Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux is a Linux distribution developed by Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, which is a privately owned benefit corporation that describes itself as a "self-imposed not-for-profit".^[3] It is intended to be a downstream, complete binary-compatible release using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system source code.^[4] The project's aim is to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system. Rocky Linux, along with RHEL and SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), has become popular for enterprise operating system use.^[5][6]

Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux 9.0, showing its desktop environment GNOME 40.
Developer	Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation
OS family	Linux (Unix-like)
Working state	Current
Source model	Open source
Initial release	1 May 2021; 2 years ago (2021-05-01)
Latest release	9: 9.3^[1]  / 20 November 2023; 4 months ago (20 November 2023)
Repository	git.rockylinux.org
Marketing target	Desktop computers, servers, supercomputers
Package manager	RPM (DNF), Flatpak — graphical front-ends: GNOME Software, dnfdragora
Platforms	x86-64-v2,^[2] ARM64, ppc64le, s390x
Kernel type	Monolithic (Linux)
Userland	GNU
Default user interface	GNOME Shell, Bash
License	3-clause BSD and various free software licenses, plus proprietary firmware files
Official website	rockylinux.org

The first release candidate version of Rocky Linux was released on April 30, 2021, and its first general availability version was released on June 21, 2021. Rocky Linux 8 will be supported through May 2029^[7] and Rocky Linux 9 through May 2032.^[8]

History

On December 8, 2020, Red Hat announced that they would discontinue development of CentOS, which had been a production-ready downstream version of RHEL, in favor of a newer upstream development variant of that operating system known as CentOS Stream.^[9] In response, Gregory Kurtzer, CEO of Rocky Linux support provider CIQ^[10] and one of the original founders of CentOS, announced that he would start a new project to achieve the original goals of CentOS.^[11][12][13] Its name was chosen as a tribute to early CentOS co-founder Rocky McGaugh.^[4] By December 12, the code repository^[14] of Rocky Linux had become the top-trending repository on GitHub.^[15]

On December 22, 2020, Rocky Linux community manager Jordan Pisaniello announced that the target for an initial release was anywhere between March and May of 2021.^[16] On January 20, 2021, it was announced that a test repository would be made available to the public by the end of February, and a release candidate was on target for the end of March 2021.^[17] However, that date was slightly pushed back,^[18] and on April 30, 2021, the first release candidate was officially released.^[19] The second release candidate, of version 8.4, the last before the stable release, was released on June 4, 2021.^[20] The high version number is based on the designation of RHEL. Rocky Linux is a clone of RHEL, which is also binary-compatible and is already supported by numerous large, financially strong sponsors.^[21] On June 21, 2021, the stable release of Rocky Linux 8.4 was released,^[22] with the code name "Green Obsidian".^[23]

Rocky Linux 9.0 was released on July 14, 2022, alongside a new reproducible build system called "Peridot", created to ensure the community can easily create new RHEL forks if Rocky Linux ever were to be discontinued, and to allow the Rocky Linux project to make new releases faster.^[24][25] Rocky Linux 9.0 is also the first version to support little-endian PowerPC processors and IBM Z (s390x) mainframes.^[2]

Releases

Some of the ISO images released by the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation have no direct upstream equivalents. They are created for specific purposes, such as for providing a live bootable image, or for providing a reduced-size installation medium.^[26]

Rocky Linux version	Code Name	Architectures	RHEL base	Kernel	Rocky Linux release date	RHEL release date	Delay (days)
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.3	Green Obsidian^[23]	x86-64, ARM64	8.3	4.18.0-240	2021-05-01^[27]	2020-11-03^[28]	179^[note 1]
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.4			8.4	4.18.0-305	2021-06-21^[29]	2021-05-18^[28]	34
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.5			8.5	4.18.0-348	2021-11-15^[30]	2021-11-09^[28]	6
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.6			8.6	4.18.0-372.9.1	2022-05-16^[31]	2022-05-10^[28]	6
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.7			8.7	4.18.0-425.3.1	2022-11-14^[32]	2022-11-09^[28]	5
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.8			8.8	4.18.0-477.10.1	2023-05-20^[33]	2023-05-16^[28]	4
Older version, yet still maintained: 8.9			8.9	4.18.0-513.5.1	2023-11-22^[34]	2023-11-14^[28]	8
Old version, no longer maintained: 9.0	Blue Onyx^[23]	x86-64-v2,^[2] ARM64, ppc64le, s390x	9.0	5.14.0-70.13.1	2022-07-14^[35]	2022-05-17^[28]	58
Old version, no longer maintained: 9.1			9.1	5.14.0-162.6.1	2022-11-26^[36]	2022-11-15^[28]	11
Old version, no longer maintained: 9.2			9.2	5.14.0-284.11.1	2023-05-16^[37]	2023-05-10^[28]	6
Current stable version: 9.3			9.3	5.14.0-362.8.1	2023-11-20^[38]	2023-11-07^[28]	13
Legend: Old version Older version, still maintained Latest version Latest preview version Future release

