Greg Kroah-Hartman updated the expected end-of-life (EOL) dates for several active long-term support kernels via a commit. on the kernel mailing list.
The reasoning he gives? It was “based on many discussions with different companies and groups and the other stable kernel maintainer.” The other maintainer is Sasha Levin, who maintains these versions of the Linux kernel alongside Greg.
Below is the updated support schedule for active LTS kernels:
— Linux kernel 6.6 now has an EOL in December 2027 (it was December 2026), giving it a 4-year support window.
— Linux kernel 6.12 now has an EOL of December 2028 (it was December 2026), also a 4-year window.
— Linux kernel 6.18 now has EOL in December 2028 (was December 2027), at least 3 years of support.
It's worth noting that Linux kernel versions 5.10 and 5.15 both expire this December, so if your distribution is still running either of these, it's a good time to start thinking about an upgrade.
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
