Long-term support

Last updated

Long-term support (LTS) is a product lifecycle management policy in which a stable release of computer software is maintained for a longer period of time than the standard edition. The term is typically reserved for open-source software, where it describes a software edition that is supported for months or years longer than the software's standard edition.

Contents

Short-term support (STS) is a term that distinguishes the support policy for the software's standard edition. STS software has a comparatively short life cycle, and may be afforded new features that are omitted from the LTS edition to avoid potentially compromising the stability or compatibility of the LTS release. [1]

Characteristics

LTS applies the tenets of reliability engineering to the software development process and software release life cycle. Long-term support extends the period of software maintenance; it also alters the type and frequency of software updates (patches) to reduce the risk, expense, and disruption of software deployment, while promoting the dependability of the software. It does not necessarily imply technical support.

At the beginning of a long-term support period, the software developers impose a feature freeze: They make patches to correct software bugs and vulnerabilities, but do not introduce new features that may cause regression. The software maintainer either distributes patches individually, or packages them in maintenance releases, point releases, or service packs. At the conclusion of the support period, the product either reaches end-of-life, or receives a reduced level of support for a period of time (e.g., high-priority security patches only). [2]

Rationale

Before upgrading software, a decision-maker might consider the risk and cost of the upgrade. [3]

As software developers add new features and fix software bugs, they may introduce new bugs or break old functionality. [4] When such a flaw occurs in software, it is called a regression . [4] Two ways that a software publisher or maintainer can reduce the risk of regression are to release major updates less frequently, and to allow users to test an alternate, updated version of the software. [3] [5] LTS software applies these two risk-reduction strategies. The LTS edition of the software is published in parallel with the STS (short-term support) edition. Since major updates to the STS edition are published more frequently, it offers LTS users a preview of changes that might be incorporated into the LTS edition when those changes are judged to be of sufficient quality.

While using older versions of software may avoid the risks associated with upgrading, it may introduce the risk of losing support for the old software. [6] Long-term support addresses this by assuring users and administrators that the software will be maintained for a specific period of time, and that updates selected for publication will carry a significantly reduced risk of regression. [2] The maintainers of LTS software only publish updates that either have low IT risk or that reduce IT risk (such as security patches). Patches for LTS software are published with the understanding that installing them is less risky than not installing them.

Software with separate LTS versions

This table only lists software that have a specific LTS version in addition to a normal release cycle. Many projects, such as CentOS, provide a long period of support for every release.

