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I have Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS. emacs --version returns GNU Emacs 25.2.2 and apt policy emacs returns Installed: 47.0 Candidate: 47.0. Okay what? I thought the latest version of Emacs was 27 something. Nonetheless, this is not what Emacs's version command returns. Could someone explain this please?

I also thought Ubuntu was Debian based and used their repositories, so I checked on Debian's website and Emacs there is on 1:26.1+1-3.2+deb10u1. So, Ubuntu is not pulling from the Debian repository?

Why is Emacs in Ubuntu still stuck at 25.2.2 where the latest is 27. I understand that Ubuntu's repository is suppose to be stable so it is often behind. But is that really the reason to be two versions behind from the official version?

Am I update-to-date as far as Ubuntu's repositories are concerned?

Eliah Kagan
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  • My question is not just about Emacs being behind, it also asks about the confusing version numbers and if I am up to date. – scribe Dec 03 '19 at 06:22
  • On my Ubuntu system (20.04) the software is in nearly every case later than on my equivalent Debian (bullseye/11 testing/sid) system (there are a few where they are exactly equal, I'm not aware of any where debian is later but it's possible and it's usually only by hours). In your text, you're comparing a 2018-April release of Ubuntu to a Debian release of 2019-July ? Those releases are more than a year apart - so why do you expect the older Ubuntu release to have versions that weren't yet released in 2018-April. – guiverc Dec 03 '19 at 06:24
  • Ubuntu backports security fixes; and only updates to later versions of software IF the backporting of security fixes is more work that just upgrading software versions. That is not unique to Ubuntu. If you want the latest, you could use a later release (like I am; though you can't use this site for support; 19.10 or a stable release would make much more sense for most people). – guiverc Dec 03 '19 at 06:24
  • https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=all&searchon=names&keywords=emacs – guiverc Dec 03 '19 at 06:27
  • Package versions have NOTHING to do with the software contained within. Package versions are maintained to allow upgrades; and release-upgrades to the next release - THUS they need to increment even if software contained within is identical as you move from one release to the next using release-upgrade process. It's a wrong assumption to assume package version relates to software within (despite sometimes they are equivalent; those are only "lucky' co-incidences as they are really something different). This statement applies both to Debian and Ubuntu. – guiverc Dec 03 '19 at 06:32

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On my Ubuntu system (20.04) the software is in nearly every case later than on my equivalent Debian (bullseye/11 testing/sid) system (there are a few where they are exactly equal, I'm not aware of any where debian is later but it's possible and it's usually only by hours or day or two unless Ubuntu is in a freeze state).

In your text, you're comparing a 2018-April release of Ubuntu to a Debian release of 2019-July ? Those releases are more than a year apart - so why do you expect the older Ubuntu release to have versions that weren't yet released in 2018-April.

Ubuntu backports security fixes; and only updates to later versions of software IF the backporting of security fixes is more work that just upgrading software versions (testing etc). That is not unique to Ubuntu. If you want the latest, you could use a later release (eg. Ubuntu 19.10 being the 2019-October release).

Package versions have NOTHING to do with the software contained within. Package versions are maintained to allow upgrades; and release-upgrades to the next release - THUS they need to increment even if software contained within is identical as you move from one release to the next using release-upgrade process, minor packaging or text file changes which is not part of upstream's code. It's a wrong assumption to assume package version relates to software within (despite sometimes they are equivalent; those are only "lucky' co-incidences as they are really something different). This statement applies both to Debian and Ubuntu.

For looking up software version, I'd suggest packages.ubuntu.com (eg. https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=all&searchon=names&keywords=emacs for details of emacs). You can also explore via your terminal providing your software package lists are up-to-date and you are using a current mirror (a number of people don't check their mirrors in my experience)

guiverc
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