Flacon - Split Flac files with GUI in Debian

I have previously used command line tools to split Flac files into individual tracks, complete tag information and name the files, and used Sound Converter to change the files to MP3 (which plays on my car stereo). But it's a bit of a palaver.

Flacon will do all of the above in one step with a GUI. Nice!

It is not available in the Debian repositories, but there is a repository at OpenSUSE Build Service (currently for Debian 8 & 9).

Debian Stable to track Firefox ESR

Debian has up to now put its own version of Firefox (Iceweasel) into the stable release and maintained that version until the end of life of the release. This meant Squeeze users were stuck for two years with version 3.5, while Firefox had advanced to version 19. Wheezy users were going to be stuck with version 10 for the next two years, by which time Firefox could be at version 35 or more.

However, it seems that under the weight of security updates, and the hard work involved in backporting them to Debian's own version, Debian Stable will now track Firefox ESR (something testing already does, as I reported here).

Multiple security issues have been found in Iceweasel, Debian's version of the Mozilla Firefox web browser: Multiple memory safety errors, missing input sanitising vulnerabilities, use-after-free vulnerabilities, buffer overflows and other programming errors may lead to the execution of arbitrary code, privilege escalation, information leaks or cross-site-scripting.

We're changing the approach for security updates for Iceweasel, Icedove and Iceape in stable-security: Instead of backporting security fixes, we now provide releases based on the Extended Support Release branch. As such, this update introduces packages based on Firefox 17 and at some point in the future we will switch to the next ESR branch once ESR 17 has reached it's end of life.

lists.debian.org

Debian Wheezy users can expect to see an update from Iceweasel 10 to 17 (and one from 17 to 24 at the end of the year). So Debian Stable users can now have (reasonably) up to date features as well as stability.

And Debian Wheezy users who would like to try out the latest features in the release version of Firefox (currently 21 at the time of writing) can get that too, as described here.

Upgrade kernel from backports in Debian Stable

Debian Stable (currently Lenny) is, as the version name implies, stable. If there are any annoying bugs, I haven't come across any, and I haven't experienced any crashes or lock-ups in the OS itself. Some of the packages in Stable are, however, rather long in the tooth- they haven't been updated for a couple of years or more.
Recently I've been using Debian backports to update versions of some applications- Pidgin, Transmission, Open Office. I'd come across a few recommendations to upgrade the kernel, but had trouble finding a simple guide to doing so. There are hundreds of kernel entries in the list of software packages in Debian Lenny: which one to choose? The best guide I found was this one.

For an example one package I recommend updating on a desktop system is the Linux kernel. Debian ships Linux kernels that are geared towards server use by default. This is fine if you are running Debian on a server, and if you are, I strongly suggest you stick with the default kernel. However, there are other kernels available that are optimised for desktop use...

The guide goes on to recommend a couple of kernel packages that are not in the current list of packages- so I guess they've been updated. I went ahead and installed linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-686, Linux 2.6.32 for modern PCs.
This seems to be the kernel for duel-core processors. There are many different kernels for different computer architectures. I'm guessing "bpo.5" stands for backport (something) 5- but if any reader knows better, or of a guide to choosing the best kernel for a particular computer, please leave a comment.
UPDATE: A comment informs "bpo.5" stands for backport.org.

Gnome 3 mockups

[Update, June 2011: for some reason this page has been getting a lot of hits recently. Gnome 3 has been released, people. If you want screenshots, visit the Gnome 3 site for screenshots of the finished product.]
I found some screenshots of the new Gnome 3 mockup on the Debian forum. (The Gnome 3 release has apparently been delayed to accommodate the changes.)
I'm looking forward to using Gnome 3. The present desktop model in Gnome dates back to 1995. Time for a change. I've used the Gnome 3 shell in Ubuntu and (briefly) in Fedora and liked it. In both distros it caused computer lock-ups, but I'm pretty sure these were due to using it with Compiz running at the same time. Now I'm running Debian Stable, where the Gnome shell is not available. If Gnome 3 comes out in March, I guess it will miss the next release of Debian Stable too (due around the end of the year). Sigh.

Debian “testing” vs Ubuntu “stable”

SuperUser has an interesting question and answer page.
Ubuntu and Debian are my two favourite distos. Ubuntu has the more up-to-date packages, but Debian is more stable. I'd been toying with the idea of trying Debian Testing, to get more up-to-date packages, but the Q&A page pretty much coalesced my ideas- for me, the stability is becoming more appealing than the desire for the latest packages. If I really want the excitement of getting the latest packages reasonably promptly, Ubuntu, the way I came, would be the way to go (or in fact, return).
Ubuntu is a reasonable compromise between features and stability- LTS releases a good compromise- and Debian is an excellent choice for a rock-solid system, although the packages become a little dated as the release ages.
Debian Testing is for people who enjoy regular updates, regular new features and fixing problems. One of the things about Debian Stable (Lenny) that is growing on me is the complete lack of updates I've seen- consistency from month to month seems to be comfy rather than boring. Quite a contrast to Ubuntu, where something seems to get updated every few days.
I have to say I am looking forward to the release of Debian Squeeze, and some updated packages, possibly in the autumn (the release date is uncertain)?