The end of an era — Feren OS Classic, and Feren OS July 2018 — July 2020 Snapshots, have reached end of life
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I must announce that April 30th 2023 marks the end of all the Ubuntu 18.04-based Feren OS snapshots, as well as the end of life of the final release of Feren OS Classic.
To reiterate, this means the following snapshots of Feren OS are no longer supported:
- Feren OS July 2018 Snapshot
- Feren OS October 2018 Snapshot
- Feren OS January 2019 Snapshot
- Feren OS KDE Experimental (all builds)
- Feren OS April 2019 Snapshot
- Feren OS July 2019 Snapshot
- Feren OS Next (all builds, Betas, and Release Candidates)
- Feren OS (and Feren OS Classic) December 2019 Snapshot
- Feren OS (and Feren OS Classic) January 2020 Snapshot
- Feren OS (and Feren OS Classic) April 2020 Snapshot
- Feren OS (and Feren OS Classic) July 2020 Snapshot
- Feren OS Classic (every remaining snapshot and version)
Feren OS Classic’s EoL is truly the end of an era for Feren OS in more ways than one, even more-so than the EoL of Feren OS 2016.0–2017.0 in 2021. The original Feren OS experience that got so many into Feren OS back then has finally come to an end, and so has support for the ambitious transitionary-period, to what we know Feren OS as today, that was Feren OS ‘KDE Experimental’ and Feren OS Next.
What does this mean for users running these Feren OS releases still?
This is bad news for those still running the above versions of Feren OS. Unless you upgrade to the 20.04-based Feren OS at the very least (supported until 2025):
- You will stop receiving software updates*
- You will stop receiving security fixes*
- Software will gradually stop supporting your Feren OS version
- Packages in Store’s “Customisation” page may start to fail to install
- You will stop receiving improvements to Feren OS
But, if you do not want to have to reinstall Feren OS, if you are running one of these releases, you don’t need to worry as if you are using the 64-bit version of Feren OS there are upgrade paths available.
*You will still receive upstream security and software updates until May 31st 2023.
Updating your system to a supported version of Feren OS
If you are using 32-bit Feren OS, this is the end of the road. None of the upgrade paths available support 32-bit hardware — please try installing the latest Feren OS. If it cannot boot the latest Feren OS then please upgrade or replace your machine as soon as possible.
To update your system to a supported version of Feren OS, please follow the guide here:
Archived ISO files
Since these releases of Feren OS are now no longer supported, they will be moved, over the coming days, elsewhere for archival purposes.
Once archived, a link will be made available here. Use these ISOs only for look-back purposes. They should NOT be used as Daily Driver Operating Systems as they’ll be insecure from this point onward.
A note on there being no more updates
While it is true End-of-Life versions of Feren OS will not get any further updates, there will be some post-EoL updates to do the following, later down the line:
- Switch the base repositories to the archived repositories (Ubuntu’s repositories)
- Update the Major Updater to switch the ‘-> 20.04’ path to its archived repositories after 20.04-based Feren OS reaches EoL in a few years
The great Feren OS transition
Among the releases to EoL today are the builds of Feren OS that bridged the great Feren OS transition that ultimately resulted in Feren OS December 2019 Snapshot and Feren OS Classic December 2019 Snapshot. These builds that bridged this transition were originally called Feren OS KDE Experimental, and later known as Feren OS Next, before completion.
Simply put, these builds of Feren OS were made available for testing what would become Feren OS December 2019 Snapshot as it progressed further into development. A lot changed during these builds, and honestly that could be a story of its own to tell, but the most important thing is that it was this work that made Feren OS what it is today.
The end of Feren OS Classic
As I said earlier, today marks the end of a significant era of Feren OS, as the last ever version of Feren OS Classic reaches end-of-life today. Feren OS Classic will forever mark a key turning point in my life, and even if it wasn’t for that, Feren OS Classic was the Feren OS experience for the first 4 years of Feren OS’s lifetime.
Everything in technology must come to an end, and Feren OS Classic is no exception to this rule. Still, I would like to thank everybody that used, or uses, Feren OS Classic, as well as everybody that reviewed and spread the word about Feren OS Classic over the years. Without you, Feren OS Classic would not have ended on such a high note… and I have no idea how/where I would be right now.
Feren OS Classic’s legacy will always carry on with Feren OS, and with the upcoming release, another major accomplishment only thought of then as a far-off dream for Feren OS will finally be achieved (its Store).
The full announcement can be found here: https://youtu.be/SJUtAZ1Wako
To 2023.07 and beyond
Work will continue on Feren OS 2023.07 after a short break during all of May because of IRL matters I have to take care of for future-proofing reasons. For now, you can always download Feren OS 2023.07 Alpha from the grey section of the Feren OS download page, if you want an extremely early teaser of what is to come.
Sayonara, Feren OS Classic, and 18.04-based Feren OS. 18.04-based Feren OS was an important transitionary period for Feren OS, and Feren OS Classic… thank you for everything you did.
A retrospective on Feren OS Classic will be coming in the near future.
