Xfce Forum

turus

Member

Registered: 2023-04-30

Posts: 2

Questions regarding support model

Please bear with me, I have a couple of questions regarding Xfce release support that must have been discussed before. Yet, I haven't been able to make my search engine play nice. I did find https://xfce.org/about/releasemodel, but that page doesn't answer all my questions. Any pointers are appreciated!

1. Do upstream Xfce developers fix security issues in stable releases (or is that up to downstream distro packagers)?

2. If the answer to 1. is "Yes.", how long are stable releases supported by upstream?

3. If the answer to 2. is along the lines "Upstream stable Xfce support ends with the release of the next stable release.", is there any more coordination about legacy Xfce version support? I mean, who was the actual maintainer of legacy Xfce 4.14 between the release of Xfce 4.16 and the end of Xubuntu 20.04 support a few days ago? Maybe the Xubuntu maintainers. But then what about other distros?

For some background, I'm a poor Ubuntu user, using the Xubuntu 20.04 flavour (Xfce 4.14). Support of that flavour ended these days, but I'm now trying to understand, what support actually ended. Being an Ubuntu flavour using Vanilla (Gnome) Ubuntu 20.04 LTS apt repositories, those repositories are only closed in 2025. So maybe the Xfce packaging for the (univers) apt repository ended. Or did Xfce upstream or downstream support end? Hm...

I know that my questions are a bit vague, because I'm asking about downstream distro support here, too. I'll certainly head over to Xubuntu support with my questions, but I thought I'd start my journey upstream. :-)

Thanks in advance!
T.

Last edited by turus (2023-04-30 17:15:31)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Questions regarding support model

Hello and welcome. Let me take a run at answering these questions based on what I know.

Do upstream Xfce developers fix security issues in stable releases (or is that up to downstream distro packagers)?

Yes they will. For Core Xfce packages, they will also push the patch to the current stable release. There is some variability when we look at panel plugins or Xfce apps - they may just publich a new release (as these packages don't generally have "stable releases") - just the latest release.

If the answer to 1. is "Yes.", how long are stable releases supported by upstream?

Until the next major stable release. Stable releases are even point numbers (4.12, 4.14, 4.16, 4.18, 4.20) and development releases are odd point numbers (4.17, 4.19).

If the answer to 2. is along the lines "Upstream stable Xfce support ends with the release of the next stable release.", is there any more coordination about legacy Xfce version support? I mean, who was the actual maintainer of legacy Xfce 4.14 between the release of Xfce 4.16 and the end of Xubuntu 20.04 support a few days ago? Maybe the Xubuntu maintainers. But then what about other distros?

There is generally no support provided by upstream Xfce developers for legacy versions. And yes, downstream distro maintainers may provide patches of their own.

For some background, I'm a poor Ubuntu user, using the Xubuntu 20.04 flavour (Xfce 4.14). Support of that flavour ended these days, but I'm now trying to understand, what support actually ended. Being an Ubuntu flavour using Vanilla (Gnome) Ubuntu 20.04 LTS apt repositories, those repositories are only closed in 2025. So maybe the Xfce packaging for the (univers) apt repository ended. Or did Xfce upstream or downstream support end? Hm...

For this particular case, it would be downstream support. There is no current upstream support for Xfce 4.14.

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turus

Member

Registered: 2023-04-30

Posts: 2

Re: Questions regarding support model

Hello and welcome. Let me take a run at answering these questions based on what I know.

Thank you for taking your time!

Do upstream Xfce developers fix security issues in stable releases (or is that up to downstream distro packagers)?

Yes they will. For Core Xfce packages, they will also push the patch to the current stable release. There is some variability when we look at panel plugins or Xfce apps - they may just publich a new release (as these packages don't generally have "stable releases") - just the latest release.

Understand. I haven't installed any additional plugins, but I will have a look at what plugins Xubuntu installs by default. Valuable input indeed.

If the answer to 1. is "Yes.", how long are stable releases supported by upstream?

Until the next major stable release.

Thanks for confirming this. May I suggest adding a sentence like that to https://xfce.org/about/releasemodel or to the release notes? Those are the locations I first looked for the information, but didn't find it.

If the answer to 2. is along the lines "Upstream stable Xfce support ends with the release of the next stable release.", is there any more coordination about legacy Xfce version support? I mean, who was the actual maintainer of legacy Xfce 4.14 between the release of Xfce 4.16 and the end of Xubuntu 20.04 support a few days ago? Maybe the Xubuntu maintainers. But then what about other distros?

There is generally no support provided by upstream Xfce developers for legacy versions. And yes, downstream distro maintainers may provide patches of their own.

For some background, I'm a poor Ubuntu user, using the Xubuntu 20.04 flavour (Xfce 4.14). Support of that flavour ended these days, but I'm now trying to understand, what support actually ended.

Will see if transitioning to Xubuntu 22.04 with legacy Xfce 4.16 is a useful option at all. There must be a way to use Ubuntu LTS with a currently stable Xfce, no?  But I'll ask Ubuntu folks about that.

Thanks again!
T.

Last edited by turus (2023-05-02 08:56:57)