CCed to spark dev as well Ok this is my take
The EOL for Spark releases is determined from my experience by a combination of factors, including: 1) Community Support, the level of community activity and contributions to a particular release branch plays a significant role. If a branch continues to receive active development and bug fixes, it's more likely to be extended. 2) Usage, the number of users and organizations relying on a specific release also influences its EOL. Widely-used releases are more likely to be maintained for longer periods. For example, for a good while, Spark 3.x was widely used by Cloud vendors including AWS and Google 3) Technical Feasibility, maintaining older releases can sometimes be challenging due to changes in underlying technologies, dependencies, and security vulnerabilities. If it becomes difficult or impractical to support a release, its EOL may be accelerated like any other product, basically the shelf life 4) Alignment with the underlying technologies, Spark's EOL can also be influenced by the EOL of the underlying technologies it relies on, such as Hadoop, Scala, Java and Python. If a major component reaches its EOL, it can create challenges in maintaining older Spark releases. 5) . Security patches, the availability of security patches for a particular Spark release is another important factor. If a release continues to receive security updates, it is more likely to be maintained for longer. Determining LTS Releases: 1) Official Announcements, Spark releases are usually announced on the Apache Spark mailing lists. These announcements often indicate which releases are designated as Long-Term Support(LTS). I suggest you add yourself to @Spark dev list 2) Release Notes, check the release notes for individual Spark versions. They might contain information about a release's (LTS) status. 3) Community discussions, engage with the Spark community on forums or mailing lists. Discussions about EOL timelines and LTS releases often take place there. 3) Regarding Spark 2.4.8, while Idid not find a specific announcement declaring Spark 2.4.0 as the final minor release, the fact that 2.4.8 is still being maintained suggests it might be an LTS release. This is likely due to its continued usage? HTH Mich Talebzadeh, Architect | Data Engineer | Data Science | Financial Crime PhD <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophy> Imperial College London <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_College_London> London, United Kingdom view my Linkedin profile <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mich-talebzadeh-ph-d-5205b2/> https://en.everybodywiki.com/Mich_Talebzadeh *Disclaimer:* The information provided is correct to the best of my knowledge but of course cannot be guaranteed . It is essential to note that, as with any advice, quote "one test result is worth one-thousand expert opinions (Werner <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun>Von Braun <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun>)". On Thu, 29 Aug 2024 at 17:17, Miles Fryhover (V) <mfryho...@apple.com.invalid> wrote: > Hello, > > I am looking into Spark and how the EOL date is determined for a given > release. I have been able to find that, in general, feature release > branches are generally maintained for 18 months. However, the last minor > release (which I assume is equivalent to feature release) within a major > release will be maintained for longer. > > How are these “LTS” releases determined? Is there anywhere in the > documentation that indicates which branches are considered LTS? The example > uses 2.4.8 however I’m unable to find any announcement indicating that > 2.4.0 was to be the final minor release for the major version of 2. > > Any help on finding these/answering this question would be helpful for us. > Thanks! > > > Miles Fryhover > Information Security - Assurance > Apple > One Apple Park Way, MS 141-1AIS > Cupertino, CA 95014, USA > Office 1-437-268-1679 > iPhone 1-405-615-7737 > > This email and any attachments may be privileged and may contain > confidential information intended only for the recipient(s) named above. > Any other distribution, forwarding, copying or disclosure of this message > is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please > notify me immediately by telephone or return email, and delete this message > from your system. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe e-mail: user-unsubscr...@spark.apache.org > >
