Hey TJH, thanks for the reply, here are my thoughts (and many other’s I’m sure) on this subject.
I see this argument so often, but I never understand: Why does your home network need a L ong T erm S upport version of Vyos? Are you planning on ringing up to get support if something goes wrong?
Maybe the naming scheme that VyOS uses is a bit confusing in this regard. LTS could easily be compared to a “slow update” channel. Where as updates are extensively tested and ‘proven’ before they are pushed to clients where stability is paramount.
Microsoft would call this the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. (they also have Monthly Enterprise, and Current Channels)
Here is an excerp from microsoft on their three update channels:
We recommend Current Channel, because it provides your users with the newest Office features as soon as they’re ready. If you need more predictability of when these new Office features are released each month, we recommend Monthly Enterprise Channel. In those cases where you’ve select devices that require extensive testing before receiving new features, we recommend Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.
Lets look at something a bit closer to us though, Debian.
Debian has atleast 3 active branches or sometimes called releases: Stable, Testing, and Unstable. They also add OldStable, aswell as LTS releases.
Some organizations call Unstable, the Develop branch, or the Nightly Branch.
here is the description Debian uses: “The unstable distribution is where active development of Debian occurs. Generally, this distribution is run by developers and those who like to live on the edge.”
VyOS uses this kind of branch for their Rolling Releases.
Then we have the Testing branch. Sometimes this can be called the Release Canididate.
“The testing distribution contains packages that haven’t been accepted into a stable release yet, but they are in the queue for that. The main advantage of using this distribution is that it has more recent versions of software.”
VyOS doesn’t really have a testing branch most of the time. The exception is when they are getting ready to put out an LTS, they start feature freezing, and doing more extensive testing on their code, backporting bug fixes as they are found.
The next branch, is the Stable: “This is the production release of Debian, the one which we primarily recommend using.”
This branch is what most ordinary users would use, and almost all businesses would want. These are closest to the VyOS LTS releases. They aren’t updated quickly, everything “just works” on them, and you don’t have to worry about “was it my configuration or the build that is making mystery bugs and breaking this feature”. Bug fixes and the occasional feature is backported, but you really aren’t getting anything new.
Finally we come to the Debian LTS branch.
“Debian Long Term Support (LTS) is a project to extend the lifetime of all Debian stable releases to (at least) 5 years. Debian LTS is not handled by the Debian Security team, but by a separate group of volunteers and companies interested in making it a success.”
Basically, Debian core developers have stopped working on this, The main security team have stopped working on this, and it’s only really around because companies take what feels like decades to upgrade their infrastructure.
