WHASOLS Long-Term Support
Product enhancements, bug fixes and security fixes for published versions of WHASOLS are common; WHASOLS is constantly being refined to ensure a safe and robust experience. However, it is impractical for customers to always track the latest product refinements at the same pace as our Development Team. And for that reason, WHASOLS has implemented a Long-Term Support Policy for WHASOLS.
Overview
The WHASOLS Long-Term Support Policy provides customers with a clear understanding of our commitment to supporting the software they have purchased a license for and installed on their systems.
WHASOLS will provide periodic maintenance releases for major and minor versions of WHASOLS as part of the normal WHASOLS Release Process. This is called Active Development. Versions of WHASOLS that are not under Active Development will not receive maintenance releases, however, they are candidates for Targeted Critical and Security Releases. WHASOLS will only provide Targeted Releases for candidates that have not reached their End Of Life.
Please refer to the WHASOLS Version and LTS Schedule to see what versions of WHASOLS are currently covered by Long-Term Support or under Active Development.
Provisions of Long-Term Support
Once a version of WHASOLS is no longer being actively developed it will receive Long-Term Support (LTS) from our Development and Security Teams. LTS is a finite period which expires on a specific date known as End Of Life (EOL). Each minor version has it's own EOL date.
Product versions that are in LTS are provided Targeted Critical and Security Releases.
Once a version has moved from Active Development to LTS it will not receive product enhancements or maintenance fixes unless they are deemed critical to the viability of a Targeted Critical or Security Release, and therefore delivered as part of LTS. If you require product enhancements or maintenance fixes, we suggest updating to a product version that is being actively developed.
Active Development
A product version that is under Active Development is in the process of being refined. Therefore, subsequent revisions are likely to be released until a new minor version is published. Revision releases can include bug fixes, security enhancements, minor optimizations, third-party updates, as well as Important or Critical updates.
At any given moment in time, there will likely be only one actively developed version of WHASOLS available; it will be the latest version available for our site. However, to ensure a smooth transition from one major or minor version to the next, WHASOLS may extend Active Development of the previously published version. These overlaps between product versions is usually quite small, on the order of a few weeks at most.
Please refer to WHASOLS Version and LTS Schedule to know if your version is currently under Active Development.
Defining End Of Life
A core attribute of the Long-Term Support Policy is defining a given version's End Of Life (EOL) date. The EOL date is established upon the publication of a new minor or major release and typically is set one year into the future.
For example if version 1.0.0 is published July 31th, 2022, then it will have an EOL of January 1st 2023 because it is a major release. If 1.1.0 is published on Aug 1st, 2022, it will have an EOL of Sep 1st 2022 because it is a minor release. If 1.1.1 is published on Sep 15th 2022 it will have an EOL of Oct 1st 2022 because it is a maintenance release to a previous minor release. Likewise, if 1.1.5 is published on July 24th 2022 it will have an EOL of May 1st 2023 because it is a maintenance release to a previous minor release.
After End Of Life
Once a version's EOL date has passed, no further releases or updates will be provided, regardless of the observed deficiency in that version.
Products that have reached EOL are not available for download from WHASOLS.
As noted below in Licensing & Services, the product will continue to function even after the EOL date has passed. The use of the software is not tied to LTS or EOL, but the active/inactive state of your license.
Licensing & Services
WHASOLS has historically offered with three types of licenses: Monthly,Yearly and Owned. While all new sales are of the Monthly/Yearly type, this document also describes how the policy applies to grandfathered Owned licenses. Each license type is bundled with help desk support and access to software updates when initially purchased.
A Monthly license always has access to these two services. An Owned license has access to these two services for one year. After one year, an Owned license holder can purchase an additional year of these two services as an addon.
An Owned license validates use of the software indefinitely, even after the term of help desk support and access to software updates expires. A Monthly license validates use of the software, help desk support, and access to software updates in one month durations. The active status of your license governs the functional state of your WHASOLS installation, not the development status (Active Development/LTS/EOL) of the deployed product version.
Help Desk Support
The help desk support service allows customers to open tickets with our help desk. These tickets are managed by our Technical Analysts. Our Analysts work with customers to resolve a broad range of issues from configuration to identifying deficiency within a given version of WHASOLS. With this service, customers have access to Analysts regardless of which version of the product they are using, even if that version has reached its End Of Life.
It's important to remember, however, that support provided by this service, or deficiencies identified by our Analysts, does not imply future refinements for versions. The LTS schedule, along with the severity of the identified issue, will determine what versions of WHASOLS are candidates for any future refines.
Software Update Service
The software update service allows customers access to the latest versions of WHASOLS. The service does not imply continued development, maintenance, or critical fixes for any given version of WHASOLS. The LTS schedule will determine what versions of WHASOLS are candidates for any refinements. It is recommended that customers leverage this service and keep their WHASOLS installation up to date, and optimally, tracking a version that is currently under Active Development.