I’ve been seeding many Foss things for years but for some reason, people keep downloading Ubuntu versions that are more than 3 years old.

Any ideas why there is always someone downloading the ancient stuff, especially Ubuntu?

  • clif@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I just want to say that you’re a MVP for seeding that much for that long. Lots of TBs up there - you’ve helped out a ton of people.

    Thank you.

  • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    20.04 and 22.04 were LTS versions, aka, long term support.

    Any application that requires stability should run on LTS versions. Combined with Ubuntu being one of the most popular distros, makes 20.04 and 22.04 the most popular choices for anything in a home lab and many smaller business needs.

    Whether you’re building a server for home DNS, or a time server for a small business, then you’re probably using Ubuntu as the base.

    I think the next LTS version will be 24.04, so things might shift sometime after that.

  • neanderthal@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Yes, Ubuntu 20 isn’t EOL yet. A lot of those downloads are probably IT staff or developers that are running Ubuntu servers or developing on those versions.

    ETA: We still have some RHEL 7 and clones at my day job

  • computerboss@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    I can give you an answer from someone who regularly downloads really old EOL versions of Ubuntu and Debian. I personally use them as part of attack and defense competitions. They are normally very close to unusable and are nearly impossible to update to a more recent or secure version. This forces my team to find creative ways to keep them working while also taking measures to isolate them as much as possible. I also use them to teach old exploits that have been patched in more recent versions, walking people through how it worked and why it existed.

    It happens a lot more with Windows machines, but there might be some manufacturing systems out there that require software that won’t run on modern versions of the OS. These systems often require new manufacturing tools in order to upgrade, or they need massive overhauls that smaller companies can’t always afford.

  • Diva (she/her)@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    I worked at a place which was still using a 20.04 version (for products they were selling) because updating it would require spending any amount of time updating software. Path of least resistance is using the old os forever.