Why CentOS Become Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux

Why free rebuilds of Red Hat Enterprise Linux dey two

Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux dey exist because Red Hat end CentOS Linux years before the date wey im users plan around. CentOS na free, unbranded rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and e get the same long support window. On December 8, 2020, the CentOS Project announce say CentOS Linux 8 go stop by the end of 2021 instead of running reach 2029. Dem announce two replacement projects within one week after that post, and both still dey release today.

That announcement go only make sense when you know wetin CentOS be, and why dem allow free copy of commercial product to exist at all. The story start for 2003.

Where Red Hat Linux go for 2003: Fedora and RHEL

Red Hat first product na a boxed distribution wey dem call Red Hat Linux. The first release wey no be beta come out for May 1995. The last one, Red Hat Linux 9, come out for March 31, 2003 and reach end of life for April 30, 2004.

By that time, Red Hat dey sell to companies, and companies want something wey the boxed product no fit give dem: version wey go remain stable for years, with security fixes and no surprise upgrades. Red Hat build am as Red Hat Linux Advanced Server, wey become Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for March 2002. Dem dey sell RHEL as subscription, and dem charge per system per year. The subscription cover updates and support. E also cover certification: hardware vendors and commercial software vendors test specifically against RHEL, and dem mention am for their support terms.

The free line no get clear purpose again, so Red Hat join am with one outside community project. The Fedora Project and the Red Hat Project formally join together for September 22, 2003. Fedora become the fast, free distribution wey new work dey land first. RHEL become the slow, paid one wey dem dey build from am. Work don dey flow for that direction ever since: Fedora dey lead, RHEL dey follow.

The split leave one gap. Plenty people want RHEL ten-year lifecycle without per-server bill, and Fedora no fit fill am, because dem dey support one Fedora release for roughly thirteen months.

Why free rebuild of RHEL fit happen?

RHEL almost dey built from software wey free licence cover, and na GNU General Public License (GPL) matter pass for here. E require say anybody wey receive the binaries fit also get the matching source. Red Hat fulfil this duty publicly. Dem publish source RPMs (SRPMs, wey be the packaged source for each component) for public server, and later for the git.centos.org repositories.

Source no be the whole product. Two parts of RHEL no ever dey free to copy. Red Hat trademarks belong to Red Hat, so anybody wey rebuild am must remove every logo and every mention of the name. The paid services still remain behind payment: the update servers, the support contract, the certification process, and the errata wey describe each fix.

The recipe easy to explain. Take the published sources, remove the branding, rebuild dem, then publish the result. The goal na bug-for-bug compatibility. This means say the rebuild carry the same patches and the same behaviour as RHEL, including the bugs. This precision na the main point, because commercial software dey certified against RHEL. If the rebuild behave exactly the same way, that software go run on am, although the vendor no go support am there.

Wetin CentOS dey for?

CentOS na short form of Community ENTerprise Operating System. E come from one project wey dem call cAos Linux, wey Gregory Kurtzer start for 2002. The first CentOS release show for May 14, 2004, with number 2, because dem build am from RHEL 2.1AS.

The main attraction na the lifecycle. Every CentOS release follow RHEL ten-year support window, and e no cost anything. Hosting companies use am for default images, universities run am for clusters, appliance vendors ship am inside their products, and control panels assume say e dey available. If you rent virtual private server between around 2006 and 2020, CentOS dey for the operating system menu, and most times na the default.

CentOS Linux 7 show say the promise dey work as dem advertise am. Dem release am for July 7, 2014, and the security support run reach June 30, 2024, just few days short of ten complete years. Na this record make people comfortable to build ten-year plans around the next release.

Wetín change when CentOS join Red Hat for 2014

For January 7, 2014, Red Hat and the CentOS Project announce say dem dey join force. Red Hat chief technology officer for that time, Brian Stevens, and CentOS lead developer Karanbir Singh both talk for the announcement. Red Hat contribute staff and infrastructure, some core CentOS developers become Red Hat employees, and the project get formal governing board.

For users, the things wey dem fit see good. Builds dey land faster after each RHEL release. Sources move go git.centos.org. Special Interest Groups produce extra content on top the base distribution, like virtualisation and storage stacks.

The structural change quiet pass, but na that one matter six years later. The project wey rebuild RHEL now dey funded and mostly staffed by the company wey dey sell RHEL. Nothing for that arrangement force Red Hat to keep the rebuild running.

Why CentOS Linux 8 end for 2021?

CentOS Linux 8 release on September 24, 2019. RHEL 8 get support until May 31, 2029, so people understand say CentOS Linux 8 too go dey okay reach 2029.

For December 8, 2020, Rich Bowen publish "CentOS Project shifts focus to CentOS Stream" for the CentOS blog. CentOS Linux 8 go end on December 31, 2021. CentOS Linux 7 go keep the original date of June 30, 2024. The reason wey dem give be say the future of the project na CentOS Stream.

