[ubuntu-studio-devel] LTS proposal 14.04

[Micah Gersten]

On 02/24/2014 06:06 AM, Kaj Ailomaa wrote:
> We are asked to make a proposal for our LTS, and how long we would like
> to support it.
>
> If no one objects, I will create a simple page declaring that we would
> like to support Ubuntu Studio for the full period that Ubuntu supports
> it's LTS (5 years), and following their schedule of point releases.
>
> Motivation: 
> Older machines will have use of an older release, and it is quite common
> for production machines to keep the same release over a period of many
> years for the sake of stability and simplicity (no need to learn new
> features).
> Support needed is quite minimal. If there are bugs specific to Ubuntu
> Studio we fix them. Past the Xubuntu 3 year support period, if there are
> any XFCE specific bugs, we fix those too - but usually after 3 years,
> not much changes, so support is quite easy.
>
> Possible reasons against:
> Xubuntu will only support their LTS for 3 years. Since we base our
> default DE on theirs, it means we need to take over support for
> everything XFCE related after those three years.
>
> You can read more about the call for flavors to state their LTS status
> here
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2014-February/002783.html
>
I think I should explain some of the reasoning that went into the
Xubuntu decision to support the LTS for 3 years.  The last LTS cycle, we
were basically aligned with Debian for the Xfce base and Debian releases
are only supported in their entirety for about 3 years (stable +
oldstable).  Xubuntu did not have (and still doesn't have) the resources
to maintain Xfce without upstream or Debian support.  Upstream Xfce's
support cycle length is generally 1-2 years.  The 4.10 cycle has been a
bit longer since 4.12 is at least a year overdue at this point.

Committing to a shorter length to support your packageset doesn't mean
that you can't backport multimedia applications or SRU fixes after that
point.  You can do that for most of the full 5 years of support.  It
means that Studio as a whole is only supported for X years and after
that, it's advised to upgrade to the next LTS.

Another alternative is to suggest using an alternate DE after 3 years
(like KDE).

Best wishes,
Micah