The Rocky Linux 9.6 release has been introduced, aimed at creating a free build of RHEL capable of filling the gap left by classic CentOS. The distribution is binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and can be used as a replacement for RHEL 9.6 and CentOS 9 Stream. Support for the Rocky Linux 9 branch will continue until May 31, 2032. Installation ISO images of Rocky Linux have been prepared for x86_64, aarch64, ppc64le, and s390x (IBM Z) architectures. Additionally, live builds with GNOME, KDE, Cinnamon, and Xfce desktops have been released for the x86_64 architecture.
Like classic CentOS, the modifications made in Rocky Linux packages are aimed at removing the reliance on the Red Hat brand and eliminating RHEL-specific packages such as redhat-*, insights-client, and subscription-manager-migration*. You can find an overview of the changes in Rocky Linux 9.6 in the RHEL 9.6 announcement.
Notable specific changes for Rocky Linux include providing the openldap 2.6.8, PyQt-builder 1.12.2, and spirv-headers 1.5.5 packages in a separate plus repository, and in the NFV repository for virtualization network components developed by the NFV SIG group (Network Functions Virtualization). Rocky Linux also supports CRB (Code Ready Builder with additional packages for developers, which replaces PowerTools), RT (real-time operation packages), HighAvailability, ResilientStorage, SAP, and SAPHANA (packages for SAP HANA). An experimental package with the Linux kernel — kernel-uki — has been added, offering a unified UKI (Unified Kernel Image) signed with a separate key for SecureBoot.
The OpenELA repository, supported jointly with Oracle and SUSE, was used as the source of source packages in building Rocky Linux 9.6. The changes in the development processes are due to Red Hat's cessation of publicly hosting the source texts of RHEL rpm packages in the git.centos.org repository. Source packages are provided to the company's clients only through a restricted section of the website, which operates under a user agreement (EULA) that prohibits the redistribution of data, preventing these packages from being used to create derivative distributions. The source texts remain available in the CentOS Stream repository, but it is not fully synchronized with RHEL, and the latest package versions do not always match those from RHEL.
The Rocky Linux distribution is developed under the auspices of the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF), registered as a Public Benefits Corporation, focused on public good rather than profit. The organization's owner is Gregory Kurtzer, the founder of CentOS, but management functions are delegated to a board of directors elected by community members involved in the project. Concurrently, to develop extended products based on Rocky Linux and to support the community of developers of this distribution, a commercial company, Ctrl IQ, has been established and has received $26 million in investments. Companies such as Google, Amazon Web Services, GitLab, MontaVista, 45Drives, OpenDrives, and NAVER Cloud have joined the development and financing of the project.
Source: opennet.ru
