They’ve labeled Linux Kernel 6.11 EOL, so don’t wait too long to switch to 6.12 or other LTS kernel as there will be no official updates except for security updates from your distribution security team. Also Linux Kernel 6.12 will be a long term support kernel (LTS) due to be supported until December 2026.
It’s Official: Linux Kernel 6.12 Will Be LTS, Supported for “Multiple Years”
The Linux 6.12 kernel series will receive maintenance updates with bug and security fixes at least until December 2026.
Renowned Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman announced today that the Linux 6.12 kernel series has been officially marked as LTS (Long Term Support) on the kernel.org website with a predicted life expectancy of at least two years.
“Linux 6.12 is the next LTS kernel we will be supporting for multiple years,” Greg Kroah-Hartman.
Linux kernel 6.12 was released on November 17th, 2024, and introduces new features like real-time “PREEMPT_RT” support, a new scheduler called sched_ext, and DRM panic messages as QR codes, as well as numerous new and updated drivers for better hardware support.
And, the great news I want to share with you today is that Linux 6.12 has been included in the list of long-term release kernels and will receive maintenance updates with bug and security fixes at least until December 2026.
This has also been confirmed officially by Linux kernel developer and maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman in a mailing list announcement for the Linux 4.19.325 kernel, which is the last of the Linux 4.19 series as it’s now marked as EOL (End of Life) on the kernel.org website.
The Linux 6.12 kernel started making its way into the stable software repositories of various popular GNU/Linux distributions, including Arch Linux, openSUSE Tumbleweed, Fedora Linux, and others. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that you upgrade to Linux kernel 6.12 LTS as soon as possible.
Linux kernel 6.12 joins the many other long-term support kernel branches, namely Linux 6.6 LTS, Linux 6.1 LTS, Linux 5.15 LTS, Linux 5.10 LTS, and Linux 5.4 LTS. Apart from the latter, the rest of them, including Linux kernel 6.12, will be officially supported until the end of December 2026.
Hopefully, Linux kernel 6.12 will be supported for more than two years as the kernel maintainers usually aim for four years of support for a new LTS kernel, especially if there’s demand from hardware manufacturers and other companies that aim to use a long-term supported kernel in their devices.