Hi Mark, Thank you for the thoughtful and encouraging response. I appreciate your support for the proposal and your perspective on focusing support on N and N-1 as a practical way to use our limited community resources more effectively.
I also agree with your point regarding impact. Given our historical support posture, this should not come as a surprise, and as you noted, the discussion itself will help surface any usage considerations we may not yet be aware of. Keeping the announcement straightforward and limited to the dev and user lists seems entirely appropriate. Thanks again for the feedback and for the shared goal of streamlining development and maintenance. I look forward to taking the next steps with the community. Best regards, Jinwoo Hwang (he/him/his) SAS® Research and Development http://JinwooHwang.com<http://jinwoohwang.com/> From: Mark Bretl <[email protected]> Date: Friday, January 30, 2026 at 6:50 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Cc: Jinwoo Hwang <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [DISCUSS] Proposal to End Support for Apache Geode 1.14.x and Older (GEODE-10553) EXTERNAL Hi Jinwoo, Thank you very much for putting together the proposal. I am all for discontinuing support for 1.14 and only keeping support the latest release version (N) and the previous (N-1). This will make sure we are making good use of our resources and not stretching the community too thin with having to support/maintain multiple versions. As far as who does it impact? Not sure we have any information about usage on each version. We have been fairly inline with only supporting a couple versions back, so this won’t be a surprise to the community, if nothing else it will tell us more. Once we are ready to announce, just need to post back to this dev list and the user list, I don’t think we need to do anything special. Great job and looking forward to streamlining our development! Best regards, Mark On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 7:42 AM Jinwoo Hwang via dev <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Apache Geode Developer Community, > > I would like to start a discussion and request feedback on a proposal to > clarify the set of Apache Geode versions that the project actively supports. > > > ================================================================================ > PROPOSAL SUMMARY > > ================================================================================ > > I propose that the Apache Geode project: > > -End active support for Apache Geode 1.14.x and all earlier release lines. > > -Continue active support for only: > -Apache Geode 2.0.x (current major release line) > -Apache Geode 1.15.x (latest and final 1.x release line) > > Under this proposal, 1.14.x and older versions would be formally > designated End-of-Life (EOL) and would no longer receive bug fixes, > security fixes, or backports from the project. Historical releases will > remain available via the Apache archives. > > > > ================================================================================ > PROPOSED TIMELINE > > ================================================================================ > > Phase 1: Community Feedback (Q1 2026) > -January 2026: Publish proposal to [email protected] > -February 2026: Gather community feedback > -March 2026: Formal PMC vote on support policy > > Phase 2: Official End-of-Life (Q2 2026) > -April 1, 2026: Official EOL date for 1.14.x and older > -May 2026: Update website with version support matrix > -Ongoing: Direct all users to 1.15.2 or 2.0.0 > > Phase 3: Repository Cleanup (Q3 2026) > -July 2026: Archive 1.14.x and older release branches > -August 2026: Remove 1.14.x from CI/CD pipelines > -September 2026: Update documentation to reflect supported versions > > > > ================================================================================ > BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE > > ================================================================================ > > 1.Alignment with ASF Best Practices > > ASF does not mandate how many versions a project must support. In > practice, mature ASF projects typically maintain: > -One current major release > -Optionally one previous release