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Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

rockylinux.org

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Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#11

Post by Avshalom »

sgtnoodle wrote: post #3

Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rock…

https://rockylinux.org/ :

  Rocky Linux is an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux®. It is under intensive development by the community.
It's the only above the fold text on the home page.

The About page is

  ...Red Hat announced that they would discontinue development of CentOS, which has been a production-ready downstream version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux,... In response, ... he would again start a project to achieve the original goals of CentOS.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#13

Post by bombcar »

kuon wrote: post #2

This is interesting. I use archlinux as my daily linux driver, but for server it is not ideal as it is a bit fragile to upgrade (for example, if you have postgresql installed, an update can put a new version and you have to migrate your db and if you keep the old version, some .so might get updated and it won't start). This could be a solution for servers. I used to use FreeBSD for servers instead of linux, but some…

For servers I've been using Ubuntu LTS ever since CentOS died, but this might bring me back.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#14

Post by prmoustache »

ashvardanian wrote: post #12

Looking at the release notes, it's still the Linux kernel 4.18, and for the upcoming 9.1 it is only 5.14. Are there any RHOS-like distros with recent kernels like 5.19 and 6+?

If you want something much newer in the rpm/rh based world, you run Fedora.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#15

Post by sgtnoodle »

martinpw wrote: post #6
sgtnoodle wrote: post #3

Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rock…

Well you could argue the name needs some explanation. The first time I heard it my mind immediately jumped to the dictionary definition of the word rocky - "difficult and full of obstacles or problems."

It seems like a fine name. I personally didn't link it to that connotation, and instead initially thought of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and a distant relative of a past generation. For all I know the honored co-founder was a curmudgeon, so maybe it's an especially clever pun?

If I were tasked with improving the about page, I would probably use the about page to explain the purpose and merits of the operating system. I would move the explanation of the name to the first question in the FAQ, or to a separate "Rocky's Legacy" page. Mainly, it would depend on whether the guy was known to be modest or proud. Then that section could be a true tribute without any risk of compromising the readability of the site.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#16

Post by PAPPPmAc »

sgtnoodle wrote: post #3

Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rock…

CentOS was, as you say, a community developed drop-in replacement for RedHat RHEL that subsumed a number of earlier RPM-based distributions in the early-mid 2000s. It was _widely_ used: in the 2010s the CentOS install base was on the same scale as Debian.

The CentOS governance structure and trademarks were effectively absorbed by RedHat, Inc in 2014.

In 2020 RedHat unilaterally "refocused" CentOS from being essentially "Community RHEL" to being "CentOS Stream" which is more or less a stability channel somewhere between Fedora and RHEL. This doesn't suit the needs of many folks who were running CentOS, and was done so abruptly that they even broke support window promises on the current release at the time, so it generated some bad feelings.

AlmaLinux and RockyLinux are projects that promptly spun up to replace CentOS in the "Community RHEL" role, from different prominent members of the community: Alma from CloudLinux, Inc. and Rocky from Greg Kurtzer of [CentOS cofounder,Warewulf,Singularity/AppTainer, CIQ] fame.

I don't know all the inside politics, but the reason there are two appears to be partly related to concerns about governance structure to prevent another round of commercial capture of community resources.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#17

Post by sgtnoodle »

Avshalom wrote: post #11
sgtnoodle wrote: post #3

Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rock…

https://rockylinux.org/ : Rocky Linux is an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux®. It is under intensive development by the community. It's the only above the fold text on the home page. The About page is ...Red Hat announced that they would discontinue development of CentOS, which has been a production-ready downstream version of Red Hat Ent…

You know, I never ended up navigating to that main page. There wasn't an option for it anywhere in the drop down menu at the top, or in all the options at the bottom. As far as I can tell, the only link to it is the logo graphic? So maybe all they need to do is add a "main page" option to the menu and it will be more ergonomic?

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#18

Post by SoftTalker »

bombcar wrote: post #13
kuon wrote: post #2

This is interesting. I use archlinux as my daily linux driver, but for server it is not ideal as it is a bit fragile to upgrade (for example, if you have postgresql installed, an update can put a new version and you have to migrate your db and if you keep the old version, some .so might get updated and it won't start). This could be a solution for servers. I used to use FreeBSD for servers instead of linux, but some…

For servers I've been using Ubuntu LTS ever since CentOS died, but this might bring me back.

Look at AlmaLinux also. I'm not sure of any technical reason why you'd chose one over the other, but AlmaLinux is a public non-profit with a board, Rocky ownership is a private org.

https://almalinux.org/

I moved everything to UbuntuLTS also, and I'm not moving again. But if I had waited, and I sort of wish I had, I'd probably be moving to Alma.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#19

Post by sgtnoodle »

alex_sf wrote: post #10
sgtnoodle wrote: post #3

Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rock…

Rocky and CentOS are both based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). CentOS used to be a free and open source downstream version of RHEL. Keeping the history short: Red Hat effectively acquired CentOS and discontinued it as a downstream version of RHEL. They turned it into 'CentOS Stream', which is, more or less, a continuously delivered upstream version of RHEL. This isn't acceptable for a large number of the CentOS…

Huh, that's interesting. Isn't Fedora the upstream version of Red Hat already? Or is the main distinction that CentOS Stream is rolling release?

I'm pretty much on the complete opposite end of the Linux ecosystem, working primarily on embedded systems.

Re: Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

#20

Post by zokier »

ashvardanian wrote: post #12

Looking at the release notes, it's still the Linux kernel 4.18, and for the upcoming 9.1 it is only 5.14. Are there any RHOS-like distros with recent kernels like 5.19 and 6+?

elrepo has lts and mainline kernel packages http://elrepo.org/tiki/HomePage#elrepo-kernel
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