Login
Login

Long-term support

{{short description|Software version that is stable and supported under a long-term or extended contract}}

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. This is often called an extended-support release.

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.{{cite web|title=Release and support cycle|url=https://docs.joomla.org/release_and_support_cycle|website=Joomla! Documentation|access-date=2017-06-20}}

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).{{cite book |title=Ubuntu 8.10 Linux Bible |chapter=The Ubuntu Linux Project § Ubuntu Update and Maintenance Commitments |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl6GkVpZ5bEC&pg=PA9 |last=von Hagen |first=William |pages=9–10 |publisher=Wiley Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-470-29420-8}}

Rationale

{{See also|IT risk management|Software quality}}

Before upgrading software, a decision-maker might consider the risk and cost of the upgrade.{{cite book |title=Software Systems Architecture: Working with Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perspectives |last1=Rozanski |first1=Nick |last2=Woods |first2=Eóin |chapter=The Operational Viewpoint § Functional Migration |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXRF77-gxRkC&pg=PA395 |edition=2nd |page=395 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |year=2012 |orig-year=2011 |isbn=978-0-321-71833-4 |via=Google Books}}

As software developers add new features and fix software bugs, they may introduce new bugs or break old functionality.{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yt2yRW6du9wC&pg=PA194 |title=Software Testing: Principles and Practice |last1=Desikan |first1=Srinivasan |last2=Gopalaswamy |first2=Ramesh |chapter=What Is Regression Testing? |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |orig-year=2006 |page=194 |isbn=978-81-7758-121-8 |via=Google Books}} When such a flaw occurs in software, it is called a regression. 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.{{cite book |title=Pragmatic Software Testing: Becoming an Effective and Efficient Test Professional |last=Black |first=Rex |chapter=Three Other Regression Strategies |pages=43–44 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6EKCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |publisher=Wiley Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-470-12790-2 |via=Google Books}} 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.{{cite book |title=Industrial Perspectives of Safety-critical Systems: Proceedings of the Sixth Safety-Critical Systems Symposium, Birmingham 1998 |last=May |first=Rod |chapter=COTS in Safety-Related Systems: Issues and an Illustration |year=1998 |editor-last=Redmill |editor-first=Felix |editor2-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Tom |page=220 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIzhBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |isbn=978-3-540-76189-1 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4471-1534-2 |s2cid=31255136 |via=Google Books}} 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. 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.

class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
scope="col" | Software

! scope="col" | Software type

! scope="col" | Date of first LTS release

! scope="col" | LTS period

! scope="col" | STS period

! scope="col" | Notes

Blender

| Computer graphics

|data-sort-value=2020-06-03| {{Start date|2020|6|3|df=y}}
(v2.83)

|data-sort-value=24| 2 years{{Cite web |url=https://code.blender.org/2020/05/long-term-support-pilot/ |title=Long-term Support Pilot |publisher= Blender Developers Blog|date=20 May 2020 |last1= Roosendaal |first1=Ton}}

|

| style="text-align:left" |

ChromeOS

|Operating system

|March 2022

|data-sort-value=6 |6 months

|data-sort-value=1 |4 weeks

|Chrome Enterprise and Education Help Center on [https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/11333726 Long-term Support (LTS) on ChromeOS]

Collabora Online

| Office Suite

|data-sort-value=2016-06-02| {{Start date|2016|6|2|df=y}}
{{cite press release | url=https://www.collaboraoffice.com/press-releases/collabora-productivity-releases-collabora-online-cool-1-0-engine-for-hosters-and-clouds/ | title=Collabora Productivity releases Collabora Online 1.0 "Engine" for Hosters and Clouds.|publisher=Collabora Productivity|date=2 June 2016|access-date=15 June 2016}}

|data-sort-value=12| 1 year

| {{Depends|Varies}}

| style="text-align:left" |Web-based, enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice, its STS is typically a month.{{cite journal|last1=Bärwaldt|first1=Eric|date=2020-09-01|title=Working Together Tools for collaborative office work|url=https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2020/238/Collabora-and-OnlyOffice/(language)/eng-US|journal=Linux Magazine|volume=|issue=238/2020|pages=|via=}}

Collabora Online for Desktop

| Office Suite

|data-sort-value=2013-05-11| {{Start date|2013|5|11|df=y}}
{{cite web| url=https://cgit.freedesktop.org/libreoffice/help/log/?h=distro/collabora/cp-4.0 | title=Collabora Office repository.|publisher=Collabora Productivity|date=11 May 2013|accessdate=18 May 2021}}

|data-sort-value=36| 3 years

|data-sort-value=60|

| style="text-align:left" |For Windows, macOS and Linux, enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice. "LTS support for 3 years as standard, with up to 5 years if required."{{Cite web|title=Collabora Office The enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice|url=https://www.collaboraoffice.com/solutions/collabora-office/|website=Collabora Office|quote=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.}} Collabora Online for Mobile (Android, iOS and ChromeOS) have no LTS they receive rolling updates, their STS is a bit longer than Collabora Online.

