blog: add article about scheduled support lifecycle for v6

content/blog/20240829_fluent-package-v6-scheduled-lifecycle.md

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+# Scheduled support lifecycle announcement about Fluent Package v6
+
+Hi users!
+
+We had launched `fluent-package` v5 series last year, recently shipped [v5.0.4](/blog/fluent-package-v5.0.4-has-been-released) in LTS release channel and
+[v5.1.0](http://localhost:9395/blog/fluent-package-v5.1.0-has-been-released) in normal release channel.
+
+In this blog article, we explains the planned next major updates - v6.0.0.
+
+### When the next LTS (Long Term Support) version available?
+
+In short, we will ship fluent-package v6 in Aug, 2025.
+
+We keeps two release channels as follows:
+
+* Normal release
+* LTS (Long Term Support)
+
+Here is the difference of these channels.
+
+* Normal release (6.x series)
+  * Recommended for early adopters (eager to try new features of Fluentd)
+  * Rapid release development (planned semi-annually releases, but it may vary.)
+  * Fluentd will be upgraded occasionally
+      * Minor upgrade will be applied. e.g. 1.18 => 1.19 and so on.
+      * e.g. v6.0.1 (Fluentd v1.18.1), v6.0.2 (Fluentd v1.18.2), ... v6.1.0 (Fluentd v1.19.0)
+  * The only latest version will be supported (bug fix will not be backported into older version)
+* LTS (Long Term Support, 6.0.x series)
+  * Recommended for enterprise services
+  * Security and bug fix release only
+  * Fluentd will be upgraded only in the teeny version and will stick to 1.18.x series. (T.B.D.)
+      * Thus, the version number will be 6.0.x. (6.1 series will not be shipped for LTS channel)
+      * e.g. v6.0.1 (Fluentd v1.18.1), v6.0.2 (Fluentd v1.18.2), v6.0.3 (Fluentd v1.18.3) ... v6.0.x (Fluentd v1.18.x) and so on.
+  * Next major version will be `fluent-package` v7.0.0, and will be shipped in 2027 (T.B.D.).
+
+As for fluent-package v6,
+
+* fluent-package v5 LTS will be supported until Dec, 2025.
+  * We expect users upgrade from v5 to v6 during the grace period.
+* Until 6.1.0 is released, normal release channel and LTS channel are the same package.
+* Upgrade from v4 or older version is not supported. Upgrade to v5 first, then upgrade it to v6.
+
+Current releases and future plans:
+
+![](/images/blog/20240829_fluent-package-v6-scheduled-lifecycle.png)
+
+<!--
+
+Generated by mermaid-js:
+  npm install -g @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli
+  npx mmdc -t default -i fluent-package-v6-scheduled-lifecycle.mmd -o fluent-package-v6-scheduled-lifecycle.png
+
+gantt
+    title Scheduled Support lifecycle for Fluent Package v6
+    dateFormat YYYY-MM
+    axisFormat %Y-%m
+    todayMarker off
+    section v5
+    v5.0.4 :active, v504, 2024-07-02, 90d
+    v5.1.0 :active, v510, after v504, 90d
+    v5.1.x :active, v51x, after v510, 90d
+
+    section v5.0 (LTS)
+    %% date -d '20240702 547 days' +%Y%m%d
+    %% => 20251231
+    v5.0.x (LTS) :lts_v5, 2024-07-02, 547d
+
+    section v6.x
+    v6.0.0 :active, v600, 2025-08-29, 90d
+    v6.0.1 (T.B.D.) :active, v601, after v600, 90d
+    %% date -d '20250829 180 days' +%Y%m%d
+    %% => 20260225
+    %% date -d '20260225 550 days' +%Y%m%d
+    %% => 20270829
+    v6.0.x (T.B.D.) :active, v60x, after v601, 275d
+    v6.1.x (T.B.D.) :active, v61x, after v60x, 275d
+
+    section v6.0 (LTS)
+    %% date -d '20250829 854 days' +%Y%m%d
+    %% => 20271231
+    v6.0.x (LTS) :lts_v6, 2025-08-29, 854d
+    Fluent Pacakge v7.0.x (LTS) :milestone, lts_v7, 2027-08-29, 10d
+-->
+
+<table border=1 width="100%">
+<tr>
+<th style='background-color: #eee'>Release Version</th>
+<th style='background-color: #eee'>Release Date</th>
+<th style='background-color: #eee'>End of life</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>v5.0.x (LTS)</td>
+<td>Aug, 2023</td>
+<td>Dec, 2025</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>v6.0.0 (LTS)</td>
+<td>Aug, 2025</td>
+<td>Dec, 2027 (T.B.D.)</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>v7.0.0 (LTS)</td>
+<td>Aug, 2027 (T.B.D.)</td>
+<td>T.B.D.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+Happy logging!
+
+TAG: Fluentd fluent-package Announcement reminder
+AUTHOR: clearcode