Due to "too much work", the LTS period of the Linux kernel will be shortened from 6 years to 2 years.

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens Coje_He, Alejandro86, soft media user 1520111, soft media user 1392612, OC_Formula clue delivery! CTOnews.com, September 22, according to foreign media arstechnica, at the European Open Source Summit held a few days ago, Jonathan Corbet, a Linux kernel developer and executive editor of "Linux Weekly News", introduced the latest developments of the Linux kernel and the future development direction, and announced that the long-term support (LTS) time of the Linux kernel will be shortened from six years to two years.

According to CTOnews.com, the main reason for shortening the long-term support time of the Linux kernel is "lack of use and support".

It really doesn't make sense to maintain old kernels for that long because people don't use them.

Another reason is the tiredness of Linux code maintainers: many multimillion-dollar companies use Linux kernels, and people who maintain Linux kernels not only need to be cautious about their work and receive no financial reward (unpaid dedication), but the workload of maintenance staff is increasing due to problems such as understaffing.

▲ diagram source lliyan malchev

▲ source lliyan malchev, however, foreign media believe that although shortening the long-term support time of the Linux kernel has less impact on the PC platform, it has a greater impact on devices such as the Android platform and smartwatches, and embedded devices often do not update the kernel, so this "two years" represents the development cycle of most mobile phones and the entire consumer support window, so "this is not long enough."

▲ diagram source arstechnica

▲ drawing Source arstechnica reference

Linux gives up on 6-year LTS kernels, says they're too much work