See also

• AlmaLinux
• Fedora Linux
• Oracle Linux
• VzLinux

Notes and references

1. "Rocky Linux 9.3 Available Now | Rocky Linux". 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
2. "Current Release 9.0 - Documentation". docs.rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
3. "RESF Foundation Charter & Bylaws | Rocky Linux".
4. Tim Anderson. "Rocky Linux is go: CentOS founder's new project aims to be 100% compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
5. Tung, Liam. "CentOS replacement Rocky Linux 8.4 arrives, and proves instantly popular". ZDNet. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
6. Tim Anderson. "Rocky Linux release attracts 80,000 downloads as ex-CentOS users mull choices". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
7. ""What is EOL of RL8"". Brian Clemens. June 30, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
8. "Download Rocky | Rocky Linux".
9. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (December 9, 2020). "Red Hat resets CentOS Linux and users are angry". ZDNet. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
10. "CIQ Rocky Linux". CIQ.co. 7 September 2022.
11. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (December 11, 2020). "Goodbye CentOS, hello Rocky Linux". ZDNet. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
12. Salter, Jim (December 10, 2020). "CentOS Linux is dead—and Red Hat says Stream is "not a replacement"". Ars Technica. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
13. Kumar, Sarvottam (December 11, 2020). "With CentOS 8 About To Die, Its Creator Gives Birth To Rocky Linux". Fossbytes. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
14. "GitHub - Rocky Linux". GitHub. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
15. . GitHub. December 12, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-12-12. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
16. Tung, Liam (December 24, 2020). "Rocky Linux: First release is coming in Q2 2021 say developers". ZDNet. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
17. Larabel, Michael (January 20, 2021). "Rocky Linux Making Progress Towards Their First Release In Q2 As A Free RHEL Alternative". Phoronix. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
18. "Community Update - March 2021". Rocky Linux Discourse. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
19. "Rocky Linux 8.3 RC1 Available Now". Rocky Linux. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
20. "Rocky Linux 8.4 RC1 Available Now". Rocky Linux. 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
21. "Sponsors". Rocky Linux. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
22. "Rocky Linux 8.4 Available Now". Rocky Linux. 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
23. Abel, Louis (2021-05-24). "rocky-release code". Rocky Linux GitLab Server. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
24. Krill, Paul (2022-07-14). "Rocky Linux 9.0 rocks new build system". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
25. "Rocky Linux 9 arrives with everything you need to replicate the distro on your own". ZDNet. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
26. John, Bangar. "installing rocky linux guide". London.
27. jorp (2021-05-01). "Rocky Linux 8.3 RC1 Available Now". forums.rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
28. "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Dates". Red Hat. 17 May 2023.
29. jorp (2021-05-26). "Rocky Linux 8.4 Available Now". forums.rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
30. nazunalika (2021-11-15). "Rocky Linux 8.5 Available Now". forums.rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
31. nazunalika (2022-05-16). "Rocky Linux 8.6 Available Now". forums.rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
32. "Rocky Linux 8.7 Available Now". 2022-11-14. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
33. "Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now". 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
34. "Rocky Linux 8.9 Available Now". 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
35. Rocky Linux team (2022-07-14). "Rocky Linux 9.0 Available Now". rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
36. Rocky Linux team (2022-11-27). "Rocky Linux 9.1 Available Now". rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
37. Rocky Linux team (2023-05-16). "Rocky Linux 9.2 Available Now". rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
38. Rocky Linux team (2023-11-20). "Rocky Linux 9.3 Available Now". rockylinux.org. Retrieved 2023-11-21.

1. Rocky Linux was announced 8 December 2020 (2020-12-08), first beta release was 143 days later.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rocky Linux.

 

Wikinews has related news:

• Gregory Kurtzer discusses plans for Rocky Linux with Wikinews as Red Hat announces moving focus away from CentOS

• Official website  
• Rocky Linux at DistroWatch