Ubuntu to halve support length for non-LTS releases

[zer010]

I normally wait about a month before installing a new release. I don't mind finding bugs and reporting them, I just don't want that to be my whole experience.
If this changes it so drastically where I would not even bother with a certain releases, why not just go to a "rolling-release" like Arch... I've been meaning to try Arch anyways...
Heck, I just not long ago migrated to Lubuntu 12.10 and 13.04 is just around the corner. I'll probably be in it at around 13.05...

[Paddy Landau]

… why release packages for interim releases and such if they are not going to be supported as long? … why bother with a new release if its obsolete so soon?

The interim releases have always been a sort of test bed for new ideas. The LTS releases are for those people who prefer stable releases, and for businesses, governments and other organisations, which need stable releases.

I think that this change makes it more obvious that the interim releases are for testing. Many people prefer this "cutting-edge", so the process appeals to both sides.

… why not just go to a "rolling-release" like Arch…

Because Canonical aims to get businesses, governments and other organisations to switch to Linux (Canonical has successfully done this in a number of cases). Those organisations require the LTS model; a rolling release would be rejected by the majority of them.

[grahammechanical]

12.04 is already becoming old

True. But so is the hardware that it is running on. For hardware that has come on the market in the last 12 months we have 2 point releases 12.04.1 and 12.04.2 with another two point releases before we get 14.04 LTS. In this way Ubuntu LTS releases keep up with Linux firmware developments.

The question to be considered regarding business users of the 12.04 LTS is, will they like the user interface that they are used to being upgraded? There are differences between Unity in 12.04 and Unity in 12.10 and again differences between Unity in 12.10 and Unity in 13.04. Soon 13.04 will get Unity 7 and in future Ubuntu will have Unity Next. In the space of little more than a year there will be a convergence in the look and way of working of Unity between the desktop and the planned mobile devices. Will LTS users be happy that they are being kept update, even if that means learning new ways of doing things?

[andrew.46]

Seems like a good idea, the releases between LTS have looked increasingly like testing releases for the next LTS anyway. Not in a bleeding-edge alpha release sort of a way but definitely lacking a little bit of polish at times.

[snowpine]

12 months is not "old."

[ManamiVixen]

snowpine in the world of Linux it is.

[snowpine]

Lots of people still using Windows XP (released 2001).

[Paddy Landau]

12 months is not "old."

It is for a non-LTS version of Ubuntu. Version 11.10 is already ancient!

But your comment does make me smile. As a kid, an "old" car meant one that had lasted 20 years or more. How technology has changed things!

[lykwydchykyn]

snowpine in the world of Ubuntu it is.

Fixed that for you. Go have a look at RedHat/Centos or Debian stable (both quite popular in production environments).

[Peripheral Visionary]

Grrrr. Everyone wants new and shiny. Stability is an afterthouight. They say "old." I say, "Proven. Reliable. Stable."

For true long term support when all this takes effect, users will be switching to Debian and other Debian derivatives, or CentOS, or Slackware (really long-term support) or whatever else. I don't want to deal with all the breakage and bugs and stuff that seems to always go along with "new and shiny."