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The claim that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clones are only for avoiding subscription payments has always been a topic of debate. Recent events show how these clones are making significant strides to demonstrate their value and usefulness within the Linux ecosystem. Two of the major alternatives, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux, have recently introduced innovations and support that go beyond simple RHEL compatibility. Here's an overview of how these distributions are meeting user and community needs.
AlmaLinux reintroduces support for obsolete hardware
AlmaLinux, a RHEL-compatible distribution, has announced that it will reintroduce support for hardware that Red Hat previously discontinued. The statement was made by Benny Vasquez, spokesperson for the AlmaLinux Foundation, and reported by The Register:
We're re-adding support for a ton of old hardware that Red Hat has previously deprecated support for, […] This move is made directly at the request of the AlmaLinux community, everyone from industries across the world to hardware enthusiasts to the various labs and groups researching the very nature of our existence need to be able to keep their systems running updated operating systems without the added expense and hassle of being forced to migrate to new hardware. Supporting older hardware makes sense for the good of our community and the good of our planet.
We are adding back support for a lot of old hardware previously deprecated by Red Hat, […] This move is made directly at the request of the AlmaLinux community, everyone from industries around the world to hardware enthusiasts to various labs and groups researching the very nature of our existence, that they must be able to maintain their systems with updated operating systems without the added expense and hassle of having to migrate to new hardware. Supporting older hardware makes sense for the good of the community and for the good of the planet.
This reintroduction of support for older hardware will appeal to many organizations that were users of CentOS, such as research labs, universities, and other institutions that use specific (often obsolete) hardware, making AlmaLinux a great value and backwards compatible solution with obsolete hardware.
Rocky Linux offers support for upstream kernels
Rocky Linux, another RHEL clone, has announced plans to maintain support for upstream Linux kernels. CIQ, the company behind Rocky Linux, announced that the new offering was developed to meet the needs of ultra-high performance, compatibility and security of the most advanced customers. CIQ's announcement, reported by Phoronix, explains:
The new offering from CIQ was built to meet the ultra-high performance, compatibility and security needs of the most advanced customers, and is now available to everyone. Development of the new offering stemmed from a storage use case where leveraging the large PCIe footprint of AMD EPYC processors was critical. Since then, additional use cases have emerged as organizations are realizing benefits of the upstream kernels.
CIQ's new offering was created to meet the needs of ultra-high performance, compatibility and security of the most advanced customers and is now available to everyone. The development of the new offering stems from a storage use case where leveraging the large PCIe footprint of AMD EPYC processors was critical. Since then, additional use cases have emerged as organizations realize the benefits of upstream kernels.
While it is currently unclear how this offering will be used in practice, it is likely that it will become part of CIQ's commercial offering. The information known so far is available on the Rocky Linux website page dedicated to SIGs (Special Interest Groups), such as the SIG Kernel.
Conclusion.
These developments, along with other innovations such as the AlmaLinux security patch that preceded Red Hat, demonstrate that RHEL clones play a significant role in the Linux ecosystem. Not only do they provide more accessible alternatives, but they also offer unique solutions that address the needs of a wide range of users. Anyone who claims that clones are useless may want to reconsider their position.
