Qeustion about update cycle [Solved]

[Noax]

Thank you too MXRobo for your answer.

So I red through the links and what I get was atleast this: That after the supported time (for mx 23 the end is June 26) we don't get updates for the MXTools or any MX related OS Software, or? So for me as an 0815 PC users when I want an stable and fully supported OS I need to get MX25 before June 26, right?

So LTS won't cut it when I stumble over problems related to "unsupported" Software (MX23 after june 26)?

Thank you too for your answer FullScale4Me.

Thanks for your advise. But I am the type of guy who installs an completely new OS over the previous one and then installs the necessary software for printers, games etc. One after another. I think, for stability reasons that's better for me. Because I am inexperienced and don't want to solve ugly problems. So I will most likely not use something from the mx tools when it comes to install an completely new OS.

I will simply back all data on my rusty ntfs hdd USB drive and copy them later back over.

So my qeustion above seems to be answered by you. But is "support" also intended as in Software updates? Or "only" forum support for MX related software and OS?

[DukeComposed]

I already red all the 3 links and I just want to further ask here to generally clarify the function of for example "LTS" and updates in general.

LTS is a little misleading since it's not a software designation, it's an administrative decision made by a software developer. The Debian team generally promotes stability and chooses LTS kernels as the basis for their releases. Just because an OS uses an LTS kernel, though, doesn't mean that all software in that operating system has the same support schedule.

when an new Debian stable is released do all the software developers for example Firefox or steam (proton/wine) stop their work for software development on Debian 12

I think you're ascribing far too much coordination among disparate software development teams. As a guideline, only some software supports new OSes on release by coordinating with the OS -- this is largely the work of port/package maintainers who volunteer their time working on the OS. Other software projects wait until the OS ships and then start working to adapt their product to it. Firefox is run by Mozilla. Steam is run by Valve. Mozilla and Valve do not set their watches by when Debian ships something (or Fedora or Manjaro or Deepin or Zorin or...). Even for a project like Firefox, Linux use is a relatively small percentage of its user base. It's largely the responsibility of the package maintainers to ensure compatibility of an application with the OS.

This is one of the reasons why a lot of Debian packages are relatively old versions of software that have newer versions available on the developer's website. A bunch of stuff changes under the hood between major releases. Often, developers will update their dependencies to use a new library that the old Debian didn't have. Debian unstable might have the new library, and the new version of the program, but it's not guaranteed that those new packages won't conflict with something on the old Debian. I think most people go through a phase where they discover Debian's different branches and try to get clever about mixing and matching packages between them. That phase usually ends after one apt-get too many trashes an important system package and the OS has to get reinstalled.

To answer the question, developers rarely keep writing software for old versions of OSes. But more to the point, in Linux and other free and open source projects, the port and package maintainers are the ones who take the responsibility of getting things like Firefox and Steam to run, on any version of the OS.

Edit: typos

[Noax]

Thanks again for your answer and more detailed explanation DukeComposed,

It helped me to understand a lot.

So the "package maintainers" are the "MX Packaging/Repo" team in our OS case?

When I try to visualise all the work that has to be done by all of the development team I seem to be looking in an near endless abyss...

[DukeComposed]

So the "package maintainers" are the "MX Packaging/Repo" team in our OS case?

Debian packages are maintained by Debian maintainers. MX packages are maintained by the MX devs.

[Noax]

Thank you again DukeComposed.

So I think I am too worrisome when it comes to these things... I now have installed MX Linux on almost all of our PC's (just one windows 10 laptop for "emergency") in our household and we will now simply try to use them for our everyday life. I need to be somewhat up to date when it comes to new version releases but as I am an "it ain't broke, it won't need fixing" type of guy I think I will only upgrade when it really needs to be done. That would be some months before june 28 when Debian 12 doesn't become security updates anymore at it latest. Or something like Firefox or libre office are bugged and cant be used with the new version of the MX OS before June 2028...

Thank you all for your answers.

[DukeComposed]

That would be some months before june 28 when Debian 12 doesn't become security updates anymore

Firefox or libre office are bugged and cant be used with the new version of the MX OS before June 2028...

Debian 12 bookworm doesn't fall out of mainstream support until June of 2026. It's unlikely that the Firefox package is ever going to stop working on a given release of MX Linux. The practical issue is that, eventually, patched versions of Firefox and everything else will stop getting published for that release. That won't break Firefox per se, but it will make using it, for example, for online banking a bad idea. Some folks still keep unsupported OSes around purely because their packages are out of date.

Some software, like LibreOffice, doesn't typically influence how safe you are online. You can keep using it to write term papers and print flyers for yard sales on your local printer for years after a new version gets released by the LibreOffice team.

Web, e-mail, and other communications platforms are numbers one, two, and three in terms of importance of staying current. In my opinion, always keep Firefox and SSH up to date. If a utility I only run locally like Kdenlive or Lutris or VLC is out of date, this is less of a catastrophe. My MP3s and Ogg Vorbis files will still play on MX-21 after it falls out of support later this year and I am not worried about that.

[uncle mark]

Thanks for your answer uncle mark.

So I am too the type of guy where I dont see the need to fix something when its still functioning. Glad you answered on it.

When you say you use still MX-19 do you surf in the internet with it? Is it still "safe and stable" for you? Whats with working with libre office and/or looking Videos through Firefox or with an mp4, MPEG or Wave file? All stable and functioning? Do you still get security updates for it? Do I even need security updates with Linux... hehe so many questions...

My continued use of MX-19 is not recommended, but I have no qualms about it. Linux in and of itself is secure by design, and is nowhere near as vulnerable to compromise as is Windows. My point was simply to let you know that even using an outdated, unsupported version is -- for me -- not a concern. Linux has made me unafraid of using my computer, and freed me from the constant vigilance I once had to maintain. Use and enjoy your computer, and rest assured that while there are no guarantees, the chances of being "infected" or compromised in any conventional sense are infinitesimal. I haven't had any issues with any of the applications or use cases you mentioned either.

[Noax]

Thanks again for clarification DukeComposed.

So your advice for safely using Firefox for example for online banking is to upgrade to the newer MX OS version before it falls out of mainstream support?

So I misunderstood and the MX devs won't package new Firefox updates for the last two main MX OS releases? The updates will stop at june 26 for MX 23 except LTS for Kernel security stuff?

---

Also thanks for your opinion again uncle Mark.

It seems like for me I worry too much?... hehe
Its precisely because I am coming fresh from windows that I still have this vigilance what drives me to ask this kind of qeustions...

[uncle mark]

Also thanks for your opinion again uncle Mark.

It seems like for me I worry too much?... hehe
Its precisely because I am coming fresh from windows that I still have this vigilance what drives me to ask this kind of qeustions...

Understood. We see it all the time with new adopters coming over from Windows. You'll notice there is no such thing as an anti-virus application (in any conventional sense) for Linux. There's a reason for that.

Enjoy carefree computing.

[DukeComposed]

So your advice for safely using Firefox for example for online banking is to upgrade to the newer MX OS version before it falls out of mainstream support?

So I misunderstood and the MX devs won't package new Firefox updates for the last two main MX OS releases? The updates will stop at june 26 for MX 23

When MX-23 goes out of support, it'll be documented and there will be an announcement made. Same should also hold for MX-21 and that's expected to happen later this year.

It seems like for me I worry too much?...

Yes.