SoftwareSoftware typeDate of first LTS releaseLTS periodSTS periodNotes
Blender Computer graphics 3 June 2020
(v2.83)
2 years [7]
ChromeOS Operating system March 20226 months4 weeksChrome Enterprise and Education Help Center on Long-term Support (LTS) on ChromeOS
Collabora Online Office Suite 2 June 2016
[8]
1 yearVariesWeb-based, enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice, its STS is typically a month. [9]
Collabora Online for Desktop Office Suite 11 May 2013
[10]
3 yearsFor Windows, macOS and Linux, enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice. "LTS support for 3 years as standard, with up to 5 years if required." [11] Collabora Online for Mobile (Android, iOS and ChromeOS) have no LTS they receive rolling updates, their STS is a bit longer than Collabora Online.
Django Application framework 23 March 2012
(v1.4)
3 years [12] 16 months
Debian GNU/Linux Linux distribution 1 June 2014 [13] 5 years3 yearsLTS (no cost) is provided by "a separate group of volunteers and companies interested in making it a success." [14] Partial paid (for some versions) Extended long-term support (ELTS), for 2 extra years over the 5 of LTS, provided by Freexian.
Firefox Web browser 31 January 2012
(v10.0)
1 year4 weeksMozilla's LTS term is "Extended Support Release" (ESR) (see Firefox#Extended Support Release).
Joomla CMS January 2008
(v1.5)
2 years, 3 months [15] 7 monthsSince Joomla! is a web application, long-term support also implies support for legacy web browsers.
Laravel Application framework 9 June 2015
(v5.1) [16]
3 years [17] 1 yearFor LTS releases, bug fixes are provided for 2 years and security fixes are provided for 3 years. For general releases, bug fixes are provided for 6 months and security fixes are provided for 1 year. [18]
Linux kernel Kernel 11 October 2008
(v2.6.27)
Varies, 6, 10+ years [19] [20] [21] VariesLinux kernel v2.6.16 and v2.6.27, were unofficially supported in LTS fashion [22] before a 2011 working group in the Linux Foundation started a formal Long Term Support Initiative. [23] [24] The LTS support period was increased to 6 years; Linux kernel 4.4 will have 6 years of support before being taken over by the "Civil Infrastructure Platform" (CIP) project that plans to maintain it for a minimum of 10 years under "SLTS (Super Long Term Support)" (the CIP has only, for now, decided to maintain for 64-bit x86-64 and 32-bit ARM; while 64-bit ARM hardware support is also planned). [25] "The use cases CIP project is targeting have a life cycle of between 25 and 50 years." and the CIP envisions 15+ years of support. [26] [27] [28]
Linux Mint Linux distribution 8 June 20085 years [29] 6 monthsAs of version 13 the LTS period increased from three years to five, since Linux Mint derives from Ubuntu. Version 16 was the last non-LTS version.
Java Virtual machine and runtime environment 25 September 2018
(v11)
6 years (more for older versions or depending on vendor)6 monthsJava 17 is supported for 6 years, e.g. by Microsoft. Java 8 is supported for up to 16 years by Oracle. All versions prior to Java 9 were supported for long periods of time (4 years or more). [30]
Moodle LMS 12 May 2014 (v2.7) [31] 3 years [32] 18 months [32]
Matomo Web analytics 3 February 2016
(v2.16) [33] [34]
≥12 months [33] ~4 weeks [35]
Node.js Runtime system 12 October 2015
(v4.2.0) [36]
18 months12 months
Symfony Application framework June 20133 years8 months
Tiki-wiki Wiki/CMS May 2009 (Tiki3)5 years6 monthsEvery third version is a Long Term Support (LTS) version.
Trisquel 7.0 [37] Linux distribution 2014-11-045 years1 year Linux-libre (kernel) 3.13, GNOME fallback 3.12 and Abrowser or GNU IceCat
TYPO3 CMS January 2011
(v4.5 LTS) [38]
3 years (min.)VariesTYPO3 is a web application stewarded by the TYPO3 Association.
Ubuntu Linux distribution 1 June 2006
(Ubuntu 6.06 LTS) [39]
5 years, [40] 10 years with ESM [41] 9 months 1 A new LTS version is released every two years. From 2006 through 2011, LTS support for the desktop was for approximately two years, and for servers five, but LTS versions are now supported for five years for both. [39] [40] Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) is available for an additional 5 years on Ubuntu 14.04 and subsequent LTS releases. [42]
Windows 10 Operating system 29 July 2015
(v10.0.10240) [43]
10 years [44] 18 months (previously 8–12 months) [44] The Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) (previously Long-Term Servicing Branch) releases of Windows 10 are supported for 10 years for mission critical machines. The LTSC release gets monthly security updates; the updates to the LTSC release bring little to no feature changes. Every 2–3 years, a new major LTSC release is published, but businesses may opt to stay on their current LTSC version until its end-of-life. The LTSC release is available only for businesses running the Windows 10 Enterprise edition. Regular consumers on the Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) get new versions of the operating system approximately every six months (previously every four months) while business customers get upgraded to new versions of SAC approximately four months after Microsoft released the SAC release for regular consumers (previously a separate release is done approximately every eight months). [44]
Windows 11 Operating system 5 October 2021
(v10.0.22000.258)
3 years (Enterprise and Education editions)2 years"Windows 11 feature updates will release in the second half of the calendar year and will come with 24 months of support for Home, Pro, Pro for Workstations, and Pro Education editions. Windows 11 will come with 36 months of support for Enterprise and Education editions." [45]
Zabbix Network monitoring software21 May 2012 (2.0) [46] 5 years [47] 6 monthsDot-zero versions (3.0, 4.0, 5.0, etc) are LTS releases that have "Full support" for three years, and "Limited support" (e.g., security update) for an addition two, for a total of five years. Standard releases (5.2, 5.4, etc) are released every six months and are only supported until the next software release (plus an extra month for security fixes). [47]
1. ^ The support period for Ubuntu's parent distribution, Debian, is one year after the release of the next stable version. [48] [49] Since Debian 6.0 "Squeeze", LTS support (bug fixes and security patches) was added to all version releases. [50] The total LTS support time is generally around 5 years for every version. [51] [52] Due to the irregular release cycle of Debian, support times might vary from that average [52] and the LTS support is done not by the Debian team but by a separate group of volunteers. [53]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debian</span> Linux distribution based on free and open-source software

