Dear Qubes Community,
Qubes OS 4.0 is scheduled to reach end-of-life (EOL) on 2022-08-04 --
one month from the date of this announcement.
What about patch releases?
--
The Qubes OS Project uses the semantic versioning [1] standard. Version
numbers are written as '..'. When a major or minor
release reaches EOL, all of its patch releases also reach EOL. For
example, in this case, when we say that "Qubes 4.0" (without specifying
a number) is approaching EOL, we're specifying a particular
minor release, inclusive of all patch releases within it. This means
that Qubes 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, and 4.0.4 will all reach EOL at
the same time (on 2022-08-04), since they are all just patch releases of
the same minor release.
How are EOL dates determined?
-
According to our support policy [2], stable Qubes OS releases are
supported for six months after each subsequent major or minor release
[3]. This means that Qubes 4.0 reaches EOL six months after Qubes 4.1
was released. Since Qubes 4.1.0 was released on 2022-02-04 [4], Qubes
4.0's EOL date is six months later, on 2022-08-04.
Fun fact: Qubes 4.0.0 was initially released on 2018-03-28 [5], which
means that it will be four years, four months, and one week old when it
reaches EOL. That's the longest support period for a stable Qubes
release in our project's history!
What should I do?
-
First off, if you're already using Qubes 4.1, then you don't have to do
anything. This announcement doesn't affect you.
However, if you've stood by the venerable Qubes 4.0 till now, then
you'll want to make sure you upgrade to Qubes 4.1 by 2022-08-04. *When*
you upgrade, though, depends on a few factors. You have several options
(in no particular order):
- Perform an in-place upgrade [6] any time between now and 2022-08-04.
- Perform a clean install now using the stable Qubes 4.1.0 ISO [7],
which was published on 2022-02-04 [4].
- Perform a clean install now using the first release candidate for
Qubes 4.1.1 [8].
- Wait to see whether the stable Qubes 4.1.1 ISO is published within the
next month.
Allow me to explain what I mean by the last option: While we certainly
*hope* to be able to announce the stable 4.1.1 release within the next
few weeks, we cannot *guarantee* that outcome. After all, the entire
point of having release candidates is because sometimes major bugs are
discovered in builds that were thought to be nearly ready for release.
While we don't expect any, we can never be certain that no such bug will
be found.
So, for those looking for a clean installation option, the main
advantage of the existing 4.1.0 ISO is that it is already available
*right now*, while there's a decent chance but no guarantee that the
stable 4.1.1 ISO will be ready in time. Meanwhile, the release candidate
is intended for testers and adventurous types who don't mind a bit of
risk. The release candidates are not intended for cases in which system
reliability is required for important work.
The main *disadvantage* of the existing 4.1.0 ISO is that it's quite old
by now. It's missing some security updates (which you should download
immediately after installing, if you choose to go that route) and comes
with an old Fedora template that has already reached EOL (which you
should upgrade immediately after installing or refrain from using in
favor of other templates).
If you're not in any particular hurry to upgrade (and, if you've been
content to stick with 4.0 until now, then you're probably not), one
strategy is simply to wait until closer to the EOL date, and see whether
the stable 4.1.1 ISO arrives in time. If it does, great! You can preform
a clean install using that. If it doesn't, then you haven't lost
anything. You still have the same choices you have right now. Just make
sure you to leave yourself enough time to upgrade one way or another!
[1] https://semver.org/
[2] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/supported-releases/
[3] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/version-scheme/
[4] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2022/02/04/qubes-4-1-0/
[5] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2018/03/28/qubes-40/
[6] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/upgrade/4.1/#in-place-upgrade
[7] https://www.qubes-os.org/downloads/#qubes-release-4-1-0
[8] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2022/06/27/qubes-4-1-1-rc1/
This announcement is also available on the Qubes website:
https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2022/07/04/qubes-os-4-0-eol-on-2022-08-04/
--
Andrew David Wong
Community Manager
The Qubes OS Project
https://www.qubes-os.org
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