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What's the easiest way to install Mercurial 1.5.1 on Debian Lenny? Can I safely install the package from the sid repository using apt-get, or should I compile it from the sources?

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Hmm; looks like backports.org doesn't go newer than 1.3.1 right now.

Given that, the safest approach is to build from sid's source package (so you'll still have a debian-packaged binary, just one you built yourself); see http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/ch-sourcehandling.en.html for a quick primer

If you've added the sid source repository to your sources list, you might also consider using apt-get build-dep to install the build-time dependencies, and apt-get source to download and unpack the sources themselves.

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Okay thanks. It sounds pretty complicated, so I think I will just stick with the 1.3.1 version from backports for now. –  pako Apr 5 '10 at 11:04

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