Debian GNU/Linux

| Linux distribution

| data-sort-value="2014-06-01" |1 June 2014{{Cite web|title=Debian -- News -- Long term support for Debian 6.0 Announced|url=https://www.debian.org/News/2014/20140424.html|website=www.debian.org|access-date=2020-05-25}}

| data-sort-value="60" |5 years

| data-sort-value="36" |3 years

| style="text-align:left" | LTS (no cost) is provided by "a separate group of volunteers and companies interested in making it a success."{{Cite web|title=LTS - Debian Wiki|url=https://wiki.debian.org/LTS|website=wiki.debian.org|access-date=2021-10-18}} Partial paid (for some versions) Extended long-term support (ELTS), for 2 extra years over the 5 of LTS, provided by Freexian.

Deno

|Runtime system

|November 2024

(v2.1)

|6 months

|4 weeks

|

Django

| Application framework

|data-sort-value=2012-03-23| {{Start date|2012|3|23|df=y}}
(v1.4)

|data-sort-value=36| 3 years{{Cite web |url=https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2015/jun/25/roadmap/ |title=Django's Roadmap |publisher= Django Software Foundation |website=djangoproject.com |date=25 June 2015 |last1= Graham |first1=Tim}}

|data-sort-value=16| 16 months

| style="text-align:left" |

Firefox

| Web browser

|data-sort-value=2012-01-31| {{Start date|2012|1|31|df=y}}
(v10.0)

|data-sort-value=12| 1 year

|data-sort-value=1.5| 4 weeks

| style="text-align:left" | Mozilla's LTS term is "Extended Support Release" (ESR) (see Firefox#Extended Support Release).

Joomla

| CMS

|data-sort-value=2008-01| {{Start date|2008|01|df=y}}
(v1.5)

|data-sort-value=24| 2 years, 3 months{{Cite web |url=http://docs.joomla.org/Release_and_support_cycle |title=Release and support cycle |last1=van Geest |first1=M. |publisher=Joomla! Project Team |website=Joomla! Documentation |date=22 August 2011 |access-date=23 June 2013|display-authors=etal}}

|data-sort-value=7| 7 months

| style="text-align:left" | Since Joomla! is a web application, long-term support also implies support for legacy web browsers.

Laravel

| Application framework

|data-sort-value=2015-06-09| {{Start date|2015|6|9|df=y}}
(v5.1){{Cite web |url=https://laravel-news.com/2015/04/laravel-5-1/ |title=Everything we know about Laravel 5.1 – Updated |publisher= Laravel-news |website=laravel-news.com |date=1 May 2015 |last1=Barnes |first1=Eric L.}}

|data-sort-value=36| 3 years{{Cite web |url=https://laravel-news.com/2015/05/laravel-announces-v5-1-will-be-lts/ |title=Laravel announces v5.1 will be LTS |publisher= Laravel-news |website=laravel-news.com |date=30 April 2015 |last1=Barnes |first1=Eric L.}}

|data-sort-value=12| 1 year

| style="text-align:left" | For 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.{{cite web |url=https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/releases#support-policy |title=Support Policy |website=laravel.com}}

Linux kernel

| Kernel

|data-sort-value=2008-10-11| {{Start date|2008|10|11|df=y}}
(v2.6.27)

|data-sort-value=72 {{Depends|Varies}}, 6, 10+ years{{Cite web|url=https://www.cip-project.org/blog/2016/10/13/civil-infrastructure-platform-announces-first-super-long-term-support-kernel-at-embedded-linux-conference-europe|title=Civil Infrastructure Platform Announces First Super Long Term Support Kernel at Embedded Linux Conference Europe|last=CIP|date=2016-10-13|website=Civil Infrastructure Platform|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://linuxgizmos.com/renesas-taps-new-10-year-slts-kernel-from-the-civil-infrastructure-platform/|title=Renesas taps new 10-year SLTS kernel from the Civil Infrastructure Platform|date=2017-10-16|website=LinuxGizmos.com|access-date=2019-01-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/749530/|title=Super long-term kernel support [LWN.net] |website=lwn.net|access-date=2019-01-16}}

