Using newer packages than stretch

[frnzndr]

I noted before even getting my Gemini that it appears to be impossible for now to use Debian testing proper, as there seem to be some special packages that aren't available there. (Correct me if I'm wrong, of course!)

I can live with having stretch as the basis, but there are some packages that I'd need newer packages of, for example texlive, which has an old 2016 version in stretch. I also have trouble with i3 window manager, which may or may not be solvable with the packages (may ask in the i3-related thread separately).
So I thought, I'd use apt-pinning to make stretch-backports and/or testing packages available without updating the whole system.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be how it works, even with only stretch-backports the system does not boot up properly after apt upgrade. I was still able to get into it via Linux Deploy from Android, but the normal Linux boot just sat on the splash screen for half an hour, until I decided to just shut down the device.

I have for now decided that I cannot use the native Linux productively with this restriction and am trying to get workable Linux Deploy chroot + XSDL x-server setup running in Android. (This has its own issues with getting the keymap to work properly, unfortunately, but I'll try and find the appropriate thread for asking about that when I find some more time).  However, ideally I'd like to be able to use the native Linux without fearing not to get back in. Does anyone know of a way to get newer packages working without breaking the device? Or could anyone pinpoint what is causing the problems when trying to update so as to try and build around the relevant packages that must not be updated?

[TheKit]

I noted before even getting my Gemini that it appears to be impossible for now to use Debian testing proper, as there seem to be some special packages that aren't available there. (Correct me if I'm wrong, of course!)

It's possible to build Debian testing (buster) rootfs with https://github.com/gemian/gemian-multistrap...fig/tree/buster. It's somewhat less stable for sleep sequence, but otherwise should work same. Ping me in IRC on #gemini-pda if you need help setting that up, can provide a tarball if needed.

[frnzndr]

I noted before even getting my Gemini that it appears to be impossible for now to use Debian testing proper, as there seem to be some special packages that aren't available there. (Correct me if I'm wrong, of course!)

It's possible to build Debian testing (buster) rootfs with https://github.com/gemian/gemian-multistrap...fig/tree/buster. It's somewhat less stable for sleep sequence, but otherwise should work same. Ping me in IRC on #gemini-pda if you need help setting that up, can provide a tarball if needed.

That sounds great, thanks!! Will be travelling for a bit now, but I'd like to take a look at this next month, so might get in touch then if I get stuck.

[Eric BF]

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be how it works, even with only stretch-backports the system does not boot up properly after apt upgrade.

Strange. I'm using stretch-backports with no problem. apt upgrade should not actually use anything from backports by default. You have to explicitly ask to install packages from the backports distribution, IIRC.

Regarding buster, I did install one package from buster but have  everything else from stretch. Of course, this is only really possible with applications that have very few and shallow dependencies.

What kind of problems are you having with i3?  Seems to work fine for me but I've only used it briefly, preferring stumpwm.

[frnzndr]

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be how it works, even with only stretch-backports the system does not boot up properly after apt upgrade.

Strange. I'm using stretch-backports with no problem. apt upgrade should not actually use anything from backports by default. You have to explicitly ask to install packages from the backports distribution, IIRC.

Regarding buster, I did install one package from buster but have  everything else from stretch. Of course, this is only really possible with applications that have very few and shallow dependencies.

What kind of problems are you having with i3?  Seems to work fine for me but I've only used it briefly, preferring stumpwm.

I have currently settled on using a chroot from Android installed via Linux Deploy. So as it's been a bit since I tried running Linux proper, I'm not sure of the details of the i3 problems any more, but one issue I remember was that I couldn't control brightness - the only way to do so was if I first started lxqt, log out and then log into i3 - in this case, the regular keyboard shortcuts work. If I log straight into i3, this does not work however, and xbacklight is not working either.

I'm pretty sure there was something else not working the way I wanted, but I can't remember right now. Might try another setup, if you say that you got backports to work that might already be sufficient for my (texlive) needs.

Another issue, albeit probably not restricted to i3, was with getting a right click on the touch screen, which would actually be useful in a variety of circumstances (even in browsing etc.). A similar  issue are the Fn keys, especially Fn11 would be useful for toggling fullscreen.

[frnzndr]

I noted before even getting my Gemini that it appears to be impossible for now to use Debian testing proper, as there seem to be some special packages that aren't available there. (Correct me if I'm wrong, of course!)

It's possible to build Debian testing (buster) rootfs with https://github.com/gemian/gemian-multistrap...fig/tree/buster. It's somewhat less stable for sleep sequence, but otherwise should work same. Ping me in IRC on #gemini-pda if you need help setting that up, can provide a tarball if needed.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how I would proceed to build from there. If you could give me a few pointers, it would be great!