Debian, also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software and optionally non-free firmware or software developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of Debian (0.01) was released on September 15, 1993, and its first stable version (1.1) was released on June 17, 1996. The Debian Stable branch is the most popular edition for personal computers and servers. Debian is also the basis for many other distributions that have different purposes, like Proxmox for servers, Ubuntu or Linux Mint for desktops, Kali for penetration testing, and Pardus and Astra for government use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux distribution</span> Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu</span> Linux distribution developed by Canonical

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in multiple editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for Internet of things devices and robots. The operating system is developed by the British company Canonical, and a community of other developers, under a meritocratic governance model. As of October 2023, the most-recent release is 23.10, and the current long-term support release is 22.04.

Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kubuntu</span> Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, utilizing the KDE desktop environment

Kubuntu is an official flavor of the Ubuntu operating system that uses the KDE Plasma Desktop instead of the GNOME desktop environment. As part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu uses the same underlying systems. Kubuntu shares the same repositories as Ubuntu and is released regularly on the same schedule as Ubuntu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xubuntu</span> Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, utilizing the Xfce desktop environment

Xubuntu is a Canonical Ltd.–recognized, community-maintained derivative of the Ubuntu operating system. The name Xubuntu is a portmanteau of Xfce and Ubuntu, as it uses the Xfce desktop environment, instead of Ubuntu's customized GNOME desktop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nexenta OS</span> Discontinued computer operating system

Nexenta OS, officially known as the Nexenta Core Platform, is a discontinued computer operating system based on OpenSolaris and Ubuntu that runs on IA-32- and x86-64-based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems started the OpenSolaris project in June of that year. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsored its development. Nexenta OS version 1.0 was released in February 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux Mint</span> Ubuntu-based Linux distribution

Linux Mint is a community-driven Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, bundled with a variety of free and open-source applications. It can provide full out-of-the-box multimedia support for those who choose to include proprietary software such as multimedia codecs. Compared to Ubuntu, it uses the Cinnamon interface by default, using a different, more traditional layout that can be customized by dragging the applets and creating panels. New applets can also be downloaded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu Studio</span> Derivative of the Ubuntu operating system

Ubuntu Studio is a recognized flavor of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, which is geared to general multimedia production. The original version, based on Ubuntu 7.04, was released on 10 May 2007.

GetDeb was an Ubuntu software portal providing legacy versions of software included in Old LTS Ubuntu versions, and software that is omitted from the official repositories. PlayDeb was a sister project with an explicit focus on games. The names come from the .deb package format used by Ubuntu. GetDeb and PlayDeb services can also be used by Ubuntu derivatives starting with 16.04 as the 14.04 packages were removed once when Ubuntu 14.04 reached EOL. Both websites have been redirected to a spam site, and should no longer be trusted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collabora</span> Global private company

Collabora Ltd is a global private company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with offices in Cambridge and Montreal. It provides open-source consultancy, training and products to companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ksplice</span> Live patch extension for the Linux kernel

Ksplice is an open-source extension of the Linux kernel that allows security patches to be applied to a running kernel without the need for reboots, avoiding downtimes and improving availability. Ksplice supports only the patches that do not make significant semantic changes to kernel's data structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu version history</span> History of the Ubuntu operating system

Ubuntu releases are made semiannually by Canonical Ltd, its developers, using the year and month of the release as a version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and was released on 20 October 2004. Consequently, version numbers for future versions are provisional; if the release is delayed until a different month to that planned, the version number will change accordingly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lubuntu</span> Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, utilizing the LXQt desktop environment

Lubuntu is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu and uses the LXQt desktop environment in place of Ubuntu's GNOME desktop. Lubuntu was originally touted as being "lighter, less resource hungry and more energy-efficient", but now aims to be "a functional yet modular distribution focused on getting out of the way and letting users use their computer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peppermint OS</span> Linux computer operating system