| {{Depends|Varies}}

| style="text-align:left" | Linux kernel v2.6.16 and v2.6.27, were unofficially supported in LTS fashion{{cite mailing list |url=https://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=122375909403298 |title=Linux 2.6.27 will be a longtime supported kernel |date=11 October 2008 |access-date=23 June 2013 |mailing-list=Linux kernel |last=Bunk |first=Adrian}} before a 2011 working group in the Linux Foundation started a formal Long Term Support Initiative.{{cite web |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTAwNjA |title=Linux Foundation Backs Long-Term Support Kernels |last=Larabel |first=Michael |date=26 October 2011 |website=Phoronix |publisher=Phoronix Media |access-date=12 August 2013}}{{cite web |url=https://ltsi.linuxfoundation.org/what-is-ltsi |title=What is LTSI? |author= |website=linuxfoundation.org |publisher=The Linux Foundation |access-date=12 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005231742/https://ltsi.linuxfoundation.org/what-is-ltsi |archive-date=5 October 2014 }} 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).{{Cite web|url=https://www.cip-project.org/blog/2018/10/23/renesas-rz-g2m-96ce-board-adopted-as-arm64-reference-board-for-the-next-cip-slts-kernel|title=Renesas RZ/G2M-96CE board adopted as Arm64 reference board for the next CIP SLTS Kernel|last=CIP|date=2018-10-23|website=Civil Infrastructure Platform|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-16}} "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.{{Cite web |title=The Civil Infrastructure Platform |url=https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/_media/civilinfrastructureplatform/whitepaper_short.pdf |website=Linux Foundation}}{{Cite web |date=2017-10-16 |title=Renesas Electronics Enables Long-Term Support for Embedded Industrial Linux Developers with New RZ/G Linux Platform |url=https://www.renesas.com/us/en/about/press-room/renesas-electronics-enables-long-term-support-embedded-industrial-linux-developers-new-rzg-linux |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=www.renesas.com}}{{Cite web |date=2016-10-13 |title=Civil Infrastructure Platform Announces First Super Long Term Support Kernel at Embedded Linux Conference Europe |url=https://www.cip-project.org/blog/2016/10/13/civil-infrastructure-platform-announces-first-super-long-term-support-kernel-at-embedded-linux-conference-europe |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Civil Infrastructure Platform}}

Linux Mint

| Linux distribution

|data-sort-value=2008-06-08| {{Start date|2008|06|08|df=y}}

|data-sort-value=60| 5 years{{cite web |url=http://www.linuxmint.com/oldreleases.php |title=Linux Mint Releases |website=linuxmint.com |access-date=14 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217042310/http://www.linuxmint.com/oldreleases.php |archive-date=17 December 2013 }}

|data-sort-value=6| 6 months

| style="text-align:left" | As 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

|data-sort-value=2018-09-25| {{start date|2018|09|25|df=y}}
(v11)

|data-sort-value=48| 6 years (more for older versions or depending on vendor)

|data-sort-value=6| 6 months

| style="text-align: left" | Java 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).{{cite web|url=https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/eol-135779.html |title=Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap |publisher=Oracle Corporation |date=2018-09-25 |access-date=2018-09-27}}

Moodle

| LMS

|data-sort-value=2022-11-28|12 May 2014 (v2.7){{Cite web |last=Connolly |first=Dec |date=2014-05-13 |title=Moodle 2.7 - the version you've been waiting for? |url=https://www.tituslearning.com/moodle-2-7-the-version-youve-been-waiting-for/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Titus Learning |language=en-US}}

|data-sort-value=36|3 years{{Cite web |title=Moodle 4.1 (LTS) |url=https://moodledev.io/general/releases/4.1 |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=moodledev.io|date=March 2023 }}

|data-sort-value=18|18 months

|

Matomo

| Web analytics

|data-sort-value=2016-02-03| {{Start date|2016|02|03|df=y}}
(v2.16){{cite web |url=https://matomo.org/blog/2016/01/announcing-long-term-support-in-piwik-2-the-analytics-platform-for-your-mission-critical-projects/ |title=Announcing Long Term Support in Matomo 2 – The analytics platform for your mission critical projects |first=Matthieu |last=Aubry |date=January 11, 2016 |website=Official Matomo Blog |access-date=2018-08-28}}{{cite web |url=https://github.com/matomo-org/matomo/milestones?state=closed |title=Milestones - matomo-org/matomo |website=GitHub |access-date=2018-08-28}}

|data-sort-value=12| ≥12 months

|data-sort-value=1| ~4 weeks{{cite web |url=https://matomo.org/faq/new-to-piwik/faq_18926/ |title=When is the next release of Matomo? What is the release schedule? |website=Matomo.org |access-date=2018-08-28}}

