Quote:Rocky Linux—one of at least two new distributions created to fill the void left when CentOS Linux was discontinued by parent corporation Red Hat—announced general availability of Rocky Linux 8.4 today. Rocky Linux 8.4 is binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4, making it possible to run apps designed and tested only for RHEL without RHEL itself.

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One of the questions we've gotten repeatedly since first covering CentOS Linux's deprecation is "why not just use [my favorite distro]?" Linux and BSD users tend to be so accustomed to the same software working on multiple distributions, with similar package names and installation procedures, that they forget what using and installing proprietary software is frequently like.

Rocky Linux and competitor AlmaLinux (which released its own binary-compatible RHEL 8.4 clone in March) aren't simply "Linux distros" or even "Linux distros that closely resemble RHEL." They're built from the same source code as RHEL 8.4, which guarantees that a wide array of proprietary software designed with nothing but RHEL 8.4 in mind will "just work," regardless of how obscure a feature (or bug!) in RHEL 8.4 might be that those packages depend on.

Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux aren't the only RHEL-compatible options out there, of course. Last December, we published a partial list of binary-compatible alternatives to RHEL, including RHEL's own CentOS Stream (which is only available as a rolling release) and Oracle Linux, as well as Rocky, Alma, and Alma's parent distro, CloudLinux.

What makes Rocky Linux—and AlmaLinux—special is that both distros were created specifically to fill the void left by CentOS' deprecation. Their specific goal is to be available for anyone who needs them, with commercial support also available. That latter point is in contrast with, for example, Springdale Linux—which is another long-running "RHEL rebuild" that should "just work." But it was primarily intended for and supported by a relatively small academic community.

(06-23-2021, 10:00 AM)vittring Wrote: Beautiful, I love RHEL. Also, I see they're sponsored by https://opendrives.com/. I use their services. Very good product.

(06-23-2021, 10:06 AM)Oni Wrote:

(06-23-2021, 10:00 AM)vittring Wrote: Beautiful, I love RHEL. Also, I see they're sponsored by https://opendrives.com/. I use their services. Very good product.

I'm sure Rocky will perform. Definitely have some nostalgia for CentOS as it served us well for the short period we used it. Couple of friends work for Red Hat now.