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LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

lunduke.locals.com

11–20 of 66 posts

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#11
post #3

is this for real? very concerning, and i'm curious as to why all these years they've decided to abandon it.

The generous reading is that they see more value in focusing on projects that spreads and popularises Linux and makes it more ubiquitous in more areas, rather than on core Linux kernel development.

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#13
On one hand, LF's website doesn't inspire confidence with its "Decentralized innovation" buzzword pitch. On the other hand, a bunch of other useful projects like OpenJS are part of LF. I wish there was a breakdown of what they spend on what...

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#14
post #5

Lunduke has been picking so many fights, I'm a bit lost as to whether I should pay attention or not. Sure, it doesn't seem great, but the Linux foundation putting money in other areas of the ecosystem is hardly a good point. Show us a real breakdown, instead of a gratuitous Linux kernel expenditure vs not-Linux kernel expenditure.

I'm not familiar with the author, but seems like they have quite identical post from 2021 as well: https://lunduke.substack.com/p/linux-foundation-spends-just-...

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#15
post #4

I always find a kind of ironic that Linux Foundation is the home of Zephyr, an embedded OS that has nothing to do with Linux, other than being competition against Linux distributions for the embedded market. It isn't only Zephyr, also being the home of several other projects completly unrelated to the Linux kernel.

> Zephyr, an embedded OS that has nothing to do with Linux, other than being competition against Linux distributions for the embedded market.

Zephr isn't "competition against Linux". It primarily targets microcontrollers that Linux would have no hope of running on (e.g. parts with <1MB of memory).

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#16

Sigh. Nobody cares about the upstream LTS kernel. All the LTS distros maintain their own downstream LTS kernel. Android too. There is no reason to duplicate that work upstream and then nobody uses it anyways. And by the way, LF founs the Civil infrastructure project which mantains LTS kernels for 10 years .[1] [1] https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/civilinfrastructureplatform...

> All the LTS distros maintain their own downstream LTS kernel.

Debian definitely uses the upstream LTS for their base for their kernel on stable. They do add their own patches, but I don't think it's fair to say that they duplicate work here.

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#17
post #8

This is weird. LF has spent less on Linux than everything else . LF has to deal with lots more than LF. Even based on the numbers this article mentions, LF spends close to a million a year on Linux. I don't understand what the aim is here.

a million is what, 10 engineers full time?

more like 3-5 given people who can manage this kind of code base are of high value.

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#19
post #8

This is weird. LF has spent less on Linux than everything else . LF has to deal with lots more than LF. Even based on the numbers this article mentions, LF spends close to a million a year on Linux. I don't understand what the aim is here.

a million is what, 10 engineers full time?

I would say even less because you have to take into account all the costs of hosting, dev machines, laptops, testing, travel etc. $1 million for such huge project is peanuts this days.

Re: LTS kernels are no longer supported for 6 years because no one used them

#20
Does anyone know if the Linux foundation makes their financial statements available?

My cursory glance turned up the slick annual presentation type report, but I am looking for the 3 basics, income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet, audited or unaudited.

An aside, I think Linux is a true modern marvel of humanity, it really is people at their best. It's a bummer when in-fighting and drama pop-up, but I guess it comes with the territory and its part of the sausage making.

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