Linux Mint Life Cycles

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AngelusWebDesign
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Linux Mint Life Cycles

Post by AngelusWebDesign »

This thread has been created to give room to a number of posts where users complain that Mint 16 reached the end of it supported life time after a few months only.
The current shellshock discussion has made them realize what end of support means in practice: no bug-fixed bash versions .e.g.
xenopeek wrote:
pe1800 wrote:I run Mint 16 KDE, for personal use, not a server, is a bug fix for that version coming up?
Except for Linux Mint 13 and 17, all Linux Mint versions are obsolete and have reached end of support (no fixes are coming for anything; and haven't been coming for a long while now...). You should plan to install Linux Mint 17. Read the global announcement for more information: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=173378
It's funny; I thought I just installed it on a fresh PC install a number of months ago. That's one short lifetime!

That fresh PC happens to be my MAIN work PC. I can't wipe my machine every 6 months!

You're right that it's technically obsolete, etc. but don't act like I'm using a 13-year old OS like Windows XP or something. They're both obsolete, but one of them could have been festering on your HD for 8 years, while the other might have been installed fresh just 6 months ago!

I think there's something wrong with an OS that goes from LATEST RELEASE to TOTALLY DEAD, UNSUPPORTED in only 6 months.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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killer de bug

Re: Shellshock: Bash bug

Post by killer de bug »

AngelusWebDesign wrote: I think there's something wrong with an OS that goes from LATEST RELEASE to TOTALLY DEAD, UNSUPPORTED in only 6 months.
That is why Linux Mint is now only based on LTS version maintained for 5 years.
No need to shout, read announcement instead, and you would have avoided to install for 6 months...
ChrisG

Re: Main Edition: BASH vulnerability a.k.a. 'Shellshock'

Post by ChrisG »

I think there's something wrong with an OS that goes from LATEST RELEASE to TOTALLY DEAD, UNSUPPORTED in only 6 months


Umm, yes, the exact same thing happened to me and I am not happy about it. I think your shouting is entirely called for as a matter of fact. I tried Mint in hopes of a "low hassle" Linux distro and now I have no choice but to upgrade after a just few months. If am FORCED to upgrade, I will try another distro entirely.
ClutchDisc

Re: Main Edition: BASH vulnerability a.k.a. 'Shellshock'

Post by ClutchDisc »

ChrisG wrote: Umm, yes, the exact same thing happened to me and I am not happy about it. I think your shouting is entirely called for as a matter of fact. I tried Mint in hopes of a "low hassle" Linux distro and now I have no choice but to upgrade after a just few months. If am FORCED to upgrade, I will try another distro entirely.
That is your loss if you want to leave Mint. There is a reason it is one of the most popular Linux distros.
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Pilosopong Tasyo
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Re: Main Edition: BASH vulnerability a.k.a. 'Shellshock'

Post by Pilosopong Tasyo »

I'm reminding present participants to stay on-topic. If you have any issue that doesn't have anything to do with the theme of this thread, kindly create a new one in the appropriate section and address it there. Thank you.
o Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime!
o If an issue has been fixed, please edit your first post and add the word [SOLVED].
ChrisG

Re: Main Edition: BASH vulnerability a.k.a. 'Shellshock'

Post by ChrisG »

ClutchDisc wrote:
That is your loss if you want to leave Mint. There is a reason it is one of the most popular Linux distros.
Well, before SHELL SHOCK I was reasonably happy with Mint 16. I finally got it tuned to usability and then I find that there is no support, even for this significant issue. Mint is fine, I just do not like the way it is being administered. And as far as popularity, I assure you it is one person less popular because of it.
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karlchen
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Linux Mint Life Cycles

Post by karlchen »

Hello, AngelusWebDesign. Hello, ChrisG.

Please have a closer look at this webpage: Linux Mint Releases
It illustrates how in the past the Ubuntu based Linux Mint releases followed the Ubuntu release cycles closely.
Before Ubuntu 12.04 - Mint 13, LTS (long term support editions) were supported for 3 years, the non-LTS interims editions for 1.5 years.
Most users seemed to be happy with these life cycles. Although I am sure that users who installed a release half a year before its EOL complained about losing support 6 months later as well.

