Rolling release, also known as rolling update or continuous delivery, is a concept in

software development Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...

of frequently delivering updates to applications. This is in contrast to a ''standard'' or '' point release'' development model which uses software versions which replace the previous version. A rolling release model should not be confused with a staged or " staggered" rollout, in which an update is gradually made available to an increasing percentage of users for testing or bandwidth reasons. An example of a rolling release would be Arch Linux, where new packages and updates roll in constantly, and significant changes to the distribution may occur at any time by the developers. This is in contrast to

Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical and a community of contributors under a meritocratic governance model, Ubuntu is released ...

, which has biannual releases, with the only major changes after a release being security updates or significant bug fixes.

Model

Rolling release development models are one of many types of

software release life cycle The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

s. Although a rolling release model can be used in the development of any piece or collection of software, it is most often seen in use by

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

s, notable examples being GNU Guix System, Arch Linux,

Gentoo Linux Gentoo Linux (pronounced ) is a Linux distribution built using the Portage package management system. Unlike a binary software distribution, the source code is compiled locally according to the user's preferences and is often optimized for ...

, Nobara Linux (since version 41), openSUSE Tumbleweed, PCLinuxOS, Solus, SparkyLinux, and Void Linux. Some modern Distributed SQL databases such as YugabyteDB also support this feature. A rolling release is typically implemented using small and frequent updates. However, simply having updates does not automatically mean that a piece of software is using a rolling release cycle; for this, the philosophy of developers must be to work with one

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

branch as opposed to discrete versions. When the rolling release is employed as the development model, software updates are typically delivered to users by a

package manager A package manager or package management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer in a consistent manner. A package manager deals wi ...

on the user's

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

, accessing through the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

a remote

software repository A software repository, or repo for short, is a storage location for Package format, software packages. Often a table of contents is also stored, along with metadata. A software repository is typically managed by source or version control, or rep ...

(often via a download mirror) stored on an internet

file server In computing, a file server (or fileserver) is a computer attached to a network that provides a location for shared disk access, i.e. storage of computer files (such as text, image, sound, video) that can be accessed by workstations within a co ...

References

{{Reflist Software distribution Software release Rolling release Linux distributions

Model

See also

References