|

Node.js

| Runtime system

|data-sort-value=2015-10-12| {{Start date|2015|10|12|df=y}}
(v4.2.0){{Cite web |date=2015-10-12 |title=Node v4.2.0 (LTS) |url=https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/v4.2.0/ |access-date=2023-11-28}}

|data-sort-value=18| 18 months

|data-sort-value=12| 12 months

| style="text-align:left" |

Symfony

| Application framework

|data-sort-value=2013-06| {{Start date|2013|6|df=y}}

|data-sort-value=36| 3 years

|data-sort-value=8| 8 months

| style="text-align:left" |

Tiki-wiki

| Wiki/CMS

|data-sort-value=2009-05| May 2009 (Tiki3)

|data-sort-value=60| 5 years

|data-sort-value=6| 6 months

| style="text-align:left" | Every third version is a Long Term Support (LTS) version.

Trisquel 7.0{{Cite web |date=2014-04-11 |title=Trisquel 7.0 LTS Belenos |url=https://trisquel.info/es/trisquel-70-lts-belenos |website=Trisquel.info |language=es}}

| Linux distribution

|data-sort-value=2014-11-04| 2014-11-04

|data-sort-value=60| 5 years

|data-sort-value=12| 1 year

| style="text-align:left" | Linux-libre (kernel) 3.13, GNOME fallback 3.12 and Abrowser or GNU IceCat

TYPO3

| CMS

|data-sort-value=2011-01| {{Start date|2011|1|df=y}}
(v4.5 LTS){{Cite web |url=http://wiki.typo3.org/TYPO3_4.5 |title=TYPO3 4.5 |publisher=TYPO3 Association |website=TYPO3Wiki |date=26 January 2011 |access-date=23 June 2013 |last1=Baschny |first1=Ernesto |display-authors=etal}}

|data-sort-value=36| 3 years (min.)

| {{Depends|Varies}}

| style="text-align:left" | TYPO3 is a web application stewarded by the TYPO3 Association.

Ubuntu

| Linux distribution

|data-sort-value=2006-06-01| {{Start date|2006|6|1|df=y}}
(Ubuntu 6.06 LTS){{cite web |url=https://www.linux.com/news/mark-shuttleworth-ubuntu-long-term-support |title=Mark Shuttleworth on Ubuntu Long Term Support |last=Brockmeier |first=Joe |date=1 June 2006 |website=Linux.com |publisher=Linux Foundation |access-date=20 June 2013}}

|data-sort-value=60| 5 years,{{cite web |url=https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS |title=LTS |last1=Darra |first1=Clive |date=23 May 2006 |website=Ubuntu Wiki |publisher=Canonical Ltd. |access-date=20 June 2013|display-authors=etal}} 10 years with ESM,{{Cite web|url=https://ubuntu.com/blog/ubuntu-server-20-04|title = Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS: Stability, security and more}} 12 years with Legacy Support{{Cite web|url=https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-LTS-Pro-12-Years|title = Canonical Extends Ubuntu LTS Support To 12 Years For Ubuntu Pro Customers|access-date=2024-07-27|website=Phoronix|language=en}}

|data-sort-value=9| 9 months{{ref|a|1}}

| style="text-align:left" | 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. Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) is available for an additional 5 years on Ubuntu 14.04 and subsequent LTS releases{{Cite web|title=Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04 lifecycle extended to ten years|url=https://ubuntu.com/blog/ubuntu-14-04-and-16-04-lifecycle-extended-to-ten-years|access-date=2021-10-09|website=Ubuntu|language=en}} and Legacy Support for a further 2 years beyond ESM.{{Cite web|title=Canonical expands Long Term Support to 12 years starting with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS|url=https://ubuntu.com/blog/canonical-expands-long-term-support-to-12-years-starting-with-ubuntu-14-04-lts|access-date=2024-07-27|website=Ubuntu|language=en}}

Windows 10

| Operating system

|data-sort-value=2015-07-29| {{Start date|2015|7|29|df=y}}
(v10.0.10240){{Cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/windows/release-info.aspx|title=Windows 10 release information|website=technet.microsoft.com|access-date=2018-03-10}}

|data-sort-value=120| 10 years{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/windows/deployment/update/waas-overview|title=Overview of Windows as a service|website=technet.microsoft.com|access-date=2016-03-16}}

|data-sort-value=18| 18 months (previously 8–12 months)

| style="text-align:left" | 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).

