

Useful Links

• [http://backports.ubuntuforums.org/ Backports Homepage]

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=47 Backports Forum]

• [http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-backports Backports Mailing List]

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