Debian 4.0 security support ends soon

 Debian developer Alexander Reichle-Schmehl has announced that security support for Debian 4.0 (code named "Etch") will end on the 15th of February, 2010. Debian 4.0 was originally released on the 8th of April, 2007 and included version 2.6.18 of the Linux kernel. After the 15th of February, no new updates, including security updates and critical fixes, will be available for Debian version 4.0.

The Debian Project supports older releases, such as version 4.0, for one year after the current stable release or until the current distribution is superseded, whichever happens first. Debian 4.0 users are urged to upgrade to the latest Debian 5.0 release, code named "Lenny", which was released on the 14th of February, 2009. The next release of Debian, version 6.0 "Squeeze", is expected to arrive in the summer of 2010.