Red Hat Launches RHEL Forever With 24x7 Support as Linux Lifecycles Stretch Beyond 14 Years
Updated
Updated · ZDNet · Jul 10
Red Hat Launches RHEL Forever With 24x7 Support as Linux Lifecycles Stretch Beyond 14 Years
1 articles · Updated · ZDNet · Jul 10
Summary
Red Hat introduced RHEL Forever, a yearly add-on that lets customers keep a specific RHEL release under vendor support indefinitely if they renew annual contracts.
The tier sits atop RHEL Extended Life Cycle Premium and includes critical security patches, selected urgent bug fixes, and 24x7 technical support, with fixes backported to preserve API and ABI stability.
Red Hat is targeting regulated and capital-intensive sectors such as finance, telecom, healthcare, and government, where systems often stay in service for decades and upgrades are frequently delayed.
The launch extends a support model that already reached 14 years for major RHEL releases; Canonical offers up to 15 years for Ubuntu and SUSE up to 19 years.
Pricing was not disclosed publicly and will be negotiated case by case, signaling the service is aimed at customers willing to pay a premium to avoid forced migrations.