A Rocky Linux 8.3 release candidate is available for testing, aimed at creating a new free build of RHEL that can take the place of classic CentOS, after Red Hat decided to discontinue support for the CentOS 8 branch at the end of 2021, rather than in 2029 as originally planned. Rocky Linux builds are prepared for x86_64 and aarch64 architectures.
The distribution is fully binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3. Like classic CentOS, the changes made to the packages focus on removing the branding associated with Red Hat. The project is led by Gregory Kurtzer, the founder of CentOS. At the same time, a commercial company called Ctrl IQ has been established to develop advanced products based on Rocky Linux and support the community of developers for this distribution, having received $4 million in investments. The Rocky Linux distribution itself is promised to be developed independently from Ctrl IQ under community management. The companies MontaVista, 45Drives, OpenDrives, and Amazon Web Services have also joined in developing and funding the project.
As an alternative to the old CentOS, besides Rocky Linux, the AlmaLinux project is being developed with the support of CloudLinux, and its first stable release took place at the end of March. Oracle Linux is also being promoted to replace CentOS. Additionally, Red Hat has provided 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.
Forrás: opennet.ru
