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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.

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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 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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?

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[–] mindfive 21 points 1 year 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 1 year ago

Stupid Java, runs (slowly) on everything.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A .deb relies on other packages, so a modern Firefox package will not be installable on an ancient OS. With Ubuntu Pro, Ubuntu 16.04 will still get updates until 2026, so I think you would get Firefox from Ubuntu until then. But there's no chance you would get a modern Firefox for 7.10 or 8.04.

Maybe you should ask yourself why you would like to cling to an ancient version of Linux. You don't like the new desktop or anything else that comes with the new version? Then you can install another desktop or another distribution.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah. You can forget the .deb packages. They need dependencies and c libraries and stuff. After 2-5 years it becomes difficult and then impossible to install. You might be better off with some package format like flatpak. Or maybe better yet: the plain executable. probably with statically linked libraries. I think that should work for quite a while.

There are programs out there that come in a single executable file without requirements. they're supposed to run from an usb stick and without installation. I think you should try those. they should be pretty self contained.

Other than that... I second the question. Why do you want something like an ancient operating system combined with a brand new browser? The OS will have hundreds of security issues. And in case someone does something like plug in a recent usb stick to save some files, it won't recognize the format because exfat or something wasn't yet invented in 2007.

[–] linearchaos 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Windows 10 is a lot more than just a skin for Windows 7. Just like all the Linux packages dependencies, All the individual libraries for Windows update. How things work changes all the time when security vulnerabilities are found.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes, they'll stop supporting older packages and kernels. No reason not to. In situations where it's needed, like LTS distros, they get security fixes backported to them and that's about it. Not really daily driver stuff.

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