LAW Distribution (base Packages): Newest or stable?

[khz]

Does the basic operating system make a difference in an LAW?
What kind of LAW distribution base system do you use? A "stable", "testing" or "sid" - these may be Debian names, but I think these names are transferable to all distributions - ? Check the entry in the "/etc/apt/source.list" or the path to your distribution where the source synchronization is listed.
- Do you care about the latest system packages in the distribution (~sid) which might mean a quick change of your base system, might include bugs, ... .
- Or are you using older system packages n of the distribution (~stable) which could mean slow changes to your base system, possibly with very few bugs, ... . .
It's just about the base system.

Subsequently added backports/repository/... or any other individual/new programs excluded. Is it easy to install and use these latest programs in your system ("stable", "testing" or "sid")?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different options for you?

[raboof]

- Do you care about the latest system packages in the distribution (~sid) which might mean a quick change of your base system, might include bugs, ... .
- Or are you using older system packages n of the distribution (~stable) which could mean slow changes to your base system, possibly with very few bugs, ... . .
It's just about the base system.

My answer is no different between LAW and general usage. I like to use recent packaged versions of software.

There are a couple of reasons for this:
- I'm not sure I believe older versions of software necessarily have less bugs. After all software development is "old bugs out, new bugs in". It is true sometimes bugfixes are 'backported' to older versions, but I think this is the exception rather than the norm.
- Having an old 'base system' might make it harder/impossible to run software that was designed for a newer 'base system'
- Last but perhaps most importantly: I think one of the big advantages of open source is that the distinction between 'users' and 'developers' blurs, and people can work closely together (discussing possible bugs/features, testing changes, perhaps sharing code) to improve the whole. Using old versions of software makes this (much) less efficient.