What's the deal with point releases in LTS versions?

Question

There are so called point releases for LTS versions of Ubuntu. 10.04.3 for instance.

What are those point releases releases about?

Answer 1

If you are familiar with the way Microsoft Windows manages its versions, you can relate point releases to Service packs that are released after a while when the product is released to the general consumption.

The basic idea for having point releases in LTS versions is to ensure that the LTS version works on newer hardware and doesn't necessary have to download a huge amount of updates when freshly installed.

The point release essentially contains the bug fixes the version has gone since it was released to the public, which includes security fixes, package updates, translation packs updates, etc.

You can read Mark Shuttleworth's blog, where he talks about the point releases of 8.04. An excerpt from his blog that is relevant:

These point releases will include support for new hardware as well as rolling up all the updates published in that series to date. So a fresh install of a point release will work on newer hardware and will also not require a big download of additional updates.

Answer 2

Point releases are specific for LTS (Long Term Supported) versions of Ubuntu. Because these versions get 3 years of support (5 years for servers), the changes between the initial release image (10.04 for instance) and the current packages grow huge.

To quote https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS:

Furthermore, we define the LTS to be:
[...] Compatible with New Hardware: We will make point releases throughout the development cycle to provide functional support for new server and desktop hardware.

Each point release is merely a snapshot of updated packages in the LTS version at that time which includes security updates and bug fixes.

Answer 3

The point releases are new CD images including all the latest packages from lucid-updates and lucid-security.

These will support newer hardware than the original lucid CDs, and save some download time + bandwidth for updates. So, if you find yourself downloading and burning a Lucid ISO, grab the latest point release. Also, if 10.04 won't install on a new machine, try the latest point release.

If you already have Ubuntu 10.04 installed, the point releases probably aren't of any interest. If you install updates, you're already running everything that the latest point release provides.