Original note from: MuyLinux
To read Eduardo Medina’s original in Spanish, click here
Linux 5.10 was announced as an LTS version, however, in recent days controversy has arisen due to the fact that it will be maintained only until 2022, despite being considered a kernel with long-term support.
This controversy is not new, and in fact we have already clarified it in the past. In 2017 we echoed that the official support of the LTS versions had been extended to six years, but in reality the amount of time varies depending on the resources that are moved. This means that the intention is to keep Linux 5.10 for six years, but if third parties (especially companies) are not willing to keep it alive, its life cycle will be shortened to two years.
This time it was Greg Kroah-Hartman, one of the most prominent maintainers of Linux, who gave explanations through the kernel mailing list: “I want to see companies ‘using’ the kernel, and most importantly, ‘updating’ your devices with it, to find out if it is worth keeping for more than 2 years. Also hopefully I want to see how those companies will help me test and maintain that version of the kernel so that it can be supported for 6 years. "
So you plan to use Linux 5.10? Will you be willing to help me test the release candidate versions I do to let me know if there are any problems and to help me pinpoint and support any specific patches your platforms need for that version of the kernel? When I receive these kinds of promises and support from companies, I am happy to increase the duration of kernel support from 2 to 6 years, and mark it on the website. Traditionally, this happens in February / March once I hear from enough companies. "
Greg Kroah-Hartman’s explanation has been quite clear and is in line with what we had to clarify in 2017. However, it seems that some are still not quite aware of it, as the maintainer’s message was a response to an engineer from Broadcom who complained about how short the initial two years allotted to Linux 5.10 seemed to him.
What’s more, Greg Kroah-Hartman has not hesitated to be blunt when it comes to the involvement of third parties for Linux 5.10 to have more than two years of support: “The jury is still out on 5.10. Are you willing to help with this? If not, why are you willing to wait for others to do the work for you? I am talking to some companies, but I am not yet willing to commit to anything in public because no one has committed to me yet. "
Greg Kroah-Hartman’s position makes sense when we consider the following question: Why keep a kernel version around which there is no implication? If so, it may be because there are no companies or institutions interested in it. On the other hand, Linux is software that carries billions or trillions of dollars in interest, so the strange thing would be if there were no third parties interested in maintaining Linux 5.10 for six years.
Linux 5.10 aims to be the main prop on which Debian 11 Bullseye will be built and has been declared as the kernel that will be used in Android S and T. With this data on the table, the strange thing would be that version 5.10 was not six years old of support, but for now that is up in the air for the reasons already stated.