Long-term support for Linux releases gets a new lease on life

Linux stable maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman has extended LTS support for several key kernel releases following user and industry feedback. Linux 6.6 will now be supported through end of 2027, while 6.12 and 6.18 are extended to end of 2028, providing roughly 3-4 year windows instead of the two-year default adopted in 2023. Older 5.10 and 5.15 branches retain their December 2026 end-of-life dates. The change is driven by the critical role LTS kernels play in server distributions, Android devices, and embedded appliances, where security fixes without feature churn are essential. Distributions like Ubuntu and RHEL maintain their own independent long-term kernel support programs.