Longterm supported Linux kernels get a longer life

By Liam Dawe - 26 Feb 2026 at 10:29 am UTC

Linux developer Greg Kroah-Hartman announced that the Longterm supported Linux kernels are going to be supported for longer than previously announced.

In a commit to the kernel list, Kroah-Hartman mentioned:

Based on lots of discussions with different companies and groups and the
other stable kernel maintainer, this moves to show that the current
status is:
5.10 to be supported for 6 years
5.15 to be supported for 5 years
6.6 to be supported for 4 years
6.12 to be supported for 4 years
6.18 to be supported for at least 3 years

Going by what's now listed on kernel.org, these are the new support dates:

Version	Maintainer	Released	Projected EOL
6.18	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2025-11-30	Dec, 2028
6.12	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2024-11-17	Dec, 2028
6.6	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2023-10-29	Dec, 2027
6.1	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2022-12-11	Dec, 2027
5.15	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2021-10-31	Dec, 2026
5.10	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2020-12-13	Dec, 2026

So if you're sticking with an older version of the Linux kernel for whatever reason - you've got a bit longer to prepare any upgrades you'll eventually need to do.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.

Tags: Kernel, Misc, Open Source

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About the author - Liam Dawe

I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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