openSUSE Cuts Maintenance Cycle to 18 Months
Instead of 24 months and 3 versions, Novell will in future only supply 2 updates in 18 months for openSUSE.
A short mail from Michael Loeffler announced the cut from 24 to 18 months of maintenance. The mail on the openSUSE mailing list comes one day after Marcus Meissner announced that maintenance for openSUSE 10.3 will end in October.
The new model will cut the maintenance period to 2 versions and 2 months after the release of the following version (2+2), which with the planned release rhythm of 8 months means 18 months.
The move brings the openSUSE project closer to the Fedora maintenance procedure: Red Hat ends support for community distributions one month after release of the next but one Fedora version (2+1).
First reactions to the change were not long in coming: Boyd Lynn Gerber suggests building on an enterprise product based openSUSE version, even without a maintenance contract with Novell, to ensure five years of support, like, for example, Centos offers for the Red Hat enterprise version.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
KDE Unleashes Plasma 6.5
The Plasma 6.5 desktop environment is now available with new features, improvements, and the usual bug fixes.
-
Xubuntu Site Possibly Hacked
It appears that the Xubuntu site was hacked and briefly served up a malicious ZIP file from its download page.
-
LMDE 7 Now Available
Linux Mint Debian Edition, version 7, has been officially released and is based on upstream Debian.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Reaches EOL
Linux kernel 6.16 has reached its end of life, which means you'll need to upgrade to the next stable release, Linux kernel 6.17.
-
Amazon Ditches Android for a Linux-Based OS
Amazon has migrated from Android to the Linux-based Vega OS for its Fire TV.
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.