Canonical Extends Ubuntu Linux Support For Up To 15 Years

So, you opportunity you want really, really semipermanent support for your Linux? Boy, does Canonical person a woody for you!

Some group really don’t want to move their endeavor operating strategy gears. They’re nan benignant of group who are still moving Windows 2003 (yes, really) aliases CentOS 7 successful production. Of course, they’re taking their chances by moving servers connected operating systems that are long, agelong retired of date.

But what if I told you that you could still tally aged operating systems pinch afloat support aliases security? That’s what Canonical is doing pinch its caller Ubuntu Pro Legacy add-on 15-year support offering.

Canonical’s Legacy add-on now extends support for each Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) releases, starting pinch 2014’s Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr), retired to a afloat 15 years from their original merchandise date. The enhanced support builds upon nan modular 5 years of free maintenance, 5 years of Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM) disposable via Ubuntu Pro, and introduces an further 5 years done nan premium Legacy add-on.

Extended Support Aimed astatine Enterprises

This isn’t nan first clip Canonical has offered users who for illustration stableness complete each different things successful their operating systems an extended support life cycle. Last year, Ubuntu extended support to 12 years.

This extended life rhythm is peculiarly targeted astatine enterprises and regulated sectors, specified arsenic banking, wellness attraction and manufacturing, wherever downtime from awesome upgrades tin beryllium costly aliases infeasible.

Throughout nan 15-year stretch, Ubuntu Pro users person information fixes for critical, precocious and cardinal mean communal vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) affecting nan guidelines strategy and awesome components, on pinch compliance features for illustration unrecorded kernel patching and semipermanent vulnerability management.

At nan aforesaid time, however, Canonical has go known for supporting newer technologies successful its releases. For example, nan adjacent LTS type of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 25.04, will include sudo-rs, a type of sudo written successful memory-safe Rust.

However, arsenic Jon Seager, Canonical’s vice president of engineering for Ubuntu, wrote connected LinkedIn, “We’ve attracted tons of attraction successful nan past months by shifting Ubuntu to adopt much modern devices (sudo-rs, uutils), which I firmly judge is nan correct move for nan agelong term. That said, nan reality is that galore organisations struggle pinch migrations and find themselves successful compliance traps which necessitate running older versions for extended periods of time.”

Hence, nan merchandise of this caller programme for aged distros.

Details of nan Extended Support Program

Specifically, this extended support programme will bring continuous information attraction crossed nan full Ubuntu base, kernel and cardinal unfastened root components. During this period, Canonical will actively scan, triage and backport critical, precocious and prime mean CVEs to each maintained LTS releases.

Break/fix support remains an optional add-on. When accumulation issues arise, you tin get entree to Canonical’s support squad done this work and troubleshoot pinch Ubuntu experts.

This does travel wth a premium price. The Legacy add-on for beyond twelvemonth 10 will costs astir 50% higher than nan accustomed Ubuntu Pro subscription. Smaller businesses whitethorn find this a burden, but past migrations aren’t inexpensive either. Larger businesses that want genuinely semipermanent support will doubtlessly spot it, though, arsenic a cost-effective measurement to guarantee continuity and information without forced upgrades.

The upcoming Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon), slated for April 2026, will beryllium nan first caller merchandise launched pinch an contiguous way to 15 years of support — from motorboat done 2041 for paying subscribers.

As agelong arsenic this caller support programme is, it’s not nan longest presently being offered by a awesome endeavor Linux distributor. That grant goes to SUSE pinch its brand-new SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 16.0 release. The latest SLES comes pinch a full of 16 years of support: 10 years modular positive six years extended life rhythm support. However, dissimilar Canonical, SUSE offers only 13 years of support for its older awesome distribution type releases.

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