Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2014-09-24 16:06, Timothy Butterworth wrote:
openSUSE Evergreen releases can range from 3-4 years of support but 3 is essentially guaranteed. Starting with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, both The Server and Desktop versions will receive 5 years support.
I use Evergreen; I think that 3 years is very reasonable, and that 5 is excessive for an open release.
Why?
Because upgrading the machine at the end of the cycle will be close to impossible. You have to install fresh, and on a long used machine there will be lots of configurations and localizations to re-do.
As it is, upgrading from 11.4 to 13.1 is a bit difficult. In fact, YaST wants to bail out and not do it.
You could do it in steps though. Works very well.
On the other hand, a 4 year old operating system is obsolete.
I disagree. It may lack some of the latest functionality, but it's by no means obsolete. (my desktop still on openSUSE 10.3 - I do have some issues with openOffice interoperability now, but that's all).
For instance, you have to interact with other people, exchange documents, etc, which you can not do because of the gap.
That is the only gap I have found so far. There are slight differences in {open/libre}Office that make it difficult, yes.
Yes, I know that many people have been using XP for a very long time. Many still do. But it is a maintenance/support nightmare.
We still use it privately for gaming - so far not much nightmare except when manufacturers start cutting you off. -- Per Jessen, Zürich (15.1°C) http://www.hostsuisse.com/ - dedicated server rental in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org