[tor-relays] Tor version on Debian Wheezy (oldstable)

[Roger Dingledine]

On Wed, May 17, 2017 at 05:04:29PM +0200, Cristian Consonni wrote:
> I run a couple of relays with Debian 7 Wheezy, which is the old stable
> version.

Thanks for running relays!

> AS you can see from the Debian package page[1] the latest available
> version of Tor packaged for Wheezy is 0.2.4.27-3, which to me looks
> quite behind either 0.2.5.12-4 available in Jessie (stable) or the
> 0.2.9.X series available through backports or testing.
> 
> What's the best to do in this cases?
> * Should I start updating tor manually?

Definitely don't build Tor yourself. If you want to switch to the
deb.torproject.org repo as suggested in this thread, that is a fine
option.

> * Should I update Debian on the server? (which could well me start with
> a fresh install?

Tor 0.2.4.x is still supported until Aug 1, 2017:
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/teams/NetworkTeam/CoreTorReleases

But it's my understanding that Debian wheezy becomes oldoldstable once
Squeeze is declared stable? Meaning now would be a good time for you to
consider upgrading anyway? :)

> * Is it ok like it is now, provided that the system is updated?

It is ok like it is now, for the next 2.5 months, and then it will
become a bad idea.

(Who knows, maybe the nice people who step in to offer long-term-stable
support to Wheezy, if anybody does, will be convinceable to update it
to Tor 0.2.5. But running a partially supported oldoldstable is less
good than upgrading your Debian.)

--Roger