If you missed the news, AlmaLinux OS is a 1:1 binary-compatible fork of RHEL 8. It was built by the creators of the established CloudLinux OS, and CloudLinux has committed to an annual endowment of $1 million to support the project.
AlmaLinux announced the launch of the first stable release during a live stream earlier today.
So, after about four months since the decision to steer CentOS in a different path, you now have a 1:1 binary compatible drop-in replacement with a very long support timeframe. CloudLinux has committed to supporting AlmaLinux OS until 2029, including stable and thoroughly tested updates and security patches.
Of course, you can use AlmaLinux for any general-purpose computing need:
- Bare-metal installations
- Virtual machines
- Containers
- On cloud providers
AlmaLinux will provide the relevant official images for all those cases.
AlmaLinux Open Source Foundation
The formation of a non-profit organization that will take over responsibility for managing the AlmaLinux OS was announced. The foundation will hold the trademark for AlmaLinux so that it can’t be captured by an interested party and to ensure that the trademark is used to protect AlmaLinux from extinction. It is not intended to raise money.
The governing board includes:
- Jack Aboutboul, former Red Hat and Fedora engineer and architect
- Jesse Asklund, global head of customer experience for WebPros at cPanel
- Simon Phipps, open source advocate and a former president of the Open Source Initiative
- Igor Seletskiy, CEO of CloudLinux
- Eugene Zamriy, director of release engineering at CloudLinux
Moreover, the AlmaLinux community will select two additional members of the governing board. The board will manage, promote, and continuously improve AlmaLinux for the benefit of its user community.
“The sudden shift in direction for CentOS that was announced in December created a big void for millions of CentOS users. As a drop-in open source replacement, AlmaLinux provides those users with continuity and new opportunity to be part of a vibrant community built around creating and supporting this new Linux distribution under non-profit governance. I give a lot of credit to CloudLinux for stepping in to offer CentOS users a lifeline to continue with AlmaLinux.”
Simon Phipps
“In an effort to fill the void soon to be left by the demise of CentOS as a stable release, AlmaLinux has been developed in close collaboration with the Linux community. These efforts resulted in a production-ready alternative to CentOS that is supported by community members.”
Jack Aboutboul
Download AlmaLinux 8.3
You can find the ISO downloads here or download them from one of the public mirrors. Go right ahead and use it.
