Canonical has removed the beta label from Ubuntu Pro, its subscription service for extended support of Ubuntu systems. Ubuntu Pro is available for every LTS distro starting with 16.04.
Paying Pro customers will be the only ones with access to live kernel patching, as shown on the Ubuntu Pro page. They can also get 24/7 support. The most important element of Ubuntu Pro is the longer support: desktops and servers get ten years of security updates, instead of the standard five years.
A free version for small and medium-sized businesses came out last year. The service is protected against known CVE-registered vulnerabilities not only in the OS itself but also in external packages and applications such as phpMyAdmin, Apache or Rust. To do this, Ubuntu works with companies that scan for such CVEs. In addition, Ubuntu Pro meets compliance and certification requirements such as FIPS 140-2 or PCI-DSS.
