Ubuntu to halve support length for non-LTS releases

The 18 month support for regular releases of Ubuntu was very specifically chosen because it is always long enough to hold you over until the next LTS release. At 9 months, the new schedule will force you to upgrade to each regular release of Ubuntu in order to maintain support, unless you stick to LTS releases. I'm not terribly concerned about Ubuntu itself since I've never been a user of it, but I'm interested to see how this will affect alternate releases and spin offs.

I'm just going to tack this on as reason #426 that Bodhi moves from LTS to LTS releases of Ubuntu for our core.

~Jeff

Jeff:

If you don't mind me asking, why do you use Ubuntu as your base?

Please don't be offended by that question - I'm not asking that in a "I think you're wrong" sort of way, I'm asking from "I seek enlightenment" way.

I like to answer questions with questions. What stands to be gained from using something other than Ubuntu as a base?

EDIT: Re-reading that I sound a bit like a jerk... Read the blog post I just threw up on the news wire, it actually outlines a bit of why we do what we do at Bodhi.

~Jeff

I'll speculate:

Desired qualities for a base:

-- Long-term support

-- Defined period of support

-- Whole lot of packages

I'm a huge fan of Debian, but I acknowledge that the lack of a true LTS (even though for all intents and purposes every Debian release is an LTS) and a defined length of support can be a problem.

I'd say Slackware, but there aren't anywhere near as many packages as in Debian.

I'd say Fedora, but there's no LTS, and getting the proprietary bits are a pain.

Quoting:Read the blog post I just threw up on the news wire, it actually outlines a bit of why we do what we do at Bodhi.

That does clarify.

All very good points as well Steven. Thanks to both. :)

@Steven you hit most of the points right on the head. The LTSes now having five years of support VS 3 also makes them a good draw.

That being said, Ubuntu could keep getting crazier and make my life hard for 14.04, we will reevaluate what gets used as a core for Bodhi 3 next summer :)

~Jeff

Debian Stable: LLLLLLLLLTS

Wasn't the time to get Sarge out the door called a "bad" thing?

But yes, it's all really dependent upon having a defined term of support.

The Sarge delay was a long time ago. Since Etch in 2007, Debian has released every two years, give or take a month or two. If we get Wheezy in late March or early April, that "streak" will continue.

I acknowledge that a defined support period -- a hard date rather than "the next release plus one year" -- would be a good thing for Debian.

But that small bit of "uncertainty" is a very small price to pay for the stability, support and overall quality of Debian.

FWIW, I've been using Wheezy since late 2012, and it has been breakage-free.

Quoting: At 9 months, the new schedule will force you to upgrade to each regular release of Ubuntu in order to maintain support, unless you stick to LTS releases.

Yep... Methinks that's the intent,... Non-LTS = experimental, ... LTS = the supported base of users. I personally went from 10.04 to 12.04,... with only a few machines making any stops in between, ... and those for funky hardware concerns.

If this makes the LTS more than just a regular release with a bunch of last-minute #$% crammed into it that is just supported longer, it'll be worth it.