Summary
Linux kernels 6.18, 6.12 and 6.6 received extended EOL support.
6.12 gained two extra years thanks to PREEMPT_RT, Debian 13, RHEL 10 and Raspberry Pi 5 adoption.
You can safely run a stable kernel for years; 5.10 and 5.15 keep their previous EOLs.
As much as the FOSS community has an excellent record for maintaining its software for long periods of time after a new version releases, people can’t maintain an operating system forever. At some point, you have to cut off the old versions and redirect your efforts onto the newer ones. As such, Linux kernels do have an end-of-life date where support will end for that version.
The good news is, despite Linux kernels releasing every few weeks, you can stick on one specific kernel for several years before you’ll have to upgrade. And the even better news is that a few Linux kernel versions have actually gained a year or two of support due to companies and groups asking for an extension.
Related
Linux 7.0 is ready for you to test as it hits Release Candidate status
It’s big, but not BIG big.
Linux kernels 6.18, 6.12, and 6.6 get an EOL date boost
Although 6.12 is the real winner here
As spotted by Linuxiac, Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced that the end-of-life (EOL) date for a few Linux kernels have been extended. In their announcement, they confirm the following information:
Based on lots of discussions with different companies and groups and the other stable kernel maintainer, this moves to show that the current status is:
5.10 to be supported for 6 years
5.15 to be supported for 5 years
6.6 to be supported for 4 years
6.12 to be supported for 4 years
6.18 to be supported for at least 3 years
Versions 5.10 and 5.15 have kept their old EOL dates, but 6.6, 6.12, and 6.18 have received a nice little boost. In fact, 6.12 got more years added onto its EOL date than the others:
Version
Maintainer
Released
Previous EOL
Projected EOL
Years Gained
6.18
Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin
2025-11-30
Dec, 2027
Dec, 2028
+1 year
6.12
Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin
2024-11-17
Dec, 2026
Dec, 2028
+2 years
6.6
Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin
2023-10-29
Dec, 2026
Dec, 2027
+1 year
So, how come 6.12 got an extra helping? Well, Greg Kroah-Hartman doesn’t just dole out EOL extensions to every kernel. They only do it if companies and groups adopt the kernel and work on supporting it. 6.12 is a bit of a perfect storm; it added PREEMPT_RT which took 20 years to release, it became the foundation for Debian 13 Trixie and RHEL 10, and it got Raspberry Pi 5 support. So, lots of people would like 6.12 to keep going, and Greg is here to ensure that happens. Thanks, Greg!