Can't upvote this response enough! Thank you Ron. You corrected my understanding on this a few years ago in a Reddit thread on /r/java. I've tried to convey this response ever since. You are NOT getting an LTS release from anyone outside of Oracle. Others will provide backports and that might be "good enough". If you're not paying for an LTS, you may as well update to each new release (as long as nothing else breaks).