[PATCH] doc: no longer support end of life CentOS versions

[Stephen Hemminger]

On Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:34:24 +0100
Thomas Monjalon <thomas at monjalon.net> wrote:

> 31/07/2024 01:40, Stephen Hemminger:
> > The CentOS Project has shifted focus from CentOS Linux to CentOS Stream.
> > Both CentOS 7 and 8 are now end of life (EOL).
> > 
> > 	CentOS Linux 7 EOL: 2024-06-30
> > 	CentOS Linux 8 EOL: 2021-12-31
> > 	CentOS Stream 8 EOL: 2024-05-31
> > 
> > Update the documentation and release notes. There is no explicit
> > test in the build process that would block these older versions
> > but any bug reports or problems will rejected as invalid.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Stephen Hemminger <stephen at networkplumber.org>  
> 
> We need an ack from Red Hat maintainers.
> Adding some Cc.
> 
> >      The kernel version required is based on the oldest long term stable kernel available
> >      at kernel.org when the DPDK version is in development.
> > -    Compatibility for recent distribution kernels will be kept, notably RHEL/CentOS 7.
> > +    Compatibility is maintained for currently supported enterprise distribution kernels
> > +    such as RHEL 8 (which uses 4.18 kernel).  
> 
> I prefer the previous wording: "recent distribution kernels".

The choice of wording was to highlight that what matters is large distributions;
we don't care directly about embedded (Yocto et al) or fringe stuff (Gentoo, Alma, Alpine, ...)
which have their own cadence.

> And I prefer not talking about the kernel version given it is largely patched with backports.

Good point.