Rocky Linux 8.4 GA | Hacker News Reader

Rocky Linux 8.4 GA

rockylinux.org

95 pointstkuraku24 comments

All we needed after CentOS was a drop-in replacement with good backing. That's what this is, so it perfectly fills the gap and saves me from having to re-tool and re-document everything.

There's fine arguments to be made for jumping off RHEL, but if you're on it, it works, and I can focus on actually making things.

> All we needed after CentOS was a drop-in replacement with good backing.

I don't disagree, but lets be honest. We want free ReadHat without support. That is what CentOS was. And this is what Rocky Linux is.

Still not sure, how long term sustainable it is, because if you want paying option you just go back to RHEL, so whats is there left for Rocky. They seem to have plenty of sponsors, so lets hope I am just being a pessimist.

I have started to slowly migrate away from RHEL, to ubuntu server. But their recent push for snaps even on servers is annoying.

I tried raw Debian, but honestly I still prefer Ubuntu server.

Have to try NixOS, and other similar.

Here’s an informing podcast about Rocky with the founder of CentOS, https://changelog.com/podcast/427

Of the RHEL clones, Rocky seems to have most of the online buzz. I get no one wants to use Oracle Linux because... Oracle. But why doesn't Alma have more buzz? They beat Rocky to the punch getting their clone GA.

I'm still rocking CentOS 7 on my server. At this point I'll probably wait for EL 9 to update.

AlmaLinux are also publishing Errata. That's not something we enjoyed with CentOS and I don't think Rocky have any plans to do this currently.

We too have a lot of "general" services still on CentOS 7 and with maintenance support through middle of 2024, there's plenty of time for Alma and Rocky to set themselves apart. I'm a fan of both. Too soon to bandwagon.

For me, a couple month lead to initial release meant almost nothing. (Alma's initial release, as I understand it, wasn't even a 1:1 compatibility clone anyways)

Alma rolled up from CloudLinux devs, which is corporate. I also assume they had tooling already set up for their CloudLinux releases. I welcome and applaud all their efforts.

My initial concern was that CloudLinux would eventually steer AlmaLinux for overly commercial purposes. Not too interested in another RedHat-CentOS-IBM type dilemma. [Edit: Since then the AlmaLinux OS Foundation was created to take over AlmaLinux development and governance from CloudLinux]

What I know for sure is that Greg Kurtzer's reputation with RockyLinux is great and they seem to be rocking it, getting support, great organization, pure motivation, driving the product forward, etc. Maybe others are feeling that too?

AlmaLinux is exactly 1:1. Whatever FUD anyone else tries to spread around, that is categorically FALSE.

You can also check out AlmaLinux (https://almalinux.org). A RHEL rebuild under a true non-profit. 8.4 was released quite a while ago. Has some great backers as well.

So, can I point my dnf at the new package mirrors and I am off to the races?

Seems so: https://github.com/rocky-linux/rocky-tools/tree/main/migrate...

> Free community support is available through the Rocky Linux Mattermost, IRC, and forums.

The IRC link just goes to Libera; what channel(s)?

I don't even use CentOS or Rocky, but I am definitely dropping a donation to support this project.

Be careful as they are not a non-profit. They are a for-profit B-Corp.

That's fine by me. However, I did just see Amazon and Google on their sponsors list, so maybe I will redirect my donation money to organizations that need it more than the RESF.

Regardless, I think it's good to get back in the mental habit of paying for software that we benefit from, even if it's only a small amount.

that iss respectable.

I'm unable to find anything about how they will deal with security updates on their site.

Very nice! Sadly all my CentOS 7 machines have now become Ubuntu LTS.

That isn't sad. I'd say EL is probably almost as bad as you can get, and Ubuntu is one step up.

I love EL. Its stable and just works. It is the best distro I have found for what i need.

Why do you think it is bad? And what is above Ubuntu and why in your opinion?

EL is annoying if you’re trying to install the latest of some Wordpress like software as often the system php and other things are out of date, and trying to update results in a frankeninstall. But if you’re trying to run an enterprise app like Jirw it’s amaze balls.

FYI, Software Collections makes the installation of newer PHP etc. easy and clean (i.e., doesn't interfere with the base system) on EL7.

(In EL8 this is done by modules, so no need for a separate SCLO repo. The upstream term for this is Application Streams).

I've started this process (from Centos 8). As a zfs user Ubuntu makes life much easier.

RedHat can still make life hard for this project. They can stop publishing srpm metadata or pull non-gpl software entirely. Thinking back at how long we used to wait for CentOS releases following a new version of RHEL, this is pretty amazing cadence. But with IBM management it seems risky long term without an official endorsement.

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