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Comment by EmanueleAina | Hacker News Reader

The plan for Debian PPAs is for them to be quite different than the ones from Ubuntu, they will be available only for those that already have upload privileges. They will be a sort of compartimentalized experimental, with no different builders network and no need for a reupload to push to unstable/testing.

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In which case, I don't understand what problem they're solving.

We already have Experimental.

Packages equivalent to named long-term development branches of upstreams, without packaging the result under a separate name (thus confusing dependent packages)?

Experimental is an all or nothing proposition. With a PPA system it should be possible to keep most of your system on stable, and opt into newer versions of software on a case by case basis.

Doesn't apt-pinning solve that? Set a pin that never installs from Experimental unless manually specified, or only install that one package from Experimental?

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianExperimental#APT_pinning

Just a note for the uninitiated: when you pin from Stable you just gave up the guarantees that may have been the reason you were on Stable in the first place. This is an area where RTFM is in order:

"WARNING: Use of apt-pinning by a novice user is sure call for major troubles. You must avoid using apt-pinning except when you absolutely need it." https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en....

Well yes, but all the warnings and cautions in that link apply equally to PPAs - the security implications are pretty similar. A novice using PPAs will be in the same boat, though admittedly PPAs are a little easier to use.

Oh I was being a little tangential and pointing out that changing packages on Stable to an extent defeats the purpose of it. I just hope they don't start releasing PPAs that'll help people achieve worst-of-both-worlds systems that combine the outdatedness of Stable and the bugginess of Experimental.

Check out the initial proposal, it contains info on lots of the use-cases that aren't satisfied by experimental.

https://lists.debian.org/87y5btehw3.fsf@gkar.ganneff.de

I already mentioned some of relevant points in the comment you replied to:

1) compartimentalized, not a big, global dumping ground 2) same builders network as unstable/testing 3) no need for a reupload to push to unstable/testing

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