Canonical will support Ubuntu LTS releases for 12 years

However, to be able to benefit from this extended support, Ubuntu Pro users will have to purchase a new add-on called Legacy Support.

Canonical hasn't provided details on the add-on's pricing, instead asking customers to contact themselves to learn more. Ubuntu Pro is a paid service for businesses, but is also free for personal use on up to 5 machines. Users will essentially still be supported with security updates for 10 years if you don't buy the new add-on.

Commenting on the news, Vice President of Global Support Engineering at Canonical Maximilian Morgan, said:

We are excited to provide customers with additional years of security maintenance and support for Ubuntu LTS releases. Based on 20 years of experience in open source operating system development, Canonical is confident in providing professional security support and maintenance services to customers worldwide.

With Legacy Support, we empower organizations to navigate their operational needs and investments in open source with confidence, ensuring their systems are available, secure, and supported across multiple platforms. year.

So technically, the Legacy Support extended support package will be most beneficial to business customers, who need long-term and stable software support for their systems in the future. many years. As for individual users, who need to upgrade their LTS systems every two and a half to five years to ensure access to the latest software and features, ongoing support is important. up to 12 years wouldn't make too much sense.

Although Ubuntu can be installed for free, the reason Canonical extends support is not because of cost but because of software support. Extended support will enable businesses to more easily update their applications, services, and systems to run on the latest version of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will launch in April. Without Ubuntu Pro, users will 'only' get 5 years of support until 2029. If you are using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, chances are you won't get it. upgrade until later this year with the release of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS, which gives Canonical time to fix bugs and test the upgrade path to ensure the stability of your system.

Kareem Winters

Update 26 March 2024