The release of Rocky Linux 8.5 has taken place, aimed at creating a free build of RHEL that can take the place of traditional CentOS, after Red Hat decided to end support for the CentOS 8 branch in late 2021, rather than in 2029 as originally intended. This is the second stable release of the project, recognized as ready for production deployments. Rocky Linux builds are prepared for the x86_64 and aarch64 architectures.
Similar to classic CentOS, the changes made to the Rocky Linux packages revolve around removing the branding tied to Red Hat. The distribution is fully binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5 and includes all the improvements introduced in this release. Additional packages are also offered, including OpenJDK 17, Ruby 3.0, nginx 1.20, Node.js 16, PHP 7.4.19, GCC Toolset 11, LLVM Toolset 12.0.1, Rust Toolset 1.54.0, and Go Toolset 1.16.7.
Among the specific changes for Rocky Linux, the addition of the Thunderbird email client package with PGP support and the openldap-servers package in the repository is notable. The rockypi repository has added the 'rasperrypi2' package with a Linux kernel that includes enhancements for operation on Raspberry Pi boards based on the aarch64 architecture.
For x86_64 systems, official support for booting in UEFI Secure Boot mode is provided (the shim layer used to boot Rocky Linux is signed with a Microsoft key). For the aarch64 architecture, the capability to verify the integrity of the booted system via digital signature will be implemented later.
The project is being developed under the leadership of Gregory Kurtzer, the founder of CentOS. Additionally, a commercial company, Ctrl IQ, has been created to support the development of enhanced products based on Rocky Linux and the community of developers of this distribution, having secured $4 million in funding. The Rocky Linux distribution itself is promised to be developed independently from Ctrl IQ under the community's management. Companies such as Google, Amazon Web Services, GitLab, MontaVista, 45Drives, OpenDrives, and NAVER Cloud have also joined in developing and funding the project.
In addition to Rocky Linux, alternatives to the old CentOS include AlmaLinux (developed by CloudLinux in collaboration with the community), VzLinux (prepared by Virtuozzo), and Oracle Linux. In turn, Red Hat provides the opportunity for free use of RHEL in organizations that develop open source software and in environments of individual developers with up to 16 virtual or physical systems.
Source: opennet.ru
