In the Enterprise Linux field, Rocky Linux has quickly gained popularity as a community-driven alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Now, CIQ (the company behind the distribution) is taking the next step in Rocky’s evolution by offering Rocky Linux from CIQ (RLC). But before moving on, let’s say a few words about the company itself.
CIQ (short for Ctrl IQ) is a software and services company that provides enterprise solutions around open-source infrastructure. It was founded by Gregory Kurtzer, one of the original co-founders of CentOS, and it plays a key role in maintaining and supporting Rocky Linux.
In other words, CIQ bridges the gap between community-driven innovation and enterprise reliability, delivering Rocky Linux with peace of mind from security, compliance, and legal indemnification.
What is Rocky Linux from CIQ (RLC)?
Rocky Linux from CIQ builds upon the free community edition with an added layer of compliance, legal protection, and security guarantees. With its new offering, CIQ ensures that RLC users benefit from enhanced safety and assurance, making it ideal for organizations that rely on enterprise-level support and stringent security standards.
What Makes RLC Different?
One of RLC’s standout features is its focus on security and compliance. While the community version of Rocky Linux receives patches on a best-effort basis, RLC comes with guaranteed patching timelines.
This is crucial for organizations that need quick fixes for critical vulnerabilities (CVEs) and cannot afford delays, especially when facing zero-day threats.
Moreover, CIQ provides service level objectives (SLOs) to ensure that patches are delivered on time, allowing IT teams to maintain secure environments without unnecessary risks.
Another key advantage of RLC is its use of dedicated, secure repositories hosted by CIQ. Unlike the community version, which relies on independent mirrors with no timing or content guarantees, CIQ’s repositories ensure the packages are verified and secure.
This added layer of validation protects organizations from potential software supply chain attacks and ensures that the content they rely on is accurate and up to date.
Additionally, RLC includes legal indemnification protections. This is particularly valuable for enterprises, as it shields them from potential legal claims related to the open-source software bundled with the distribution.
In contrast, the community edition does not provide such protections, leaving users to handle any legal risks on their own.
| Feature | Rocky Linux Community | Rocky Linux from CIQ |
|---|---|---|
| CVE Remediation | Best-effort timing patches | Fast, guaranteed patching with SLOs |
| Package Repositories | Community-managed with basic signing | Verified, secure, U.S.-based CIQ repositories |
| OS Updates | Variable time to remediation | Guaranteed updates with service-level objectives |
| Accountability | Community-managed processes | Indemnification and verified package content |
Despite these commercial-grade additions, RLC maintains complete compatibility with both Rocky Linux and RHEL, making it a seamless drop-in replacement for enterprises currently using these platforms.
In addition, CIQ provides migration scripts that allow users to easily switch from the community version to the CIQ-hosted repositories without the need for additional testing or validation.
Lastly, Rocky Linux from CIQ operates on an annual subscription-based pricing model, providing businesses with a flexible and scalable approach to their enterprise operating system needs. Support is available separately, so you can choose only what you need.
For more information, refer to the official CIQ announcement. You can also watch Gregory Kurtzer’s interview on the topic here.
