Development could start in mid-September 2017

Jun 17, 2017 09:54 GMT  ·  By

Renowned Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman announced earlier this morning on his Google+ page that the upcoming Linux 4.14 kernel series will be an LTS (Long Term Support) branch.

Development of the Linux 4.14 kernel series did not even start, as the version that's being developed these days is Linux 4.12, which should be promoted to stable early next month. Two weeks after the release of Linux kernel 4.12, development of the Linux 4.13 kernel branch will begin.

As the first Release Candidate (RC) milestone of Linux kernel 4.13 could hit the streets in mid-July or a week later on the 23rd, we're looking at a final release of the series in early September, so only two weeks after that, the development of the Linux 4.14 kernel will commence, around mid-September.

Linux kernel 4.14 to be supported for two years

If everything goes well, and Linux 4.14's development starts in mid-September (based on a development cycle of seven RCs for Linux kernels 4.12 and 4.13), we're looking at a final release of the long-term supported kernel branch in early November, but it can take longer if the previous kernels have eight RCs each one.

Greg Kroah-Hartman promises to support the Linux 4.14 kernel series for at least two years after its release in November 2017, until November 2019, according to the Google+ post: "As no one seemed to make 4.9 blow up too badly, let's try this again! 4.14 == next LTS kernel I support for at least 2 years. Any objections?"

According to kernel.org, the currently maintained LTS (Long Term Support) kernel branches are Linux 4.9 (most advanced one), Linux 4.4, Linux 4.1, Linux 3.16, Linux 3.10, Linux 3.4, and Linux 3.2. So in about three months from now, Linux 4.14 will be the most advanced LTS kernel branch that you can install on your Linux OS.