Peppermint OS is a Linux distribution based on Debian and Devuan Stable, and formerly based on Ubuntu. It uses the Xfce desktop environment. It aims to provide a familiar environment for newcomers to Linux, which requires relatively low hardware resources to run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodhi Linux</span> Linux distribution

Bodhi Linux is a light-weight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that uses an Enlightenment DR17-based fork called Moksha as its desktop environment. The philosophy for the distribution is to provide a minimal base system so that users can install the software they want. In turn, the distribution only includes software that is essential to most users, such as a file manager (Thunar), a terminal emulator (Terminology), and a web browser. To install additional software, Bodhi Linux developers maintain a browser-based app store that uses apturl to install programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu Kylin</span> Derivative of the Ubuntu operating system

Ubuntu Kylin is the official Chinese version of the Ubuntu computer operating system. It is intended for desktop and laptop computers, and has been described as a "loose continuation of the Chinese Kylin OS". In 2013, Canonical Ltd. reached an agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to co-create and release an Ubuntu-based operating system with features targeted at the Chinese market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debian version history</span> Releases of Debian GNU/Linux, a computer operating system

Debian releases do not follow a fixed schedule. Recent releases have been made around every two years by the Debian Project. The most recent version of Debian is Debian version 12, codename "Bookworm". The next up and coming release of Debian is Debian 13, codename "Trixie".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudder (software)</span> Audit and configuration management utility

Rudder is an open source audit and configuration management utility to help automate system configuration across large IT infrastructures. Rudder relies on a lightweight local agent installed on each managed machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MX Linux</span> Mid-weight family of operating systems

MX Linux is a Linux distribution based on Debian stable and using core antiX components, with additional software created or packaged by the MX community. The development of MX Linux is a collaborative effort between the antiX and former MEPIS communities. The MX 'name' comes from the M for MEPIS and the X from antiX – an acknowledgment of their roots. The community's stated goal is to produce "a family of operating systems that are designed to combine elegant and efficient desktops with high stability and solid performance".

