[syslog-ng] Maintenance Policy update for syslog-ng Open Source Editions

[Balazs Scheidler]

Dear syslog-ng users,

As discussed on the syslog-ng mailing list, the current versioning
policies regarding syslog-ng Open Source Edition is confusing, and with
the proliferation of syslog-ng versions, their maintenance is an
increasing burden on the syslog-ng project. Currently three major
versions are supported (3.0, 3.1 and 3.2) and a fourth one (3.3) is in
active development.

A decision was made that the distinction between "feature" and "stable"
releases for syslog-ng OSE releases will cease to exist: all releases
will have the same status support-wise: 
  * they will be supported for a year, or 
  * until the next stable release is made
  * whichever is longer

Also, the versioning of Open Source and Premium editions will become
completely independent, and it is not possible to compare their
functionality on the version number alone. The Premium Edition will
always be based on a specific Open Source release, and provide
additional functionality compared to the base version. OSE releases
published after the PE release may provide additional functionality, not
yet present in a PE release.

The changes above cause some of our currently supported versions to be
deprecated. In order to provide a time window for migration to a newer
release, the following EOL dates were set:

syslog-ng 3.0: 30th, June 2011.
syslog-ng 3.1: 30th, June 2011.

Everyone running these or earlier releases should upgrade to the latest
3.2.x release, which is currently at 3.2.2.

For more information:
  * support periods for syslog-ng OSE versions:
    http://www.balabit.com/network-security/syslog-ng/opensource-logging-system/support

  * to download the latest syslog-ng OSE sources:
    http://www.balabit.com/network-security/syslog-ng/opensource-logging-system/downloads/upgrade

The syslog-ng project, on its own doesn't provide syslog-ng binaries,
except for a limited number of Linux distributions. It is expected that
users compile syslog-ng on their own, or use the binary provided by the
OS supplier.

This change doesn't affect you, if
  * you run a Premium Edition of syslog-ng,
  * you have a support contract in place, that says otherwise

Happy logging,

-- 
Bazsi