like not doing anything, just a spare laptop in case i ever need one, what if i use it years after i installed debian on it?? i would have to update like 300 packages and would take a lot??
like not doing anything, just a spare laptop in case i ever need one, what if i use it years after i installed debian on it?? i would have to update like 300 packages and would take a lot??
It depends on several things. Debian 13 is only a few months away, so 12 will already be a version behind. However, 12 will still receive security updates until mid-2028, so if it’s just a stopgap, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to install those security updates - they’re specifically designed and tested not to break anything.
If you upgrade to a newer version, it will definitely be more than 300 packages, but they also try to be careful (no guarantees, though) to make sure an update from the immediately previous version doesn’t bork everything. Thus, updates should still be pretty easy for a few years afterwards.
I could be completely out of my element here, but I almost wonder if an immutable distro would be a better idea in this case. If I’m getting this right, updating the base image under the root overlay a few years later shouldn’t mess up too much. I could be completely wrong, as I don’t use immutable distros; this is just my impression of how they work.