How and when do updates to a package like mariadb get rolled out?

Question

I'm running Ubuntu 22.04 which is fully patched / updated. I am running Mariadb 10.6.7 which installed via the included repos.

10.6.7 contains some horrible fundamental bugs like the database stops returning queries after a while on large tables without running analyse all the time.

The current version of 10.6 is 10.6.10 which is september 2022. Why do I not see that when I type update/upgrade? What is the best way to install that version from where I am right now?

Answer 1

Most (not all) deb packages are merged from Debian every six months. The merge happens a couple months before release. So if you want to look at a package history, Debian is a good place to look.

Let's see what the Debian Package Tracker (tracker.debian.org), says about mariadb-server (https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/mariadb-10.6) in October 2022.

You can see that Debian has packaged newer releases. But check those dates against the Ubuntu deadline for inclusion into 22.10:

10.6.9 was migrated into Ubuntu 22.10 (check apt on a 22.10 system: It's there). It's now eligible for backporting to earlier releases (like 22.04).

10.6.10 was a month too late. It --or some other newer release-- will be included in the next release of Ubuntu: 23.04, to be released in April 2023. After release, it will become eligible for backporting.

Of course, if you really MUST be running the newest versions, then LTS might be the wrong path for you. LTS is not meant for that use case.

• LTS is meant for enterprises that want minimal changes and no breaking changes, and are willing to run fully-patched but older versions.
• Folks who want newer versions of software should consider the 6-month interim releases of Ubuntu.
• The hybrid model --installing newer software onto an LTS "base"-- can be problematic. It tends to be built upon false assumptions and to offer the worst of both worlds instead of the best. If it were a great solution, it would be released that way.