We did not have a ton of time to get into the release since this is an unplanned article on STH. Rocky Linux did not have a release yet like Oracle Linux and AlmaLinux. At STH, we saw a lot of interest in Rocky Linux but there was one major challenge. We also saw AlmaLinux by the CloudLinux team and a few others try to fill the void. In the aftermath of IBM and Red Hat discontinuing an ultra-popular OS, there were a few options. While Red Hat is attempting to migrate CentOS users to RHEL subscriptions, the open community distribution that was CentOS no longer fit into IBM/ Red Hat’s plans. The challenge with this is that many smaller projects utilized CentOS as a stepping stone toward supporting a RHEL ecosystem.

Effectively, Red Hat went full IBM and said farewell to the popular CentOS distribution. The Backgroundīy way of background, a few months ago, Red Hat abruptly changed its stance on CentOS. We downloaded the new OS that just had its first release and fired it up.

For the community, this is a big deal since there is still a void in the market where CentOS used to be. Rocky Linux 8.4 is out promising to further the positive parts of CentOS’s legacy.

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