The AlmaLinux project, which has always been committed to the development of the Linux distribution with the aim of offering a free and open-source alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, has recently announced a major turning point: it has officially become a “Endorsed Linux Distribution” on Azure. This prestigious recognition from Microsoft is not just a title, but represents a complete certification of the system by Azure, with all the benefits that come with it.
Being an “Endorsed” distribution on Azure means that AlmaLinux has been verified and approved by Microsoft for use in production environments, with the guarantee of dedicated technical support, specific optimization for the Azure cloud, advanced integration with platform services and regular security updates. Additionally, it includes pre-configured images available on Azure, allowing companies and developers to deploy AlmaLinux quickly and reliably, ensuring stability and security right out of the box.
To highlight how significant this achievement is, just think that on Azure there are very few officially “Endorsed” Linux distributions: in total there are six and they are consolidated and world-famous projects. In addition to AlmaLinux, we find Ubuntu, Debian, Oracle Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Flatcar, the project that Microsoft itself recently promoted and has now entered the “incubating” phase within the CNCF.
This subset of distributions, now including Alma, are recognized as approved. While this is not an official recommendation from Microsoft, it does mean that the distribution has met several important criteria:
- Market and customer demand : AlmaLinux has demonstrated strong market and customer demand, making it a valuable addition to the Azure ecosystem.
- Contractual agreement : AlmaLinux OS Foundation has a formal agreement with Microsoft, which guarantees constant updates and quick resolution of any problems.
- Engineering Collaboration : AlmaLinux benefits from a close engineering relationship with Microsoft, which translates into ongoing support for new features, integration of customer feedback, and troubleshooting forums.
- Content Mirroring in Azure : AlmaLinux OS Foundation manages content and infrastructure across multiple Azure regions, ensuring customers have a seamless and efficient upgrade experience.
In other words, with this approval, AlmaLinux will adhere to rigorous testing and update standards, receiving support as outlined in Microsoft's Linux and open source support policies.
So, regardless of x64 or Arm64 architecture, Alma is available through the Azure Marketplace, including Microsoft's latest Cobalt 100-based virtual machines.
It is also available in the Community Gallery and supports the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), making it easier than ever to deploy and manage AlmaLinux workloads on Azure.
In addition to Microsoft's recognition, AlmaLinux recently announced an interesting novelty for the developer community: the creation of AlmaLinux OS Kitten. This derivative version, based on CentOS Stream, is intended as a dedicated environment for developers, allowing them to start working on features and builds intended for future versions of AlmaLinux, before these are available to the public. Kitten has been designed to meet the needs of those who contribute to the construction of AlmaLinux, offering a stable platform compatible with the code that will be used in AlmaLinux 10.
As Danny Vasquez, spokesperson for the project, explained in an interview with Foss Force:
“For example, one of our platinum sponsors is CyberTrust Japan. They build an operating system called Miracle Linux and their version 10 is going to be based on AlmaLinux 10. So, we realized that if we get this set up correctly, they can start working on their build infrastructure and getting their teams ready, even now .”
This approach allows partners and sponsors, such as CyberTrust Japan, to begin development on future versions of AlmaLinux, preparing in advance for the release of AlmaLinux 10. Kitten is not intended for production use, but represents a “development distribution” with the specific purpose of ensuring compatibility and continuity of work also in subsequent versions of the operating system.
Kitten was born in response to a real need, dictated by Red Hat's decision to stop releasing traditional beta versions for minor updates of RHEL. This change led the AlmaLinux team to reconsider its approach to the development of AlmaLinux 10, and Kitten is the answer to this challenge, allowing contributors to contribute in a transparent and continuous way. As stated in the official Kitten announcement:
“Simply put, supporting our community with transparency and engagement. Earlier this year Red Hat shared that they would no longer be releasing traditional betas for minor versions of RHEL. That automatically required that we shift our approach to building AlmaLinux for 10, and impacted our thought processes around AlmaLinux 9.5 (note: the beta release of 9.5 dropped last week).”
In other words, Kitten represents an opportunity for AlmaLinux to support the community with greater transparency and involvement. This tool provides developers with early access to the technologies and tools that will underpin the future version of AlmaLinux, allowing them to actively contribute to the project and prepare for the future in advance, responding in a concrete way to the lack of official betas from Red Hat.
The arrival of Kitten represents a significant step for the AlmaLinux project, which continues to evolve, remaining faithful to its mission of offering a stable, compatible and accessible distribution to the entire open-source community.