[
  {
    "label": "Announced at release, September 2019",
    "support_window": 9.7
  },
  {
    "label": "Delivered, ended December 2021",
    "support_window": 2.3
  }
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CentOS Linux 8 come with expected support window of about 9.7 years. E deliver about 2.3. Dem no remove any feature, and the code no become worse. Wetin people lose na date wey dem don already plan around, for machines wey dey production already, with small pass one year notice. To move operating system across plenty machines na work wey need planning, but this one turn to unplanned work with deadline.

Wetin be CentOS Stream, exactly?

Most coverage still dey describe CentOS Stream as the thing wey cancel CentOS Linux. The timing correct, but the description no correct, because the two products dey move for opposite directions.

CentOS Linux dey downstream of RHEL. Red Hat release one RHEL minor release, then CentOS rebuild am afterwards. The copy always dey arrive after the original.

CentOS Stream dey upstream of RHEL. Na the public branch wey dem dey use assemble the next RHEL minor release. Work dey flow from Fedora enter CentOS Stream, then enter RHEL. So, package go first appear for Stream before e reach RHEL minor release later. Stream dey come out continuously, so e no dey remain unchanged between minor versions like shipped RHEL dey do.

This one make Stream useful for jobs wey CentOS Linux no fit ever do. If you maintain software wey must continue to work for the next RHEL minor release, Stream go show you that release months before time. If you want make dem fix bug for RHEL, Stream na place wey you fit send the patch. Downstream rebuild no ever give you that option. Red Hat argument for 2020 be say this one dey turn passive copy into distribution wey community fit actually change.

Stream still no be good replacement for wetin CentOS Linux users want, and the support window show am. CentOS Stream 10 release on December 12, 2024 with window of about five years, compared with RHEL ten years. Team wey dey run fleet with ten-year plan no receive faster version of that plan. Dem receive different product with different purpose.

Where Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux come from

Dem announce Rocky Linux on December 8, 2020, the same day wey CentOS post come out, by Gregory Kurtzer, wey start the project wey CentOS grow from. The name na tribute to Rocky McGaugh, one of the early CentOS co-founders. Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) dey govern the project, while CIQ, the company wey Kurtzer found, na the main commercial backer. Release candidate come out for end of April 2021, and the first stable release, Rocky Linux 8.4 "Green Obsidian", follow on June 21, 2021.

AlmaLinux come from CloudLinux, company wey already dey sell RHEL-derived distribution to hosting providers. On December 15, 2020, CloudLinux promise to spend more than one million US dollars every year on free RHEL rebuild, wey dem first call Project Lenix. Dem announce the AlmaLinux name on January 12, 2021, beta come out on February 1, and dem release AlmaLinux 8.3 "Purple Manul" on March 30, 2021. That same day, ownership move go AlmaLinux OS Foundation, a non-profit wey hold the trademark and run the project's board.

The two projects solve the same problem with different governance. Rocky come from the person wey start CentOS, with company wey dem build around am. AlmaLinux come from company wey hand the trademark over to a foundation on the day e release the software. For two years, the practical difference small, and both deliver wetin CentOS Linux users lose.

Wetin Red Hat change about RHEL sources for 2023

For June 21, 2023, Mike McGrath, wey be vice president of core platforms for Red Hat that time, publish "Furthering the evolution of CentOS Stream". The important sentence talk say CentOS Stream go become the only repository for public RHEL-related source code releases. The RHEL sources wey dem dey push go git.centos.org stop to dey pushed there.

Red Hat customers and partners still get access to RHEL sources through the customer portal. This satisfy GPL, because the obligation dey apply to the people wey receive the binaries. The thing wey change na the public route. Dem no longer dey post openly the package-by-package record of exactly wetin ship for one RHEL minor release. CentOS Stream dey ahead of RHEL, instead of dey for the same level. So, rebuilder wey work only from Stream no fit reproduce released minor version exactly.

Red Hat position na say Stream be the upstream, and public source suppose belong to upstream. The rebuild projects' position na say the change remove the material wey dem don dey build on since 2004. Both description correct. The disagreement na about wetin the licence dey meant to do, no be about wetin e talk.

How the rebuilds take respond, and wetin OpenELA be

Rocky Linux answer first. For one post wey get date June 29, 2023, the project talk say e go continue to obtain RHEL sources through routes wey no carry extra agreement: Red Hat Universal Base Image (UBI) container images, and pay-per-use RHEL instances for public clouds. Anybody wey receive those binaries get GPL right to the matching source. Rocky still hold its goal to track every RHEL release as e come out.

AlmaLinux answer differently. For July 2023, its board, wey benny Vasquez chair, drop the goal to match RHEL one-to-one and adopt application binary interface (ABI) compatibility instead. ABI compatibility mean say software wey build for RHEL go run without modification for AlmaLinux, even though both no be identical builds. This trade give dem more freedom. AlmaLinux fit release fix before RHEL, and e fit continue to support hardware wey RHEL don drop.

Two bigger vendors move too. For July 11, 2023, SUSE talk say e go fork RHEL wey public dey access and invest more than ten million US dollars for compatible distribution. Oracle, wey don release Oracle Linux as RHEL-compatible product since 2006, publish its own response that same week.

