What does release support include?

[Trio3b]

MAQeia indicates MGA 1, 2 releases supported for approx 18 months. What does this include exactly. Updates? Backports? MGA 2 indicates supported until Nov 2013.

What exactly will be available for MGA2 after Nov 2013 ? Reason for question is some distros ( mainly rolling types) sometimes remove older packages from repos when releasing a new version. I am looking for a distro that I can run for several years and try an upgrade of certain packages but if it does not work out, I can revert back to older packages that I know DO WORK and are not GONE from the repos.

Thanks

[jkerr82508]

Support means mainly security fixes. Bug fixes are also provided where those are available. Newer versions of software are not usually provided. (At present there are no backports.)

The original release version of each package is kept in the repositories permanently, as are updates. A facility has recently been added to urpmi to enable one to downgrade an updated package to a previous version.

At present Mageia does not have a long-term support release. Support ends at the EOL of the release. The repositories continue to be available, but it is not usually possible to use packages from different Mageia releases in the same installation.

Jim

[Trio3b]

Thank you for the info. Was a longtime MDK-MDV user for my business machines and then tried another similar distro which I still think is very good and still use BTw, but the rolling release issue ( some broken installations over the years) and packages removed from repos ( requiring setting up local repos) has begun to be a deal-breaker.

MDV 2008.1 was usable for about 4 years for me and that's what I need in a business environment. I do enjoy tinkering but on the business side I believe most SOHO users will agree that futzing around with installs broken by updates/upgrades just has no place in the business environment.

Thanks