Hi everybody. This is my first post here. I am using Ubuntu Mate since it was launched. A thing I don't understand if that if Ubuntu Mate uses the same repositories than Ubuntu Desktop, why in Ubuntu Mate the support is only three years. My doubt is that if I keep the repositories of Ubuntu who has 5 years I would have the same time of Support with Ubuntu Mate. Am I right? Thanks
All of Ubuntu and flavors such as Ubuntu MATE are built from Ubuntu repositories.
The main Ubuntu products (which have five years of support) use specific repositories such as 'main', however flavors like Ubuntu-MATE use community sourced packages found in 'universe' which don't come with 5 years of guaranteed support.
Yes the 'universe' repository remains open for the full five years of standard support; however flavor support ends at three years (for LTS - and please read release notes), which means a community member has to step up, fix any issues & request a MOTU to upload/sponsor it's upload after the three years has passed.
All of Ubuntu & flavors had 3 years of support in the past; the 3 being extended for "Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud and Ubuntu Core" to five years, with those years of support covering all packages found on the installation media, but not packages installed from 'universe' (here Ubuntu users find themselves with the same issue as Ubuntu-MATE users, or any other flavor)
Even if you use your Ubuntu-MATE 20.04 LTS system after April 2023, the packages on your system that are common with Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 LTS will still receive updates & security fixes; only the MATE packages (or any others you've installed from 'universe') won't have any guarantee of support.
4 Likes
Thank you very much. It's clear for me now. Best regards
1 Like