On 2017-05-22 09:29, Ancor Gonzalez Sosa wrote:
On 05/19/2017 09:25 PM, Per Jessen wrote:
Richard Brown wrote:
(to clarify 'formal' in this context means an established process consistently applied to all applicable changes)
and after release, to be supported a distribution must ALSO be: - updated using packages that comply to the same standards as the original release, either using matching processes or a refined process for post-release maintenance
By this definition, both openSUSE Tumbleweed and Leap 42.2 are supported, and everything else is unsupported.
I agree. I am just wondering if we should choose a different word. "to support" to many people means "to help" or "to assist", which is often interpreted to mean a lot more than your four lines above. I don't have a better suggestion, but sometimes we are more keen on rejecting requests for support by saying "no longer supported" than we are on saying "yes, we'll help you with that, it's supported". The word is losing its significance, I fear.
I have heard the theory that Ubuntu helped to break the real meaning of "support" when they started labeling some of their releases as LTS (Long Time Support).
Before that, "support" meant real assistance and was almost always associated to a contract. "If you have problems, call me. I will fix them." That's what companies and individuals pay for.
SuSE did have this. Limited time installation support. Phone, email... -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 42.2 x86_64 "Malachite" (Minas Tirith))