MX with Testing Repos?

[limotux]

Hi guys, it has been a while. I hope you all are doing great as the great MX.

I am thinking of installing MX on my laptop, but I would like to modify repos to follow the Debian testing repos.
The reason I am thinking of this is to benfit from 2 main points:
1- It is not SID, so software is better tested and more stable (I understand it is not as stable as the default repos of course)
2- I will be installing the system only one time, without the need to install again.

I like the concept of rolling release, but honestly I see MX is a great and very user friendly distro. So I actually want to get the best of both worlds.

I understand new releases may include new features or tools. I hope I can perhaps install them separately.

Would this be a good approach (I know it won't be as the default repos regarding stability, but I prefer to install only one time and forget it)
I do not mind doing some little work every now and then to keep the system up to date in case needed. Maybe the new features won't be of interest for me.
What do you think guys?
Anyone tried this for some relatively long time? How did it go?

I am just brain storming and thinking out loud with you.

[dolphin_oracle]

If you run mx you are better off not using Debian testing.


But if you want to go down the rabbit hole…
If you still want to try it plan on using systemd or else at some point you may find some services not starting up. Debian has a habit of not only not supporting sysVInit but they also tend to remove working init scripts without user input.

At some point there will be a conflict between our stable mx repos and the Debian testing repo. Can’t say when that will be but I can say it will happen. Particularly media libraries.

And Debian will move to qt6 in testing at some point and that may cause more hilarity. Or it might be totally fine.

But hey if it breaks you get to keep the pieces!

[limotux]

I see, so in both cases whether I stick to sysVInit Debian is not supporting it, and if I changed to systemd Debian it may not work as expected?

Maybe there is an optimal configuration to have this plan I am thinking of?

I know I am greedy as I want to have the best of both worlds.
I wonder if anybody tried it and how did it go? Sytemd or sysVInit ? Which would be better in such scenario/plan?

Just curious, does MX has its own Testing repos?

[Jerry3904]

Nope--we use SourceForge.

[Stevo]

If you want some of the newer applications in Debian testing, you can always ask us about backporting them to the MX test repos. That way they are most likely to be compatible with the released MX version. We stay away from updating foundational stuff like gtk 3, as we've found out that breaks too much of the existing gtk 3 packages.

Sometimes we even manage to get ahead of Sid, such as we now have mame-0.254 in MX 21 test along with hydrogen 1.2.0 final, and Debian is devoting all energies to fixing bugs before the impending Debian 12 release.

[limotux]

So, no way to use MX with Debian Testing repos without being actually subject to break! Right?

[dolphin_oracle]

So, no way to use MX with Debian Testing repos without being actually subject to break! Right?

To be fair it’s called testing for a reason. If you were running pure Debian you still might run into issues.

But it’s your machine feel free to blaze some trails!

[limotux]

If you want some of the newer applications in Debian testing, you can always ask us about backporting them to the MX test repos. That way they are most likely to be compatible with the released MX version. We stay away from updating foundational stuff like gtk 3, as we've found out that breaks too much of the existing gtk 3 packages.

Sometimes we even manage to get ahead of Sid, such as we now have mame-0.254 in MX 21 test along with hydrogen 1.2.0 final, and Debian is devoting all energies to fixing bugs before the impending Debian 12 release.

So, I can use MX Test repos and this will fit the bill, I will be having a rolling MX (sort of) as I wish and it should not break as would with Debian Testing?
Would this fit what I want to do?
Can I change later to sytemd and it just works with the MX test repos?

[dolphin_oracle]

Our repos should be fine with either systemd and sysvinit. And our test repo is backports applications but we are not guaranteeing no conflicts. You’ll just need to watch your updates and if something looks weird don’t do it.

[limotux]

So, no way to use MX with Debian Testing repos without being actually subject to break! Right?

To be fair it’s called testing for a reason. If you were running pure Debian you still might run into issues.

But it’s your machine feel free to blaze some trails!

I understand, but my understanding testing repos are more stable than sid and more stable and more tested than the rolling releases like Arch. Right? But I understand I can use MX test repos and this would be OK?