What does backport mean in Debian?

<用例子(1)來說明>

起因是安裝了 mepis ( based on Debian ) 之後, inkscape 無法輸入文字; 用 debian 的 backport 保守追新

以小心嚴謹出名的 debian, 它的穩定版 (stable) 所收錄的某些套件有時候太舊。 若非得用到某些套件的新版不可, 又不想整個系統更新至測試版 (testing), 或許可以到 backport 碰碰運氣。

在命令列下啟動 inkscape, 用錯誤訊息搜尋到 解決方案: 把 libgtk2.0-0 升級到 2.18.6-1。 一開始我也沒想到 debian 有 backport 這個東東, 就只是習慣性地隨意亂找 rpm 檔, 想用 alien 把 fedora 或其他版本較新的 libgtk2 的 rpm 轉成 deb 隨便應急一下。 不過連 alien 的版本也太舊, 無法轉較新的 rpm 冏rz。

後來回到 debian 官方的套件庫網站, 把 「發行版」 和 「section」 都設成 "any", 搜尋 libgtk2.0-0, 終於在 lenny-backports 底下看見 2.18.6-1~bpo50+1。 我還真的給他手工下載, 安裝, 發現相依問題, 再搜尋下一個套件, ... 然後系統就變得怪怪的, 冏rz。 (我對 debian 真的不熟)

以上是錯誤示範, 可略過。 其實根本不需要手工下載。 點進搜尋結果頁面上的 [backports] 連結, 終於學會如何使用 backports:

在 /etc/apt/sources.list 裡面加一句:deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports lenny-backports main
更新套件庫摘要索引資料: apt-get update
現在可以安裝新版函式庫了: apt-get -t lenny-backports install libgtk2.0-0
為了安全起見, 還要在 /etc/apt/preferences 最後面加上:
Package: *
Pin: release a=lenny-backports
Pin-Priority: 200
然後 inkscape 就又可以輸入中英文了!

<用例子(2)來說明>

LibreOffice Included In The Debian Squeeze Backports

Almost all the major Linux distributions are using LibreOffice instead of OpenOffice. Today, it has been announced that Debian Squeeze too will get LibreOffice in the backports.

LibreOffice has been available in Debian Wheezy and Debian Sid for a while now. But in the stable release, Debian Squeeze, it is not available. As a Debian policy, new packages are never introduced in the core repository of a stable release. So, it is very unlikely that Debian Squeeze will ever get LibreOffice in its main repository.

So, users of Debian Squeeze who wanted LibreOffice will have to install it from either the unstable or testing archive. However, Debian Squeeze users will no longer have to do that as LibreOffice has been made available in the Squeeze Backports.

How to install LibreOffice in Debian Squeeze from backports

Note: Installing LibreOffice will remove OpenOffice.

To install LibreOffice from the Squeeze backports, you need to add the backports first. To do that open the Terminal and execute:

$ sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

Now add the line given below and save the file.

# deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main

Now update the software list.

$ sudo apt-get update

Finally install LibreOffice with the command

$ apt-get -t squeeze-backports install libreoffice