References

  1. "Release and support cycle". Joomla! Documentation. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  2. 1 2 von Hagen, William (2009). "The Ubuntu Linux Project § Ubuntu Update and Maintenance Commitments". Ubuntu 8.10 Linux Bible. Wiley Publishing. pp. 9–10. ISBN   978-0-470-29420-8.
  3. 1 2 Rozanski, Nick; Woods, Eóin (2012) [2011]. "The Operational Viewpoint § Functional Migration". Software Systems Architecture: Working with Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley. p. 395. ISBN   978-0-321-71833-4 via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 Desikan, Srinivasan; Gopalaswamy, Ramesh (2008) [2006]. "What Is Regression Testing?". Software Testing: Principles and Practice. Pearson Education. p. 194. ISBN   978-81-7758-121-8 via Google Books.
  5. Black, Rex (2007). "Three Other Regression Strategies". Pragmatic Software Testing: Becoming an Effective and Efficient Test Professional. Wiley Publishing. pp. 43–44. ISBN   978-0-470-12790-2 via Google Books.
  6. May, Rod (1998). "COTS in Safety-Related Systems: Issues and an Illustration". In Redmill, Felix; Anderson, Tom (eds.). Industrial Perspectives of Safety-critical Systems: Proceedings of the Sixth Safety-Critical Systems Symposium, Birmingham 1998. Springer-Verlag. p. 220. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-1534-2. ISBN   978-3-540-76189-1. S2CID   31255136 via Google Books.
  7. Roosendaal, Ton (20 May 2020). "Long-term Support Pilot". Blender Developers Blog.
  8. "Collabora Productivity releases Collabora Online 1.0 "Engine" for Hosters and Clouds" (Press release). Collabora Productivity. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  9. Bärwaldt, Eric (2020-09-01). "Working Together Tools for collaborative office work". Linux Magazine (238/2020).
  10. "Collabora Office repository". Collabora Productivity. 11 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  11. "Collabora Office The enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice". Collabora Office. We offer LTS support for 3 years as standard, with up to 5 years if required. Incremental updates via MSP installers and software repositories. No installation or redeployment required.
  12. Graham, Tim (25 June 2015). "Django's Roadmap". djangoproject.com. Django Software Foundation.
  13. "Debian -- News -- Long term support for Debian 6.0 Announced". www.debian.org. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  14. "LTS - Debian Wiki". wiki.debian.org. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  15. van Geest, M.; et al. (22 August 2011). "Release and support cycle". Joomla! Documentation. Joomla! Project Team. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  16. Barnes, Eric L. (1 May 2015). "Everything we know about Laravel 5.1 – Updated". laravel-news.com. Laravel-news.
  17. Barnes, Eric L. (30 April 2015). "Laravel announces v5.1 will be LTS". laravel-news.com. Laravel-news.
  18. "Support Policy". laravel.com.
  19. CIP (2016-10-13). "Civil Infrastructure Platform Announces First Super Long Term Support Kernel at Embedded Linux Conference Europe". Civil Infrastructure Platform. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  20. "Renesas taps new 10-year SLTS kernel from the Civil Infrastructure Platform". LinuxGizmos.com. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  21. "Super long-term kernel support [LWN.net]". lwn.net. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  22. Bunk, Adrian (11 October 2008). "Linux 2.6.27 will be a longtime supported kernel". Linux kernel (Mailing list). Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  23. Larabel, Michael (26 October 2011). "Linux Foundation Backs Long-Term Support Kernels". Phoronix . Phoronix Media. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  24. "What is LTSI?". linuxfoundation.org. The Linux Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  25. CIP (2018-10-23). "Renesas RZ/G2M-96CE board adopted as Arm64 reference board for the next CIP SLTS Kernel". Civil Infrastructure Platform. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  26. "The Civil Infrastructure Platform" (PDF). Linux Foundation.
  27. "Renesas Electronics Enables Long-Term Support for Embedded Industrial Linux Developers with New RZ/G Linux Platform". www.renesas.com. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  28. "Civil Infrastructure Platform Announces First Super Long Term Support Kernel at Embedded Linux Conference Europe". Civil Infrastructure Platform. 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  29. "Linux Mint Releases". linuxmint.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  30. "Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap". Oracle Corporation. 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  31. Connolly, Dec (2014-05-13). "Moodle 2.7 - the version you've been waiting for?". Titus Learning. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
  32. 1 2 "Moodle 4.1 (LTS)". moodledev.io. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  33. 1 2 Aubry, Matthieu (January 11, 2016). "Announcing Long Term Support in Matomo 2 – The analytics platform for your mission critical projects". Official Matomo Blog. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  34. "Milestones - matomo-org/matomo". GitHub . Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  35. "When is the next release of Matomo? What is the release schedule?". Matomo.org. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  36. "Node v4.2.0 (LTS)". 2015-10-12. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  37. "Trisquel 7.0 LTS Belenos". Trisquel.info (in Spanish). 2014-04-11.
  38. Baschny, Ernesto; et al. (26 January 2011). "TYPO3 4.5". TYPO3Wiki. TYPO3 Association. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  39. 1 2 Brockmeier, Joe (1 June 2006). "Mark Shuttleworth on Ubuntu Long Term Support". Linux.com . Linux Foundation . Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  40. 1 2 Darra, Clive; et al. (23 May 2006). "LTS". Ubuntu Wiki. Canonical Ltd. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  41. "Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS: Stability, security and more".
  42. "Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04 lifecycle extended to ten years". Ubuntu. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  43. "Windows 10 release information". technet.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
  44. 1 2 3 "Overview of Windows as a service". technet.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  45. "Windows lifecycle and servicing update". TECHCOMMUNITY.MICROSOFT.COM. 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  46. "Zabbix release list".
  47. 1 2 "Zabbix Life Cycle & Release Policy".
  48. Kern, Philipp; Piat, Franklin; Simmons, Geoff; et al. (19 April 2006). "Point Releases". Debian Wiki. Debian Project. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  49. "Debian security FAQ". Debian.org. Debian Project. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  50. "[SECURITY][DSA 2907-1] Announcement of long term support for Debian oldstable". lists.debian.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  51. "LTS - Debian Wiki". Debian Project. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  52. 1 2 "Debian Version History". Debian.org. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020.
  53. "LTS/FAQ - Debian Wiki". wiki.debian.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.

Further reading