Debian Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status
Last updated on January 8, 2024
Debian is another Linux distribution that is free to use and maintained by volunteers. It is released as major versions only where each has a codename as well.
Debian is one of the most popular Linux-based operating systems as it supports many different architectures and comes with popular software.
Support status guide
End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.
Testing
The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.
Active
The software is actively supported by the vendor.
Phasing Out
The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.
End Of Life
The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.
Version
Released
Security Support
Extended Support
(10 June 2023)
(10 June 2026)
(10 June 2028)
(14 August 2021)
(1 July 2024)
(30 June 2026)
(6 July 2019)
(10 September 2022)
(30 June 2024)
(17 June 2017)
(18 July 2020)
(1 July 2022)
(25 April 2015)
(17 June 2018)
(30 June 2020)
(4 May 2013)
(25 April 2016)
(31 May 2018)
(6 February 2011)
(31 May 2014)
(29 February 2016)
A newer version of Debian is released every 2 years and is then supported by a security team for 3 years. This means that users still have one whole year to upgrade to the latest version of Debian while the older version is still fully supported.
An LTS version of Debian releases is also offered which is supported for a total of 5 years, instead of the traditional 3. However, it is not maintained by the same security team. Instead, the LTS version is handled by a group of volunteers and companies.
Another version offered of the Debian operating system is the Extended LTS version. It is not an official project of the Debian community but offers support for a total of 10 years, which has been labeled as “Extended Support” in the table above.
EOLs
