Does anybody know whether it is possible/advisable to update the Linux system installed on the MBLD?
I noticed with delight that the system is based on Debian, including its “apt” software management. But when looking a bit closer, it seems that it is mixing packages from Debian 5.0 (lenny) and 6.0 (squeeze) so I’d be a bit scared to use apt. Also, there are no updates available for Debian 5.0 anymore.
Is there any official stand on updating the system, especially to get security updates in a timely manner for the various server processes (apache, dmbd, ssh, …)? Or is this going to be done by new firmware releases on a regular basis?
Don’t even think about it. I tried that, and I got a strange error about write permissions. So, I installed updates using dpkg --force on cached deb files. You can read about the result here.
I would guess something about step 5 here in this post is what you are looking for. I’ve done it, and it didn’t appear to break anything (step 5 is near the bottom of the page)
Thanks for the replies. I guess the experience from tap3ah tells me that my initial fear is somewhat warranted. NatoNZ: The “apt-get update” will only get the information about available software updates, it will not actually apply them (that would be “apt-get upgrade”). So there is no harm with the update in step 5 alone (as long as one doesn’t follow it with an upgrade), but it also does not update the software on the system.
So the remaining question (probably to WD staff) now is: What if there are critical security problems with the server software on the box… is there going to be an updated firmware release every time?
