LMDE 3 is no longer supported

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xenopeek
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LMDE 3 is no longer supported

Post by xenopeek »

As announced previously, LMDE 3 has reached EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st 2020. The repositories will continue to work but the release will no longer receive bug fixes and security updates from Linux Mint. I'd suggest to plan accordingly and set aside some time to upgrade to LMDE 4.

To upgrade LMDE 3 to LMDE 4 read How to upgrade to LMDE 4.

If you need help with the upgrade please make a new topic in the Installation & Boot forum.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Zweitaktmotor
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by Zweitaktmotor »

I am a bit confused...

I installed LMDE3 beta in August 2018 and I think it became the main version later that year and I was under the impression it would be supported for 5 years (LTR), i.e. up to 2023.

The problem is, I installed this for a number of friends and relatives and promised them they would be fine until then. It now seems I'll have to go round and do the update for each and everyone. :-(

Can someone enlighten me please? How long will LMDE4 be supported?
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xenopeek
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by xenopeek »

LMDE 3 is based on Debian 9. The Debian security team will end support for Debian 9 mid this year and LMDE 3 support ends at the same time. (Debian 9 will be supported for 2 more years, till mid 2022, by the Debian long-term support team but not all packages are supported. LMDE 3 won't make use of this.)

LMDE 4 is based on Debian 10. Debian 10 was releases mid last year and will be supported by the Debian security team for ~3 years from that date, with the Debian long-term support team providing ~2 more years of support. There is no announcement yet as to till when LMDE 4 will be supported. It will likely at be supported till mid 2022.
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Ribelle

Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by Ribelle »

I'm confused too. To my knowledge LMD3 is based on Debian 9 and it was expected to be supported up to 2023. Why this precocius EOL ?
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xenopeek
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by xenopeek »

Ribelle wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:03 amTo my knowledge LMD3 is based on Debian 9
You're correct, I mixed up my package bases :? I've corrected it in above.
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by Ribelle »

Then it's clear that LMDE is NOT anymore a rolling or even semi-rolling distro. It has no advantages over the Linux Mint Ubuntu based editions.
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axisofevil
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by axisofevil »

It's not clear about the rolling thing.
I still got all Debian package updates + security fixes + occasional Cinnamon improvements.
At least until Debian released Buster.
Not rolling - but not static - what would you call that?
DAMIEN1307

Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by DAMIEN1307 »

Not rolling - but not static - what would you call that?
A "rolling" release means it will not just update, but will also "upgrade" the Linux Distro itself to the next new version when a new version is available.

A "static" release means it will be updated for security, bugs etc. but will eventually reach an EOL making the user to either clean install the newest version available, or as in the case of LM, to "Upgrade" to the newest version manually by clicking upgrade to newest version when it becomes available...DAMIEN
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xenopeek
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by xenopeek »

LMDE 4 is indeed a semi-rolling release: you get new releases of Linux Mint developed software such as Cinnamon, Mint tools and X apps as regular updates through Update Manager and you get new releases of programs installed as Flatpaks automatically, but for packages installed from the Debian package base you only get updates for security fixes and the occasional backported new release. When LMDE 5 arrives you'll have to do a system upgrade which will replace all packages installed from the old Debian package base with same from the new package base.
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KBD47
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by KBD47 »

Debian 9 LTS support:

Debian 9 “Stretch"
2020 to June 2022
https://wiki.debian.org/LTS

So unless Mint is actually blocking security updates LMDE3 has 2 more years of Debian LTS support doesn't it?
Onabi

Re: LMDE 3 is no longer supported

Post by Onabi »

Unfortunate. Will probably start over with a clean install of Mint 20 when I have the time for it, bye LMDE. :-( I did the mintupgrade stuff from LMDE2 -which was supported for quite a long time- to LMDE3, but I don't want to do this in a ~2-year cycle. Debian 10 EOL is planned for 01/2022, so probably LMDE4 support will not be much longer. Debian 9 got LTS until 2022 but not LMDE3
KBD47
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Re: LMDE 3 is no longer supported

Post by KBD47 »

Onabi wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2020 3:23 am Unfortunate. Will probably start over with a clean install of Mint 20 when I have the time for it, bye LMDE. :-( I did the mintupgrade stuff from LMDE2 -which was supported for quite a long time- to LMDE3, but I don't want to do this in a ~2-year cycle. Debian 10 EOL is planned for 01/2022, so probably LMDE4 support will not be much longer. Debian 9 got LTS until 2022 but not LMDE3
They are still focused on Stretch EOL support. That's why Buster EOL is not even listed yet, as it still has regular Debian support until 2022.
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Re: LMDE 3 to reach EOL (End-Of-Life) on July 1st

Post by sagsaw »

xenopeek wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:25 am LMDE 4 is indeed a semi-rolling release: you get new releases of Linux Mint developed software such as Cinnamon, Mint tools and X apps as regular updates through Update Manager and you get new releases of programs installed as Flatpaks automatically, but for packages installed from the Debian package base you only get updates for security fixes and the occasional backported new release. When LMDE 5 arrives you'll have to do a system upgrade which will replace all packages installed from the old Debian package base with same from the new package base.
But wouldnt it be nice if LMDE4 is supported for 5 years via Debian LTS, and Mint enhancements too are supported for 5 years.

Peace of mind for 5 years.
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xenopeek
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Re: LMDE 3 is no longer supported

Post by xenopeek »

Yes mintupgrade should do that for you.
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