Canonical has announced a 10-year update schedule for LTS releases of Ubuntu, as well as for the base packages with the Linux kernel originally provided in the LTS branches. Thus, the LTS release of Ubuntu 22.04 and the Linux kernel 5.15 used in it will be supported until April 2032, while updates for the next LTS release, Ubuntu 24.04, will be provided until 2034. Previously, similar decisions to extend support from 8 to 10 years were made for the Ubuntu releases 14.04, 16.04, 18.04, and 20.04.
Half of the 10-year support period is covered under the ESM (Extended Security Maintenance) program, which includes updates addressing vulnerabilities for the kernel and the most critical system packages. Access to ESM updates is available to users with a paid technical support subscription. Free ESM updates for 5 machines can be obtained upon registration for personal use. Official members of the Ubuntu Community can receive ESM updates for 50 machines for free. For regular users, access to updates is provided only for five years from the release date.
Regarding other distributions, a 10-year support period is provided in SUSE Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (not including the additional 4-year extended service for RHEL). The support period for Debian GNU/Linux, considering the extended LTS support program, lasts for 5 years (plus optionally an additional two years under the 'Extended LTS' initiative). Fedora Linux is supported for 13 months, while openSUSE is supported for 18 months.
Source: opennet.ru
