There's how often LTS releases are released, and how long they are supported.

Ubuntu cuts an LTS release every 2 years, but they support them for 5 years.

It appears Oracle supports Java LTS releases for 8 years.

Java LTS model has changed for 3 years for releases past Java 9. We are on 14 already.

There's a difference between end-user software and software that you're going to produce things in.

2 years is a reasonable time to expect that the user will move on to the next LTS browser version. 2 years is not a lot of time to release a game without having to upgrade the engine mid-project.

Java SE 8 (LTS) March 2014 December 2030 Java may have a new LTS every few years, but they support their LTS releases for much longer.

That is the old model, the new LTS model is three years.

Oracle just extended it due to Java 9 being our Python 3, which is kind of pointless because all the packages that matter have migrated already.

But enterprise being enterprise, there are plenty of projects only now migrating to 8, and then there is that little robot that isn't even fully compliant with 8.

Not that I really know much about Java stuff, but it looks like maybe Amazon/OpenJDK are providing longer support lifetimes? [1]

And here's an official Oracle doc regarding Java support where they show Java 11 (LTS) being supported until either late 2023 or late 2026 depending on your support level. I'm not sure they provide free support anymore, or maybe that's limited and what you're referring to?

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_version_history

2: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/java-se-support-roa...

Yes, free support is only three years.

Java has several commercial and free implementations, so every Java vendor is free to choose their own timelines, I was only talking about the free layer of OpenJDK/Oracle, as that is what many around here understand as Java.