I just saw this blog entry about the move from conventional CentOS to CentOS Stream following CentOS 8. The article says, “CentOS Linux 8, as a rebuild of RHEL 8, will end at the end of 2021.”
I’m still using CentOS 7, and was planning to upgrade to CentOS 8 sometime early next year, but now that looks like a poor plan.
What does this change to the CentOS ecosystem mean for Interworx?
Hello–
As we just found out about the change to CentOS this morning with everyone else, we do not have any set information, at this time. We’re monitoring the situation, and I know there are some internal meeting being set up, but no exact decisions have been made, yet.
There will be an announcement here in the forums and on social media when we know more, though! Don’t worry, we won’t leave you guys in the dark. 
Thanks!
-Jenna
Friendly Neighborhood InterWorx Support Manager
Thanks @IWorx-Jenna I thought I was late to the party, and didn’t realize this was new information to you, too.
Hi
I know centos stream was around on centos 6 and 7, and they were talk of it been a replacement to centos
Looks like they are now going to do it
Many thanks
John
Any work on centos 8 will translate to whichever fork of RHEL 8 that gains mainstream support. Looking at Oracle Linux 8 (free but also has paid support if needed), Rockylinux and Cloudlinux Open-sourced & Community-Driven RHEL Fork.
Oracle would be a nice option - it’s a distribution I’ve looked at keenly for years.
Rocky could be a nice option too; if it gets off the ground. It’s the most likely candidate to replace CentOS in spirit - it just depends on if the project can gain momentum.
Maybe this could be an opportunity to decouple things so that other RHEL-derived systems can be easily used too without modifying the installer, even if they’re only supported on a “best endeavours” or community basis. That way if Oracle decide to charge, or Rocky goes away, or CloudLinux decide they require a subscription, it won’t require such drastic measures to add a replacement in.
@hacman, agreed as all the RHEL forks should all be very similar we could do periodic tests to confirm if InterWorx installs and core functions work on the various forks. We would likely still only fully support one of them but keeping an eye on the others would provide a safety net.
just got this sent to me from Cloudlinux about Project Lenix, looks promising
Project Lenix
Igor Seletskiy, CEO of CloudLinux is here.
You may have already heard the news - Red Hat© Enterprise Linux just killed CentOS© in favour of CentOS© Stream.
Like many others, CloudLinux used a fork of RedHat® EL for its packages on sources provided by RedHat®. Therefore, we do not expect any changes for CloudLinux OS due to the RedHat® announcement: if you are running CloudLinux OS 8 - it will continue to have stable and well-tested updates until 2029, and ELS releases for years after that.
On another note, as we already maintain CloudLinux OS **, we plan to release a free, open-sourced, community-driven, 1:1 binary compatible fork of RHEL® 8 (and future releases) in the Q1 of 2021, tentatively named "[Project Lenix]
Why are we doing this:
What does it mean for you:
If you are running CentOS© 8 - we will release an OS very similar to CentOS© 8 based on RHEL© 8 stable. We will provide stable and well-tested updates until 2029 for free. You will be able to convert from CentOS© 8 at any moment by running a single command that switches repositories & keys.
Project Lenix
https://projectlenix.org/
@bear, Thanks for posting that and yes it looks very promising.
The first beta of AlmaLinux is now available:
https://blog.almalinux.org/introducing-almalinux-beta-a-community-driven-replacement-for-centos/
I’ve seen people testing it and reporting good things so far!
There has also been an update on the “free production use” license that RedHat has U-turned to offer. Seems it’s personal use only, which rules out any business use.
Jon
@hacman Do you have a link regarding the “personal use only” issue? Everything I’ve seen says you can use up to 16 licenses for production use for free. I’m also not finding anything to the contrary when I search. Would be good information to have.
Thanks,
Brandon
Hi Brandon,
It’s in the terms, located here: https://www.redhat.com/wapps/tnc/viewterms/72ce03fd-1564-41f3-9707-a09747625585?extIdCarryOver=true&sc_cid=701f2000001Css0AAC
I’m not a lawyer by any means (thankfully!), but the phrases “an individual, natural person” and “individual use in your personal capacity” in paragraph one would make me very nervous to use this programme in my capacity as a corporate entity (Ltd in the UK, LLC or similar in the US, etc).
Whilst it might not be an issue, it’s something for which I’d be very inclined to get legally sound confirmation; especially given that RedHat are now owned by IBM.
Hope this helps!
Jon
Thank you for that. Yes, those terms aren’t being mentioned in a lot of the popular tech press. It’s certainly a grey area. I am not a lawyer, but in America, corporations are “individuals” in some senses in the law, which makes the language even less clear.
Yea, it’s sort of similar here where a limited company has its own identity - for me the specific words that throw doubt into it are “natural” and “personal”.
That said, much of this is likely to be a moot point for many folks, as AlmaLinux seems to have gotten off the ground quickly as an alternative. It’s looking increasingly as if RedHat / IBM have managed to go full scorched earth on all this without even trying.
Clarification from RedHat has been offered here: https://www.reddit.com/r/redhat/comments/llbxnf/clarification_on_new_cost_free_terms_and/gnp6cu4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) (https://www.reddit.com/r/redhat/comments/llbxnf/clarification_on_new_cost_free_terms_and/gnp6cu4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
They’re basically saying that “individual” in this case means a flesh and blood person.
The example they give is if you run a business and you are just an individual, that’s fine - but once you become an incorporated corporate entity, all bets are off.
Obviously, the terminology differs depending on where you are, and in some territories, they may actually be overlapping terminology which has other meanings in law and could (in theory at least) alter the meaning of the implied contract. It is, however, clear what their stance is; and what the intent and spirit of the terms are.
Sadly the long and short of it is incorporated businesses should not be using RHEL under this programme in production, though if you do RedHat may turn a blind eye. If they don’t, well let’s just say IBM have better lawyers than anyone who would attempt this.
In other, more happy, news - AlmaLinux is coming along very nicely with no major issues in the RC, and is getting lots of positive attention.
