We might see a new Debian 7.0 LTS "Wheezy" very soon

Mar 14, 2014 09:26 GMT  ·  By

The Debian developers are considering the release of an LTS (long-term support version) for their Wheezy branch, but nothing has been settled so far and they are looking for people with the available time and energy for such a project.

The most prolific distributions out there that do provide long-winded LTS versions are Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu. RHEL 6 was released in 2010 and will have support until 2023, and Ubuntu usually has a fix period of five years.

It's not surprising that Debian developers would want to provide something similar, although no specific periods have been determined as of yet.

“At the moment it seems likely that an extended security support timespan for squeeze is possible. The plan is to go ahead, sort out the details as as it happens, and see how this works out and whether it is going to be continued with wheezy. The rough draft is that updates will be delivered via a separate suite (e.g. squeeze-lts), where everyone in the Debian keyring can upload in order to minimise bottlenecks and allow contributions by all interested parties," said Moritz Muehlenhoff in the official mailing list.

If this LTS release happens, it will be for Debian 7.0.x (Wheezy), which has already had a number of upgrades. Now, before getting excited about the possibility of an LTS release, you have to know that it doesn't mean that the entire operating system will be overhauled for a few years.

Just like in the case of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu, the developers usually provide security upgrades for various problems that are found from time to time, and if the situation arises, a few Linux kernel updates are also promoted to keep the operating system in line with the hardware releases.

All the plans for a Debian LTS release are now in the beginning stages, so it will take some time for everything to get sorted out. One of the most important components is the human factor. Both Canonical and Red Hat pay their developers to maintain the system, but Debian is not organized in that manner.

One the reasons why Ubuntu and RHEL are so popular and used (in different mediums) is this LTS capability that allows users to feel safe when using an OS, even a few years after the initial launch. It also helps business with consistency over long periods.

If Debian gets an LTS version, we will also start to see a much bigger adoption rate of this operating system by regular users, and not by other distribution developers.