Debian is one of the oldest GNU/Linux distributions in active development. However, it does not follow a strict release schedule, making it difficult to predict when a new release will be available.
But today, the Debian Project has announced the simultaneous availability of two new versions of its operating system.
Debian 10.13 is the thirteenth (and final) point release of Debian 10 “Buster,” which debuted in July 2019. Debian 10.13 mainly includes security fixes, as well as a few adjustments for resolving some severe problems.
More specifically, this release contains 79 security fixes and an equal number of bug fixes. It should be noted that the installer has been updated to receive the fixes included in it so far.
On the other hand, Debian 11.5 is the fifth update in the Debian 11 “Bullseye” series. It comes with 53 security fixes and 58 bug fixes. The installer, like Debian 10.13, has also been updated.
Of course, the release of Debian 11.5 does not imply that Debian 10 “Buster” has been abandoned. On the contrary, following a new release, Debian maintains the previous version for at least twelve months before moving it to the LTS and eLTS teams for further maintenance.
As previously stated, this thirteenth update is the final chapter in the Booster series. This is because Debian 10 entered its LTS phase last month, which means it will continue to receive only security updates from now until June 30th, 2024.
At the same time, Debian 11 will enter its LTS phase in July 2024 and will continue to receive security updates until June 2026.
Please remember that these two new releases do not contain new versions of Debian 10 or Debian 11 but merely change certain of the included packages. So, if you already use one of these, use the command below to upgrade your Debian system to the most recent stable version.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgradeOnce the Debian upgrade is completed, you need to reboot the system, after which you can check its current version.
In addition, users can configure the unattended-upgrades package to perform updates automatically, applying security updates and bug fixes.
You can find a complete list of changes for Debian 10.13 here and for Debian 11.5 here.