Starting with Ubuntu 12.04 Ubuntu changed its lifetime model:
On the hand LTS editions are supported for 5 years now, not just 3.
On the other hand non-LTS editions live for 9 months only.
This had to be done in order to reduce the number of versions that need to be maintained simultaneously. Even Canonical cannot clone their developers.

Linux Mint initially followed this change as well. We all know the downside of it. Same downside which Ubuntu users experienced as well. Users of non-LTS editions lose support after a maximum of 9 months.

This is why starting with Mint 17 the life cycles of every Mint release will follow the Ubuntu LTS releases only. There will be no non-LTS releases any longer.
So Mint 17 (LTS) is based on Ubuntu 14.04 (LTS).
Mint 17.1 will be based on Ubuntu 14.04 still, not on Ubuntu 14.10. (do not ask me whether it will include Ubuntu 14.04 SP1 instead)
Mint 17.2 will be based on Ubuntu 14.04 still, not on Ubuntu 15.04. (do not ask me whether it will include Ubuntu 14.04 SP2 instead)
And so on.
Hence there will be no more Mint releases which run out of support after a few months' lifetime.

But this has been explained in the Linux Mint blog and elsewhere by Clement Lefevbre before. I am just parroting it and hopefully correctly.

Therefore, all those users who feel like switching to a different distribution for the only reason that they are angry because they stepped into the reduced non-LTS lieftime trap, you may like to take into consideration that Mint 17 is an LTS version which will be supported till April 2019. If you switch to Mint 17 now, you will have got more than 4.5 years of supported time ahead of you.

Your decision,
Karl
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sdibaja
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Re: Linux Mint Life Cycles

Post by sdibaja »

thanks karlchen, well written, fully understood.

perhaps when you get a moment you can also explain for us the LMDE model and how it will change in the near future.
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acerimusdux
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Re: Main Edition: BASH vulnerability a.k.a. 'Shellshock'

Post by acerimusdux »

ChrisG wrote:
I think there's something wrong with an OS that goes from LATEST RELEASE to TOTALLY DEAD, UNSUPPORTED in only 6 months


Umm, yes, the exact same thing happened to me and I am not happy about it. I think your shouting is entirely called for as a matter of fact. I tried Mint in hopes of a "low hassle" Linux distro and now I have no choice but to upgrade after a just few months. If am FORCED to upgrade, I will try another distro entirely.
I agree 100% with not liking that release model, but lots of people liked Ubuntu precisely because they did this, and those people didn't mind upgrading frequently in order to have the latest and greatest. Debian, by contrast, always had a very drawn out release cycle, with security updates only provided for "stable" (incluing for bugs like this one in bash), but the latest software only available in "testing" or "sid". So maybe Ubuntu went to the other extreme, in part because that's where the market was.

I myself preferred to stick with Debian stable, until I discovered Mint. I think Mint has grown as much as it has in part because it has carved out a very nice middle ground, with most of the stability of Debian stable, and with most of the advantages of Ubuntu (more user friendly dektop orientation, better driver support for more recent hardware, especailly for sound and video), along with lots of their own innovation (all of those things which make the Mint desktop the nicest I've used). But I stayed away from those short term releases, and stuck with Mint 13 on most of my machines until after 17 was released.

So if you are mad about this, and want to make sure it never happens again, maybe the distribution you should switch to is Linux Mint, since they've already changed their release model so it won't happen again.

I think some people aren't going to like the new releast model, just because they are used to the old way. But I like both the change to being based only on the LTS distributions from Ubuntu, as well as switching the Debian edition to be based off Debian stable. I think this will allow the Mint developers to focus most on what they've done best, which is really improving the end user experience by focusing on practical aspects like desktop ergonomics, and critical every day use utilities like the menu system, upgrade sytsem, file management, and the desktop environments (Cinnamon and Mate).
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