The first stable release of the AlmaLinux distribution has been made in response to the premature discontinuation of support for CentOS 8 by Red Hat (the release of updates for CentOS 8 is set to end in late 2021, instead of 2029 as users expected). The project is founded by CloudLinux, which provided resources and developers, and has been handed over to a separate non-profit organization, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, for development on a neutral platform with community involvement. A million dollars a year has been allocated for the project's development.
Builds are prepared for the x86_64 architecture in the form of a bootable image (650 MB), minimal image (1.8 GB), and full image (9 GB). Builds for the ARM architecture are also expected to be released soon. The release is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3 and is functionally identical to it, except for changes related to rebranding and the removal of RHEL-specific packages such as redhat-*, insights-client, and subscription-manager-migration*. All developments are published under free licenses.
The distribution evolves in line with the principles of classic CentOS, being formed through the re-compilation of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 package base and maintains full binary compatibility with RHEL, which allows it to be used as a transparent replacement for classic CentOS 8. Updates for the AlmaLinux distribution branch, based on the RHEL 8 package base, are promised to be released until 2029. To migrate existing CentOS 8 installations to AlmaLinux, it is sufficient to download and run a special script.
The distribution is free for all categories of users, developed with community involvement, and utilizes a management model similar to the organization of the Fedora project. AlmaLinux seeks to find an optimal balance between corporate support and community interests — on one hand, resources and developers from CloudLinux, which has extensive experience in maintaining RHEL forks, are involved in the development, while on the other hand, the project remains transparent and accountable to the community.
As alternatives to the old CentOS, besides AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux (test builds are promised to be released on March 31) and Oracle Linux (tied to corporate interests) are also being positioned. In addition, Red Hat has provided a way for free use of RHEL in organizations that develop open-source software and in individual developer environments with up to 16 virtual or physical systems.
Source: opennet.ru