Windows 11

| Operating system

|data-sort-value=2021-10-05| {{Start date|2021|10|05|df=y}}
(v10.0.22000.258)

|data-sort-value=36| 3 years (Enterprise and Education editions)

|data-sort-value=24| 2 years

| style="text-align:left" | "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."{{Cite web|date=2021-06-28|title=Windows lifecycle and servicing update|url=https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-lifecycle-and-servicing-update/ba-p/2493043|access-date=2021-10-18|website=TECHCOMMUNITY.MICROSOFT.COM|language=en}}

Zabbix

| Network monitoring software

| 21 May 2012 (2.0){{cite web | url = http://zabbix.org/wiki/Zabbix_releases | title = Zabbix release list }}

|data-sort-value=60| 5 years{{cite web | url = https://www.zabbix.com/life_cycle_and_release_policy | title = Zabbix Life Cycle & Release Policy }}

|data-sort-value= 6| 6 months

| Dot-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).

:1.{{note|a}} The support period for Ubuntu's parent distribution, Debian, is one year after the release of the next stable version.{{cite web |url=https://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases/PointReleases |title=Point Releases |last1=Kern |first1=Philipp |last2=Piat |first2=Franklin |last3=Simmons |first3=Geoff |date=19 April 2006 |website=Debian Wiki |publisher=Debian Project |access-date=27 June 2013|display-authors=etal}}{{cite web |url=https://www.debian.org/security/faq#lifespan |title=Debian security FAQ |author= |website=Debian.org |publisher=Debian Project |access-date=27 June 2013}} Since Debian 6.0 "Squeeze", LTS support (bug fixes and security patches) was added to all version releases.{{Cite web|title=[SECURITY] [DSA 2907-1] Announcement of long term support for Debian oldstable|url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/2014/msg00082.html|website=lists.debian.org|access-date=2020-05-22}} The total LTS support time is generally around 5 years for every version.{{cite web|title=LTS - Debian Wiki|url=https://wiki.debian.org/LTS/|publisher=Debian Project|access-date=21 May 2020}}{{Cite web|title=Debian Version History|url=https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-releases.en.html|website=Debian.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117212830/https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-releases.en.html|archive-date=17 January 2020}} Due to the irregular release cycle of Debian, support times might vary from that average and the LTS support is done not by the Debian team but by a separate group of volunteers.{{Cite web|title=LTS/FAQ - Debian Wiki|url=https://wiki.debian.org/LTS/FAQ|website=wiki.debian.org|access-date=2020-05-22}}

See also

{{Portal|Free and open-source software|Linux}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|

}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite journal |last=Arnuphaptrairong |first=Tharwon |year=2011 |title=Top Ten Lists of Software Project Risks: Evidence from the Literature Survey |journal=Proceedings of the International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Scientists 2011 |volume=1 |url=http://www.iaeng.org/publication/IMECS2011/IMECS2011_pp732-737.pdf |isbn=978-988-18210-3-4 |issn=2078-0966 |access-date=7 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/9933 |title=What makes software dependable? |author= |date=5 February 2007 |website=bcs.org |publisher=BCS |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/1034019/Outdated-software-is-risky-business |title=Outdated software is risky business |last=Brenner |first=Bill |website=Search Security |publisher=TechTarget |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/making-software/deployment.html |title=Deploying software: Principles to ensure frequent, low-risk deployments |author= |website=Government Service Design Manual |publisher=Government Digital Service |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~pjg2e/documents/2010.Ada-Europe.pdf |title=Practical Limits on Software Dependability: A Case Study |last1=Graydon |first1=Patrick J. |last2=Knight |first2=John C. |author3=Xiang Yin |date=2010 |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1833567 |title=Four Principles of Low-Risk Software Releases |last=Humble |first=Jez |date=16 February 2012 |website=InformIT |publisher=Pearson Education |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=http://laser.cs.umass.edu/courses/cs521-621/papers/LittlewoodStrigini.pdf |title=Software Reliability and Dependability: A Roadmap |last1=Littlewood |first1=Bev |last2=Strigini |first2=Lorenzo |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{cite web |url=https://www.esecurityplanet.com/patches/the-hidden-security-risks-of-legacy-software.html |title=The Hidden Security Risks of Legacy Software |last=Weiss |first=Aaron |date=8 June 2012 |website=eSecurity Planet |access-date=12 August 2013}}
  • {{Cite web |url=https://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/386077/windows-xp-microsoft-s-ticking-time-bomb |title=Windows XP: Microsoft's ticking time bomb |last=Ghosh |first=Shona |date=19 December 2013 |website=PC Pro |publisher=Dennis Publishing |access-date=2 January 2014}}

{{Software distribution}}

{{FOSS}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long-term support}}

Category:Computer security procedures

Category:Product lifecycle management

Category:Reliability engineering

Category:Software maintenance

Category:Software quality