[Nix-dev] Policy for updates in 14.04 (was: Keeping nixpkgs up to date)

[Peter Simons]

Hi Chris,

 > <https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/3136>
 >
 > Updating Tor on 14.04 to version 0.2.4.22 and Tor Browser to 3.6.2.
 > This has been sitting for two months. Since then a newer version of
 > Tor and Tor Browser has come out so it's already out of date.

the stable release branch is not supposed to have up-to-date software.
Its purpose is to provide a software environment that is *stable*.
Packages in the release branch should be modified only if the update
fixes an important bug, like a security vulnerability, i.e. when the
cost of sticking to the old version is obviously higher than the risk of
breaking someone's system with an update. If that is not the case, then
the update should probably not go to the release branch.

Best regards,
Peter