For August 10, 2023, CIQ, Oracle and SUSE announce Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA). Na trade association with one job: publish enterprise Linux sources so RHEL-compatible distributions fit continue to build, and make those sources free for redistribution. For November 2023, e announce its governance documents and say code dey available. AlmaLinux no join, and this follow from its ABI decision, because e no longer need exact source feed.

Which one you suppose run for server today?

[
  {
    "distro": "RHEL 10",
    "support_window": 10,
    "notes": "Released May 2025, supported to May 2035"
  },
  {
    "distro": "AlmaLinux 10",
    "support_window": 10,
    "notes": "Released May 2025, supported to May 2035"
  },
  {
    "distro": "Rocky Linux 10",
    "support_window": 10,
    "notes": "Released June 2025, supported to May 2035"
  },
  {
    "distro": "CentOS Stream 10",
    "support_window": 5,
    "notes": "Released December 2024, supported to May 2030"
  }
]

The version 10 releases show where the matter finally reach. RHEL 10 land on May 20, 2025, AlmaLinux 10 "Purple Lion" on May 27, 2025, and Rocky Linux 10 "Red Quartz" on June 11, 2025. Each one publish 10 year support window. CentOS Stream 10 publish 5 years, and this clearly show say na development branch, not fixed target.

The projects don start differ for ways wey fit cause problem for you. RHEL 10 raise the hardware baseline to x86-64-v3, na microarchitecture level wey need newer CPU instructions like AVX2. Rocky Linux 10 follow this baseline and remove support for x86-64-v2. AlmaLinux 10 dey ship with x86-64-v3 by default and publish separate x86-64-v2 build for older processors. For cheap VPS wey dey run on older host CPU, this one decision fit determine whether the system go install.

Four practical ways to understand the timeline:

• If you need the vendor relationship, buy RHEL. The subscription na the product, and e carry the certifications and support line wey no rebuild fit provide.
• If you want wetin CentOS Linux dey give before, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux both provide am, free and with ten-year window.
• If you write software wey must run on RHEL, or you want your patches to reach am, CentOS Stream na the correct target, and the shorter window na the price.
• If none of these apply, the Debian side of the world answer the same lifecycle question in its own way, and the choice between Ubuntu LTS and interim releases na the version of this decision wey you go meet there.

The main lesson for the timeline concern governance, not code. CentOS Linux na good software, but e still end early because the company wey product copy dey fund am. When you choose distribution for machine wey you expect to run for ten years, check who dey pay for am and who own the trademark. AlmaLinux keep its trademark for a foundation. Rocky keep its own for the RESF, with CIQ as the commercial sponsor. Both projects publish these answers, and this pass wetin CentOS user fit verify for 2019.

This one affect you directly if you rent servers. For an unmanaged VPS you apply the updates yourself, so early end of life become migration wey you need plan and time wey you need spend. If the operating system question still open at a wider level, the comparison between Linux and Windows Server come before all this.

FAQ

CentOS don die?

CentOS Linux don discontinue. CentOS Linux 8 end on December 31, 2021, and CentOS Linux 7 end on June 30, 2024, so dem no dey receive security updates again. CentOS Project itself still dey continue and e dey produce CentOS Stream, wey be different product: na the public development branch wey dey feed Red Hat Enterprise Linux. If server still dey run CentOS Linux, e no get patches, and common migration targets na AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

Wetin be difference between CentOS Stream and CentOS Linux?

Na direction. CentOS Linux dey downstream: Red Hat go release RHEL minor release, then CentOS rebuild am afterwards. CentOS Stream dey upstream: na there dem dey assemble the next RHEL minor release, so e content dey arrive before RHEL instead of after am. Stream dey receive updates continuously instead of staying frozen, and CentOS Stream 10 get support window of about five years, compared with RHEL ten years.

Make I choose Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux?

Both free, both dey track RHEL closely, and both publish ten-year window, so either one go work for most servers. The practical differences come from their 2023 decisions. Rocky dey aim to match RHEL release for release, by rebuilding from sources wey e obtain through UBI container images and public cloud instances. AlmaLinux dey aim for ABI compatibility, wey allow am patch earlier and keep hardware support wey RHEL don drop. AlmaLinux 10 publish x86-64-v2 build for older CPUs, while Rocky Linux 10 require x86-64-v3, so for older hardware, that one detail fit decide the choice.

Red Hat break GPL for 2023?

No court don talk say e do so, and GPL obligation dey apply to the people wey receive the binaries. Red Hat still dey provide the matching sources to customers. The argument na about wetin happen next: dem fit refuse to renew subscription, and rebuild projects interpret that as pressure make dem no use the redistribution right wey the licence give dem. Na why Rocky move to source routes wey no carry subscription agreement, and why dem form OpenELA to publish sources openly.

Why Red Hat end CentOS Linux at all?

The reason wey dem state for the December 8, 2020 announcement be say the future of the project na CentOS Stream, and say rebuild wey only copy RHEL no give the community any way to influence am. Many users also see commercial motive inside the decision, because CentOS Linux be free version of product wey Red Hat dey sell, and organisations wey fit pay for subscription dey use am for production. Red Hat own posts address the development model, instead of that interpretation.