Some packages aim at fast moving targets, such as spam filtering and virus scanning, and even when using updated data patterns, they do not really work for the full time of a stable release. The main goal of volatile is allowing system administrators to update their systems in a nice, consistent way, without getting the drawbacks of using unstable, even without getting the drawbacks for the selected packages. So debian-volatile will only contain changes to stable programs that are necessary to keep them functional.
For packages in the volatile section of the debian-volatile archive, we try to ensure that newer versions do not introduce functional changes or require the administrator to modify the configuration file. Software which cannot be upgraded painlessly will end up in the section volatile-sloppy. Please note that volatile-sloppy still requires the activation of the normal volatile archive.
The official security team does not support debian-volatile, so that the debian-volatile team provides security updates regularly.
debian-volatile has both a staging and a release area. The staging area is only used by the build daemons. There is no guarantee that packages in this area are usable for end users. Packages in the staging area might not have a safe upgrade path, either.
Packages are moved to the release area whenever a debian-volatile update announcement (VUA) is sent to the debian-volatile-announce mailing list. The upgrade path of packages in this area is guaranteed, as well as the upgrade to the next stable release (squeeze).
The official archive of debian-volatile is available on the main site volatile.debian.org, but a network of mirrors is active and available.
Please only use either etch/volatile or lenny/volatile with
deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile etch/volatile main contrib non-free
or
deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile lenny/volatile main contrib non-free
If you want to use the sloppy archive, use the following APT sources:
deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile etch/volatile-sloppy main contrib non-free
or
deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile lenny/volatile-sloppy main contrib non-free
The integration into the main archive is planned and hopefully available for Squeeze.
The archive key for lenny can be found in the debian-archive-keyring package, which is installed by default, or in lenny-volatile.asc on this webserver.
For the volatile archive key for etch, please see etch-volatile.asc.
The generic contact address (for new packages, …) is the mailing list debian-volatile@lists.debian.org.
If you want to subscribe to that list, please see http://lists.debian.org/debian-volatile for details.
Upload instructions for developers can be found at the developers page.