Canonical announced that now Ubuntu 21.10 Impish Indri has reached End of Life (EOL). This means your Impish computer will not be able to install applications anymore, nor receive any security updates, although it can still be used without any time limits. This tutorial will explain how to check that out and add support provided by Canonical and also third-parties.
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Check your Ubuntu for end-of-life
On your computer, please try to install some software package using apt.
$ sudo apt-get install gimp
If your Ubuntu computer says, "No longer supported", or any of similar messages, that means your Ubuntu reached end-of-life (EOL). To keep installing applications, and to stay secure, you should upgrade to a newer OS version, or if you cannot, you can consider to add several supports below.
Add standard support
This means enabling old-releases repository for your OS 21.10. It is a special repository provided generously by Canonical, archived (moved away) from the original 21.10 repository that is no longer updated anymore.
1. Open /etc/apt/sources.list with administrator privilege.
2. Change the URL of official Ubuntu repositories into old-releases.
3. Save.
4. Do an APT reload:
$ sudo apt-get update
5. Try to install applications like below:
$ sudo apt-get install gimp
6. Done.
For a step by step help with pictures of this configuration, please read our Old Releases How To.
If you think you need more support, try also next section.
Use Snap support
This means using Snapcraft repository which is already enabled on your OS. If you have not using Snap a lot before, now it might be the right time. All the applications are available on the internet at Snapcraft.io server and you will install and update them using Snap command lines.
$ snap search gimp # to search for application you want
$ snap install gimp # to install application
$ snap run gimp # to run an application
$ snap list # to list installed applications
$ snap info gimp # to show full information of an application
$ snap refresh gimp # to upgrade an application
$ snap remove gimp # to uninstall application
Change the package name 'gimp' above with any other application name you wish.
Add Flathub support
This means adding a third-party software repository with Flatpak, one of the new ways of software distribution for GNU/Linux. With this, you can install and get updates of many applications and games e.g. OBS Studio and Red Eclipse even though you use an unsupported release of Ubuntu 21.10. Flatpak is a competitor to Snap.
1. Install Flatpak package manager via APT:
$ sudo apt-get install flatpak
2. Add Flathub repository into Flatpak:
$ flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
3. To install applications with Flatpak:
$ flatpak search vlc # to search application you want
$ flatpak install vlc # to install application
$ flatpak list # to list installed applications
$ flatpak run org.videolan.VLC # to run VLC as an example
$ flatpak update vlc # to upgrade an application
$ flatpak remove vlc # to uninstall an application
Change the package name 'vlc' with any other software name you wish.
Upgrade to 22.04
Finally, you can instead choose to update your OS version to the latest stable, Long Term Release, the 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish which would be supported officially for five years until 2027. We have here Upgrade Guide to 22.04.
Add enterprise support
Is the last in this list. If you are working for a corporation, this means making use of Ubuntu Advantage, a paid professional support to prolong Ubuntu LTS. This can be done once after you updated it to OS 22.04.
References
Official announcement of Ubuntu 21.10 end of life
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