[Bug 1245870] Re: Ubuntu 13.10 should be upgraded to LTS status

[Mark Rogers]

I'm confused about the status changes and Quinn Balazs final comment?

Although I have sent this to the ubuntu-devel list it has yet to pass
moderation. A "bug" ("Opinion") makes more sense to me as this
conversation only has any merit if developers see it, but "normal users"
(like me!) should have some input.

I largely agree with the comments above. With hindsight etc 13.10 would
be a great time to have an LTS release (to be fair the XP support
deadline has been well known for a long time so we could all have seen
this coming, but perhaps less so the general reluctance by XP users to
do anything about it). Whether or not it's possible at this stage to
make it so is one for others to decide.

However, it seems to me that 14.04 is not a great candidate for XP
users, LTS or not. It'll arrive too late and (presumably) have stuff
like Mir in it which I can't imagine will play well with older hardware
- better to stick with something tried and tested for that. But for me
to install 13.10 on friends and family's machines, knowing that it
"expires" only 3 months after XP, is a non-starter. Yes, the upgrade to
14.04 will be free, but XP users clearly aren't the type of people to
buy in to upgrading their OS every 6 months.

I don't know whether it would be possible to make 13.10 an "LTS-lite" in
some way? Extending the period for which updates are available (maybe
until April 2017 to tie in with the previous LTS), but not doing
anything more? Upgrades to the "next" LTS are a given anyway
(13.10->14.04 was always going to be supported).

I just realised that making it LTS *instead* of 14.04 is a non-starter
(to kill my own suggestion) because that would mean that 12.04->13.10
would need to be supported in a single upgrade step, and it isn't. But
making a special case of 13.10 would be a good idea, imho.

Mark Rogers

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245870

Title:
  Ubuntu 13.10 should be upgraded to LTS status

Status in “ubuntu-meta” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  I believe that Ubuntu 13.10 should be upgraded to LTS status.

  Rationale:
  - Mir missed 13.10, and may not be sufficiently mature to put into 14.04LTS, although would be acceptable in a non-LTS release.
  - Windows XP ceases to get support after April 2014. Anyone looking to Ubuntu as an upgrade path currently has three choices:
   -- Install 13.10, which ceases to be supported only shortly after XP[1]
   -- Install 12.04 LTS, which is quite old (but currently the best choice)
   -- Wait until the last minute of XP support to install 14.04LTS, which may or may not work on the XP hardware and prevents any staged migration.

  Upgrading 13.10 to LTS  status would make Ubuntu a viable choice to be
  really pushed out at XP users looking for an upgrade path, and clear
  the way for Mir development to take place without the LTS looming.
  Even if it is too late to "stop" 14.04 being considered LTS, I believe
  that the extra investment required to commit to LTS support for 13.10
  would help make Ubuntu a realistic option for XP refugees, of which
  there are many.

  Note 1: LTS is important for XP refugees because many (most?) of them
  will be supported in the migration by other Ubuntu users, often
  remotely. Getting them onto a stable platform is essential for turning
  them into long term Ubuntu users. 13.10LTS would be perfectly timed
  for XP users needing a migration path. Another opportunity like this
  won't arise for many years.

  [I appreciate that a bug report might not be the best forum for this,
  however I don't see any debate about what seems an obvious move for
  Canonical, and it seemed to me this forum was the best place to reach
  the people best qualified to comment.]

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