January 23, 2013 at 14:28Canonical may abandon half-year release cycle of Ubuntu
During a recent Ubuntu on air project video interview , kernel support team manager Lianne Ogasawara said Canonical is considering moving from releasing a new version of Ubuntu every six months to rolling release, leaving only LTS releases that, as before will be released every two years.
On the one hand, this will make it possible to quickly introduce new functionality, but, at the same time, it can reduce the stability of the system after the next update. Thus, Ubuntu can, in a sense, “go back to basics,” becoming more like Debian, whose stable versions are updated about once every two years, and intermediate updates occur in the test branch.
Even if Canonical finally decides to abandon the semi-annual releases, it will happen no earlier than version 14.04 LTS. Version 13.10 may be the last non-LTS release of Ubuntu, and the next stable release after April 14 in this case will take place in April 2016.
Video (about changing the release cycle - watch from the 42nd minute):
On the one hand, this will make it possible to quickly introduce new functionality, but, at the same time, it can reduce the stability of the system after the next update. Thus, Ubuntu can, in a sense, “go back to basics,” becoming more like Debian, whose stable versions are updated about once every two years, and intermediate updates occur in the test branch.
Even if Canonical finally decides to abandon the semi-annual releases, it will happen no earlier than version 14.04 LTS. Version 13.10 may be the last non-LTS release of Ubuntu, and the next stable release after April 14 in this case will take place in April 2016.
Video (about changing the release cycle - watch from the 42nd minute):