Rolling release, also known asrolling update orcontinuous delivery, is a concept insoftware development of frequently delivering updates to applications.[1][2][3] This is in contrast to astandard orpoint release development model which usessoftware versions which replace the previous version.
A rolling release model is different from a staged or "staggered" rollout, in which an update is gradually made available to an increasing percentage of users for testing or bandwidth reasons.[4][5]
An example of a rolling release would beArch Linux, where new packages and updates roll in constantly, and significant changes to the distribution may occur at any time by the developers. This is in contrast toUbuntu Linux, which has biannual releases, with the only major changes after a release being security updates or significant bug fixes.
Rolling release development models are one of many types ofsoftware release life cycles. Although a rolling release model can be used in the development of any piece or collection of software, it is most often seen in use byLinux distributions, notable examples beingGNU Guix System,Arch Linux,Gentoo Linux,Nobara Linux (since version 41),openSUSE Tumbleweed,PCLinuxOS,Solus,SparkyLinux, andVoid Linux. Some modernDistributed SQL databases such asYugabyteDB also support this feature.
A rolling release is typically implemented using small and frequentupdates. However, simply having updates does not automatically mean that a piece of software is using a rolling release cycle; for this, the philosophy of developers must be to work with onecode branch as opposed to discrete versions. When the rolling release is employed as the development model,software updates are typically delivered to users by apackage manager on the user'spersonal computer, accessing through theinternet a remotesoftware repository (often via adownload mirror) stored on an internetfile server.