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Linux LTS Kernels To Now Be Maintained For Six Years (phoronix.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In a bid to help Android smartphone vendors the Linux LTS (Long Term Support) kernels will now be maintained for a period of six years. The Linux LTS initiative backed by the Linux Foundation has supported annual LTS kernels for two years worth of updates, but that is being changed for Linux 4.4+ at the request of Google and their Project Treble. This means the Linux 4.4 LTS kernel will be maintained through 2022 and the upcoming Linux 4.14 LTS through 2023 for security/bug fixes in order to last a complete "device lifecycle."
The Linux kernel has such a strong commitment to backwards compatibility for user-land that they don't really need LTS. Upgrading the kernel should never break things.
However, these Android manufacturers are modifying the kernel source code, and often in sloppy ways. Because of that, it's more difficult for them to upgrade to a new kernel.
Obviously that's a poor design decision, but poor design decisions mean the code is also probably sloppy, meaning they've dug themselves into an even deeper hole.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."