Linux

50159 readers

1217 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

It is possible for a program to drop support in a specific version of a distribution? Comparing Windows 7 and Ubuntu 7.10 (lemmy.one)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The context is that I found out that Firefox stopped supporting MacOS Mojave and Sierra, and it seems to me that not long ago Google stopped supporting Chrome on Windows 7.

What mainly intrigues me is that they stop supporting specific versions of an operating system, and from what I understand, Windows 10 is nothing more than Windows 7 with another skin and improved (or worsened, depending on each person's perspective), among many more things that I will not mention, but you get my point.

That said, I know that my example is a bit exaggerated but it is a point of comparison that seems appropriate to understand my question.

Windows and MacOS release a "new OS" every few years, and Ubuntu, for example, releases a new version every year but it's not necessarily a new OS, and also, when I go to install Firefox (or any other program) the normal thing is that I simply download an .deb, they don't make me choose between different .deb depending on the edition or version of Ubuntu I have installed.

Even so, there are programs like AppImageLauncher that have different .deb files depending on the version of Ubuntu that is installed, including Bionic and Xenial.

From my absolute ignorance, a .deb is a .deb, just like an .exe is an .exe, but for example Mozilla can announce that it will discontinue the version of Firefox from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS backwards?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] mindfive 21 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Discontinue and drop support mean different things. Runtime requirements and APIs can change in any update, even if they appear the same to users. Dropping support can be read as “you can try to make it work, but we guarantee nothing”.

The degree of success you have in coercing the package to run anyways will depend on which APIs are required, and if you can install them in your system. Windows 7 and 10 look similar, but the windows kernel has changed quite a bit between them. If it needs system access it can get hard, where if it’s dotnet or Java you just need the right runtime

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Stupid Java, runs (slowly) on everything.