AlmaLinux

AlmaLinux is a free and open source Linux distribution, developed by The AlmaLinux OS Foundation to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system that is binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The first stable release of AlmaLinux was published on March 30, 2021,[1] and will be supported until March 1, 2029.[2]

AlmaLinux
Screenshot of default desktop on AlmaLinux version 9.1, showing AlmaLinux homepage in Firefox.
DeveloperThe AlmaLinux OS Foundation
Written inC (kernel)
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial release30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)
Latest release
9:9.2 / 10 May 2023 (2023-05-10)
8:8.7 / 10 November 2022 (2022-11-10)
Repositorygithub.com/AlmaLinux
Marketing targetServers, desktop computers, workstations, supercomputers
Update methodDNF
Package managerRPM
Platformsx86-64 AArch64 ppc64le s390x
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux kernel)
UserlandGNU
Default
user interface		GNOME Shell, Bash
LicenseGPLv2 and others
Preceded byCentOS
Official websitealmalinux.org

Etymology

The name of the distribution comes from the word "alma", meaning "soul" in Spanish and other Latin languages. It was chosen to be a homage to the Linux community.[3]

History

On December 8, 2020, Red Hat announced that development of CentOS, a free-of-cost downstream fork of the commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), would be discontinued and its official support would be cut short to focus on CentOS Stream, a stable LTS release without minor releases officially used by Red Hat to preview what is intended for inclusion in updates to RHEL.[4][5][6]

In response, CloudLinux – which maintains its own commercial Linux distribution, CloudLinux OS – created AlmaLinux to provide a community-supported spiritual successor to CentOS Linux, aiming for binary-compatibility with the current version of RHEL.[7] A beta version of AlmaLinux was first released on February 1, 2021,[8] and the first stable release of AlmaLinux was published on March 30, 2021.[1] AlmaLinux 8.x will be supported until 2029.[7] Numerous companies, such as ARM, AWS, Equinix, and Microsoft, also support AlmaLinux.[9] On March 30, 2021, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation was created as a 501(c) organization to take over AlmaLinux development and governance from CloudLinux, which has promised $1 million in annual funding to the project.[10]

In September 2022, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation held its first election,[11] announcing a board of 7 community-elected members on September 19.[12]

On December 7, 2022, it was announced that CERN and Fermilab would be providing AlmaLinux as the standard operating system for their experiments.[13]

Releases
AlmaLinux version Codename Architectures RHEL base Kernel AlmaLinux release date RHEL release date Delay (days)
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.3 Purple Manul x86-64 8.3 4.18.0-240 2021-03-30[1] 2020-11-03[14] 147 / 110 *
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.4 Electric Cheetah x86-64, ARM64 8.4 4.18.0-305 2021-05-26[15] 2021-05-18[14] 8
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.5 Arctic Sphynx x86-64, ARM64, ppc64le 8.5 4.18.0-348 2021-11-12,[16] 2022-02-25[17] 2021-11-09[14] 3
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.6 Sky Tiger x86-64, ARM64, ppc64le, s390x 8.6 4.18.0-372 2022-05-12[18] 2022-05-10[14] 2
Older version, yet still maintained: 8.7 Stone Smilodon 8.7 4.18.0-425 2022-11-10[19] 2022-11-09[14] 1
Old version, no longer maintained: 9.0 Emerald Puma 9.0 5.14.0-70.13.1 2022-05-26[20] 2022-05-17[14] 9
Older version, yet still maintained: 9.1 Lime Lynx 9.1 5.14.0-162.6.1 2022-11-17[21] 2022-11-15[14] 2
Current stable version: 9.2 Turquoise Kodkod 9.2 5.14.0-284.11.1 2023-05-10[22] 2023-05-10[14] 0

* AlmaLinux was announced 10 December 2020 (2020-12-10), first beta release was 53 days later.

See also
  • Fedora Linux, the upstream project from which AlmaLinux descends
  • Rocky Linux, with development coordinated by the public benefit corporation, The Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF)

References
  1. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (March 30, 2021). "CloudLinux Launches AlmaLinux, CentOS Linux clone". ZDNet. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  2. "Release Notes | AlmaLinux Wiki". wiki.almalinux.org. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  3. "FAQ | AlmaLinux Wiki". wiki.almalinux.org. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  4. "FAQ/CentOSStream - CentOS Wiki". wiki.centos.org. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  5. Salter, Jim (2020-12-10). "CentOS Linux is dead—and Red Hat says Stream is "not a replacement"". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  6. Janvier 2021, Par Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | Jeudi 14. "CloudLinux prépare le remplacement de CentOS Linux : AlmaLinux". ZDNet France (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  7. AlmaLinux (January 26, 2021). "Frequently asked questions". Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  8. Business Wire (February 1, 2021). "CloudLinux Releases AlmaLinux Beta" (Press release). Retrieved April 22, 2021. {{cite press release}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  9. "AlmaLinux: Everything you need to know about the Linux operating system". IONOS Digitalguide. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  10. Business Wire (March 30, 2021). "CloudLinux Establishes AlmaLinux Open Source Foundation, Launches First Stable Release" (Press release). {{cite press release}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. "First AlmaLinux Community Election Coming Soon! - AlmaLinux OS Blog". AlmaLinux OS. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  12. "First AlmaLinux Board Election Announces 7 New Seats - AlmaLinux OS Blog". AlmaLinux OS. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  13. "LISTSERV 16.5 - SCIENTIFIC-LINUX-USERS Archives". listserv.fnal.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  14. "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Dates". Red Hat.
  15. "AlmaLinux OS 8.4 Stable Now Available". almalinux.org. 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  16. "AlmaLinux OS 8.5 Stable Now Available". almalinux.org. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  17. "AlmaLinux for PowerPC 8.5 Stable Now Available!". almalinux.org. 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  18. "AlmaLinux 8.6 Stable is Now Available!". almalinux.org. 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  19. "AlmaLinux 8.7 - Now Available". almalinux.org. 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  20. "AlmaLinux 9 Now Available!". almalinux.org. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  21. "AlmaLinux 9.1 - Now Available". almalinux.org. 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  22. "AlmaLinux 9.2 - Now Available". almalinux.org. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
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