How often will LTS releases be released?

[Magnus Runesson]

> There is not a set timetable for when each LTS release will come out. 
> They are determined by many aspects lining up together (kernels, Gnome
> releases, etc.) in such a way as to justify a long-term release.  So, we
> don't know for sure when the next LTS release will be exactly, since the
> many parts are unpredictable that far into the future, but it would
> probably be a safe bet that they will be somewhere close to the time
> from Ubuntu inception to Dapper I would think.

Thanks.

The reason I ask is that we tries at work to have a machine for 3-4
years and do not want to do any major upgrade during that time. Instead
we buy a new machine and install the current release we are using. This
makes the migration a lot easier. 

By using SUSE and Red Hats release scheme we can install version X on
all new servers. After about two to three years we start using Z, which
can be either from the same distributor or the other. We select the one
that fit our needs best. Then we continue this rolling schedule. This
makes that we do not need to do the massive work of testing all
applications and upgrade all our machines at once when we start using a
new release. We have maximum three different versions running. Most of
the time only two. (A few years ago we had nine different versions of
Linux installed on about 25 servers.)

I know that in a system administrators view Ubuntu is much easier to
upgrade. The problem is that we need to do a lot of testing for all of
our applications (>400), with up to 50 on the same machine. By changing
to a new machine instead of upgrading it is possible to move one
application at a time and it is easier to rollback if something goes
wrong.

I would be glad if it in the future would be possible to choose Ubuntu
and that it could fit in into the thinking above. Of course, it do not
need to be the same release schedule as the two dragons. Our updating
schedule can be changed, but it is a lot easier to change if we know to
what.

I must also say that the six month releases schedule together with the
easy updating fits perfect for our clients running Linux. Unfortunately
I have not done the switch yet on the clients. But I hope it will come
in the near future. 

Regards,
/Magnus

-- 
Magnus Runesson <mr-ubuntu at linuxalert.org>
Linuxalert