The page at https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/amd64/ states that distribution 22-04-LTS will be supported until April of 2025. My understanding is that LTS (Long Term Support) means that online update suport for this version will be available until April of 2027 - 5 years.
Is this a typo on the page?
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is supported for five years, as release announcements said
Maintenance updates will be provided for 5 years from the initial 22.04 LTS release for Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud, and Ubuntu Core. All the remaining flavours will be supported for 3 years. Additional security support is available with ESM (Expanded Security Maintenance).
But five years applies as stated, to Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud and Ubuntu Core.
Ubuntu MATE is a community flavor which has only 3 years of support; as Ubuntu release statements mention, that three years ends in April 2025 as the link you mention says.
I have to say that this news is a revelation to me ... and I've been using UbuntuMATE for close to 10 years!
I thought that the whole point of having the "flavour" recognized as an Ubuntu-supported configuration implied that support for that configuration was in line, in sync, in step with the underlying OS's support!
Not having the same support suggests that that "Desktop" is not Ubuntu's primary focus, that only server is, that Desktop is only a poor cousin ... tolerated like unruly children "who should not be heard"!
How disrespectful an attitude towards the Community!
Security updates for U-Mate are for 5 years.
Nothing has changed.
Ubuntu Desktop/Server used to be three years and identical support length to flavors (Ubuntu-MATE wasn't a flavor then)
The LTS support length of Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server etc in time was extended to five years, but flavors remained at the 3 years; so its not flavors that have changed, but many years ago the length of support for packages in main repository was extended to five years (flavor packages being from universe).
I'm in the Ubuntu News team (contributor there since 2015) and there has never been any official announcement from Ubuntu (that I'm away of anyway) in that time that would contradict that; looking back and I see nothing before then (back to 10.04 when it was 3 years for Ubuntu Desktop/Server too)
On releases up to and including Ubuntu 18.04 you could verify that using ubuntu-support-status too, alas bugs were raised on how that detail was provided; so it was deprecated and replaced with ubuntu-security-status for later releases that showed detail differently & I feel less clearly; but now there is the optional Ubuntu Pro support that can gain what was provided previously only for packages from main extended to universe, but that's from Canonical and I'm not including that.
Security updates for packages from main repository are still 5 years; as has always been shown by ubuntu-support-status and newer ubuntu-security-status too.
So ... only GNOME-based Ubuntu Desktop LTS is supported fully for 5 years. Correct ?
Yep, Ubuntu Desktop (which was Unity for a few release, but returned to GNOME) or the specific products mentioned whenever length of term is specified (as in my initial post).
Many people don't read the actual text that is provided, eg. when Ubuntu Studio 18.04 was released, it mentioned that was not a LTS; however many just assume 18.04 means LTS.
Maintenance updates will be provided for 5 years for Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud, and Ubuntu Core. Ubuntu Studio will be supported for 9 months. All the remaining flavours will be supported for 3 years.
If you're going to use a system, I suggest always reading the release notes of what you're using. Ubuntu (and flavors) don't have small print, but that normal sized print does contain detail that many make incorrect assumptions about.
FYI: There were reasons why Ubuntu Studio wasn't able to offer LTS support back in 2018; in the end they provided ~equivalent via PPA anyway; that PPA was dropped after the three years though. I'm using Ubuntu Studio as example here