The release of Rocky Linux 9.2 has been announced, aimed at creating a free build of RHEL capable of filling the void left by classic CentOS. The distribution is fully binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and can serve as a replacement for RHEL 9.2 and CentOS 9 Stream. Support for the Rocky Linux 9 branch will continue until May 31, 2032. Installation ISO images of Rocky Linux are prepared for the x86_64, aarch64, and s390x (IBM Z) architectures. The publication of builds for the ppc64le (POWER9) architecture has been postponed due to a serious issue with Python 3.9. Additionally, live builds with GNOME, KDE, and Xfce desktops have been released for the x86_64 architecture.
Similar to classic CentOS, the changes made to the Rocky Linux packages focus on removing the branding tied to Red Hat and eliminating RHEL-specific packages, such as redhat-*, insights-client, and subscription-manager-migration*. An overview of the changes in Rocky Linux 9.2 can be found in the RHEL 9.2 announcement. Among the Rocky Linux-specific changes, the delivery of openldap-servers-2.6.2 packages in a separate repository plus packages for network virtualization components developed by the NFV SIG group (Network Functions Virtualization) can be noted. Rocky Linux also supports CRB (Code Ready Builder with additional packages for developers, replacing PowerTools), RT (real-time mode packages), HighAvailability, ResilientStorage, and SAPHANA (SAP HANA packages).
The distribution is developed under the auspices of the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF), which is registered as a Public Benefits Corporation, not aimed at profit. The organization is owned by Gregory Kurtzer, the founder of CentOS, but management functions are delegated to a board of directors elected by community members involved in the project. Simultaneously, for the development of advanced products based on Rocky Linux and supporting the community of developers of this distribution, a commercial company named Ctrl IQ has been established, which has received $26 million in investments. Companies such as Google, Amazon Web Services, GitLab, MontaVista, 45Drives, OpenDrives, and NAVER Cloud have joined in the development and funding of the project.
In addition to Rocky Linux, alternatives to classic CentOS include AlmaLinux (developed by CloudLinux in collaboration with the community), VzLinux (prepared by Virtuozzo), Oracle Linux, SUSE Liberty Linux, and EuroLinux. Furthermore, Red Hat has provided the opportunity for free use of RHEL in organizations developing open-source software and in environments of individual developers with up to 16 virtual or physical systems.
Source: opennet.ru