line > > Supporting 2.0.x and 1.15.x only aligns with this pattern and balances > user needs with community resources. > > > 2.Reducing Security Maintenance Burden > > -Each supported release creates implicit expectations for vulnerability > management, security fixes, and advisories. > -Older versions such as 1.14.x rely on outdated dependencies and > toolchains, which makes timely maintenance increasingly difficult. > -Designating these versions as EOL sets clear expectations for users and > allows the community to focus on actively maintained branches. > > > 3.Release Status and Modernization > > -2.0.0: Current major release, modernized platform with Java 17 and > Jakarta EE 10 > -1.15.x: Latest 1.x patch series, maintained with updated dependencies and > security fixes > -1.14.x and earlier: Older releases, no longer actively maintained, and > rely on Java 8/11 and legacy dependencies > > 4.Upgrade Path for Users > > -1.14.x -> 1.15.x: Final upgrade within the 1.x series > -1.15.x -> 2.0.x: Migration to the current major release > > This provides a clear and practical path for users to remain on supported > versions. > > 5.Sustainability and Community Focus > > -Reducing the number of supported lines allows the community to: > -Focus on security analysis and CVE remediation for fewer branches > -Improve release quality and response times > -Simplify CI/CD and testing matrices > -Allocate volunteer resources to new features, performance improvements, > and documentation > > > > ================================================================================ > What "End of Support" Means > > ================================================================================ > > -Apache Geode 1.14.x and earlier will be clearly documented as End-of-Life > -No further fixes, including security fixes, will be provided for those > versions > -Users will be strongly encouraged to upgrade to 1.15.x or 2.0.x > -All historical artifacts will remain available via the Apache archives, > in accordance with ASF policy > > > ================================================================================ > Request for Community Feedback > > ================================================================================ > > I would appreciate feedback on the following: > > -Are there known user populations that would be significantly impacted? > -Are there concerns with limiting active support to 2.0.x and 1.15.x, > particularly from a security or operational perspective? > -Are there additional mitigations or communications we should consider? > > > ================================================================================ > > Please share your thoughts on this thread or GEODE-10553. > Thank you for your time and continued contributions to Apache Geode. > > > > Best regards, > > Jinwoo Hwang (he/him/his) > > > > SAS® Research and Development > > https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect.checkpoint.com%2Fv2%2Fr01%2F___http%3A%2F%2FJinwooHwang.com___.YzJ1OnNhc2luc3RpdHV0ZTpjOm86NTk5OGMyZjc5NTA5ZmUzYTdiNGU1NTA2NzgxZjcyNWU6NzpjZjQ5OjA3Njg0MDAzYTM4MWE2ZGNkNDJiMjMwZTEwYzg0ZTFjNDIwOGUwNDJjMWUxYmViNGM1Y2MxYmU3ZWJmZmUyZmU6cDpUOk4&data=05%7C02%7CJinwoo.Hwang%40sas.com%7C99ed3dcbb6694aa822e708de605a680f%7Cb1c14d5c362545b3a4309552373a0c2f%7C0%7C0%7C639054138573342742%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=pmEfrljJgHMd6ru7D2uzWjbEUWyoR7j2ZwvuG9BdSsQ%3D&reserved=0<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect.checkpoint.com%2Fv2%2Fr01%2F___http%3A%2F%2Fjinwoohwang.com%2F___.YzJ1OnNhc2luc3RpdHV0ZTpjOm86NTk5OGMyZjc5NTA5ZmUzYTdiNGU1NTA2NzgxZjcyNWU6Nzo4MzI4OjVlMzU5YjY1ODQ3YWE0M2VmYWQwMzIzZjM4MzJkOGJmMjYyY2E1MGE5NDE0NmM3ZjA0MzA4NzE0NGM0MWRhM2E6cDpUOk4&data=05%7C02%7CJinwoo.Hwang%40sas.com%7C99ed3dcbb6694aa822e708de605a680f%7Cb1c14d5c362545b3a4309552373a0c2f%7C0%7C0%7C639054138573360776%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BRSijtfbL0%2Fak%2FGWRN3UwlDrum16uNaHwgQflc7AZEE%3D&reserved=0><https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___http://JinwooHwang.com___.YzJ1OnNhc2luc3RpdHV0ZTpjOm86NTk5OGMyZjc5NTA5ZmUzYTdiNGU1NTA2NzgxZjcyNWU6NzpjZjQ5OjA3Njg0MDAzYTM4MWE2ZGNkNDJiMjMwZTEwYzg0ZTFjNDIwOGUwNDJjMWUxYmViNGM1Y2MxYmU3ZWJmZmUyZmU6cDpUOk4> > > >
