Linux 6.1 was widely anticipated to be a Long-Term Support (LTS) kernel with normally the last major release series for the calendar year normally promoted to LTS status. Greg Kroah-Hartman as the Linux stable maintainer went ahead today and formally recognized Linux 6.1 as the 2022 LTS kernel. From a report: Greg KH was planning on Linux 6.1 being LTS given its December debut. But he was waiting on feedback from kernel stakeholders over their test results with Linux 6.1 and plans around using Linux 6.1 for the long-term. He’s finally collected enough positive responses — along with co-maintainer Sasha Levin — that there is confidence in maintaining Linux 6.1 as an LTS series.
As of now the plan is on maintaining Linux 6.1 through December 2026, which is just a few months longer than the current Linux 5.15 LTS series that will be maintained through October 2026. We’ll see