Debian is one of the oldest GNU/Linux distributions in active development. However, it follows a flexible release schedule. In other words, a new version is ready when it’s ready.
Today, the Debian Project has announced the general availability of Debian 11.6. It’s the sixth update in the Debian 11 “Bullseye” series. For the statistics, it contains 78 security and 69 bug fixes updates.
The more notable packages receiving bug fixes and security updates in this release are Chromium, Evolution, GRUB2, Glibc, Mplayer, Mutt, Nano, nftables, Postfix, PostgreSQL, Bind, Lighttpd, MediaWiki, D-Bus, LibreOffice, Squid, Tomcat, WordPress, PHP, VLC, and FFmpeg.
Besides those mentioned above, Debian 11.6 brings the Linux kernel version to 5.10.0-20. In addition, according to the release notes, the Debian Installer has also been updated to include the fixes that the point release brought into the stable.
Please remember that this new release does not include any new versions of Debian 11 but only updates some of the packages. So, if you’re already using it, you must run the command below to upgrade your Debian system to the most recent stable Debian 11.6 version.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgradeOnce the Debian upgrade is completed, you need to reboot the system.
In addition, users can configure the unattended-upgrades package to perform installation updated packages and security updates automatically. If you’re unsure how to set it up, our “How to Set Up Automatic Updates on Debian” guide will walk you through the process.
With this year’s last release in the “Bullseye” series, Debian closes another successful year for itself. A year in which Debian made some significant decisions about its future, such as integrating non-free software in the installer by default.
Of course, all eyes of the users of this legendary Linux distribution are in the middle of next year, when Debian 12 “Bookworm” is expected. For your information, Debian 11 “Bullseye” will enter its LTS phase in July 2024 and will continue to receive security updates until June 2026.
Finally, the official announcement contains detailed information on the latest release, Debian 11.6. In addition, a comprehensive list of all packages that have received updates may be seen here.
