"Rolling releases" instead of a new Ubuntu every 6 months?

[Elfy]

One of those 'anything could happen in the next half hour things perhaps'.

Canonical might dump interim releases by 14.04, switch to rolling releases

http://arstechnica.com/information-t...release-cycle/

The hangout is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=AQvOIExkCaw

[sudodus]

Yes please, I'd like that

I skip the 'standard 18 months support' releases, and the LTS releases would not lag behind like now.

Of course, it is very important to have good testing, so that average users won't sit there with broken systems. I'm prepared to help testing, and if we are many enough, we'll manage it.

[monkeybrain2012]

I think it is a great idea. Since updates can be done gradually instead of being rushed in one fell swoop every 6 months to meet release deadline I think it will actually be less risky for the users if done properly.

[addegsson]

That would be great!

[sffvba[e0rt]

Nothing good can come of this.


404

[mysteriousdarren]

Why do you say that not found?

[addegsson]

It's actually a very nice idea. They will do LTS-releases (14.04, 16.04 etc) which will be useful for users/companies who wants a really stable system. The interim releases will be replaced by a stable rolling release and released daily, obviously this is quite a task to ensure that everything works but they already have a daily QA-team which does this today.
This will make LTS-releases more solid due to the better tested packages in the interim releases.

Btw, this is all speculation at this point and might not happen.

[Warren Hill]

We need to keep the fixed stable releases because in some applications you need the confidence that its "just going to work" and when new software it released sometimes things go wrong.

However, for a lot of users a rolling release makes sense. It would have to be seperate though.

There are a number of rolling release Linux distributions see here
http://reclusivegeek.wordpress.com/2...distributions/

[exploder]

I like the idea of a rolling release myself. This could make Ubuntu much more popular to the masses in my opinion.

Ubuntu is getting much better as far as software updates are concerned. A good example is the newer kernel that will be included in the LTS point release.

New users always ask about software updates and this would address this very well. With Ubuntu gaining popularity commercially this could only help things progress.

[rrnbtter]

Greetings,
I'm running the most up to date version that I can reasonably obtain. Raring 13.04 with the 3.8 RC4 kernel. Canonical is already trying to keep the testing versions tame. This makes for a fairly boring development version area. If the release is "rolling" I don't see how the lock down dates work for kernel, drivers, software, etc. For instance we have a report of Virtualbox not working with the 3.8 kernel in the repos. It most certainly will work at some point but I don't see how the software developers keep up with a rolling version. There will always be needed but broken packages with no way to know they exist until after installation. That mindset won't do IMO for commercial users that need dependability and crossover users that are not up to speed on the workings of the Linux machine. The current system has dependability in the LTS if it is needed and a good shot of adrenaline in the testing version if you need a daily jolt and don't drink coffee. That being said the current development version is a delight to use rolling or not.