A day after the world’s most popular desktop Linux distro turned seven, Canonical announced a new support policy for its LTS (long-term support) releases, which are released every two years. Beginning with the release of Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) in April, 2012, Canonical will support LTS releases for desktops users for five years instead of the current three years.

In a statement issued yesterday, Canonical said that the decision to extend support for LTS releases for desktop users was taken in face of Ubuntu’s growing popularity among enterprise users used to longer maintenance periods. Previously, only server LTS releases were supported for such a long duration. However, this announcement only applies to LTS releases, with standard releases continuing with the same eighteen-month support cycle that applies to them currently.

“Ubuntu has always been known for its ability to keep pace with the latest applications and hardware” said Rick Spencer, Ubuntu Engineering Director at Canonical. “But as our user-base grows and matures the ability to plan for the longer term is vital. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS will give desktop users the perfect combination of keeping pace with hardware changes and extended support depending on their needs”.

 
cross posted from (title unknown). Click HERE to read more.