Debian's long-term support experiment
Well Supported

© Lead Image © elwynn, 123RF.com
The Debian project is extending its famous development process to offer long-term support.
Debian Linux, which calls itself "The Universal Operating System," is a huge and popular Linux variant. Debian was one of the first Linux distributions, and it remains one of the largest, with over 43,000 software packages. Unlike many other leading Linux distros, Debian is not backed directly by a company, and it is managed democratically by the many volunteers who populate the Debian mailing list.
Despite its reputation as an all-free, counter-cultural collection for hackers, Debian is also quite stable and reliable, which makes it a viable option for many corporate networks. But after many years of Linux in the enterprise, admins have a pretty clear idea of what they want: a system that will operate for several years without requiring an upgrade. Rolling out a new operating system in the enterprise can take many months, and the process is quite complex and prone to complications. Better to make such events as infrequent as possible.
In 2014, the Debian developers woke up and realized the recent trend for Long-Term-Support (LTS) releases had left them behind. Because Debian is not backed by a company that can make money on selling support contracts (like SUSE, Red Hat, and Canonical), they had never gotten around to implementing some form of long-term support.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.