Linux 5.10 Is The Next LTS Kernel

While there had been much speculation that Linux 5.9 would be the kernel's next long-term support release based on past timing, Linux 5.10 is going to be the LTS release.

Greg Kroah-Hartman who is the main stable maintainer for the Linux kernel confirmed at the Linux Foundation's Open-Source Summit Europe that Linux 5.10 will be the LTS release.

Linux 5.10-rc1 released yesterday and should debut as stable by mid-December. This kernel will then be maintained for the years ahead under the Linux LTS program.

Seeing Linux 5.10 become LTS rather than Linux 5.9 is welcome news since Linux 5.10 has many new features and improvements especially in the way of new hardware support. There also aren't any major Linux distributions sticking to Linux 5.9 for the long-term and the likes of Ubuntu 20.10 are leveraging Linux 5.8.

The current LTS kernel series is Linux 5.4 and is expected to be maintained through the end of 2025. Linux 5.10 LTS meanwhile will likely be maintained through the end of 2026 with security/bug fixes.