https://www.cyberciti.biz/linux-news/centos-linux-8-will-end-in-2021-and-shifts-focus-to-centos-stream/
CentOS is an acronym for Community Enterprise Operating System, and it is a 100% rebuild of RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux). While RHEL costs money, CentOS offered as a free community-supported enterprise Linux distro. Developers and companies who are good at Linux and don’t want to pay RHEL support fees always selected CentOS to save money and get enterprise-class software. However, the free ride is over. Red Hat announced that CentOS Linux 8, as a rebuild of RHEL 8, will end at 2021. CentOS Stream continues after that date, serving as the upstream (development) branch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
CentOS project history
We saw the first CentOS release in May 2004 called CentOS version 2 and was forked from RHEL 2.1AS (advance server). It was an instant hit among Linux lovers, web hosting companies, developers, and the HPC community. CentOS offered enterprise-grade software free of cost with self-support and community support are driven by email mailing lists or online forums. It is a great way to save money on an expensive RHEL contract when you no longer need support or training contracts.
What is a CentOS stream?
CentOS stream seats between Fedora and RHEL. In other words, CentOS Stream is a rolling-release distro for RHEL. It acts as a gateway between Fedora and RHEL:
Upstream ➡️ Downstream ➡️ RHEL
So we have:
Fedora Linux ➡️ CentOS Stream ➡️ RHEL
CentOS Project shifts focus to CentOS Stream and CentOS Linux 8 will end at 2021
From the announcement email:
The future of the CentOS Project is CentOS Stream, and over the next year we’ll be shifting focus from CentOS Linux, the rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), to CentOS Stream, which tracks just ahead of a current RHEL release. CentOS Linux 8, as a rebuild of RHEL 8, will end at the end of 2021. CentOS Stream continues after that date, serving as the upstream (development) branch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. When CentOS Linux 8 (the rebuild of RHEL8) ends, your best option will be to migrate to CentOS Stream 8, which is a small delta from CentOS Linux 8, and has regular updates like traditional CentOS Linux releases. If you are using CentOS Linux 8 in a production environment, and are concerned that CentOS Stream will not meet your needs, we encourage you to contact Red Hat about options.
How will CVEs be handled in CentOS Stream?
Security issues will be updated in CentOS Stream after they are solved in the current RHEL release. Obviously, embargoed security releases can not be publicly released until after the embargo is lifted. While there will not be any SLA for timing, Red Hat Engineers will be building and testing other packages against these releases. If they do not roll in the updates, the other software they build could be impacted and therefore need to be redone. There is therefore a vested interest for them to get these updates in so as not to impact their other builds and there should be no issues getting security updates.
In other words, CentOS Streams users will test RHEL ahead of everyone and report bugs, but they won’t get security updates till resolved in RHEL. Very tricky situation.
Does this mean that CentOS Stream is the RHEL BETA test platform now?
As per FAQ:
No. CentOS Stream will be getting fixes and features ahead of RHEL. Generally speaking, we expect CentOS Stream to have fewer bugs and more runtime features than RHEL until those packages make it into the RHEL release.
There is no option if you use CentOS for CI because you couldn’t use RHEL developer licenses. Also, note that CentOS Stream will have different ABI/API at times, so you can no longer test or build EPEL packages locally.
Can the CentOS community continue to develop/rebuild CentOS linux?
Red Hat says they we will not be putting hardware, resources, or asking for volunteers to work towards that effort, nor will we allow the CentOS brand to be used for such a project, as they feel that it dilutes what we are trying to do with the refocus on CentOS Stream. That said, the code is open source and they wouldn’t try to stop anyone from choosing to use it or build their own packages from the code.
No impact on CentOS 7
CentoS 7 will continue to produce through the remainder of the RHEL 7 life cycle. So no impact on CentOS 7 users.
Conclusion
I think it is a wrong move on the Red Hat part. The main advantage of CentOS is to provide 100% binary compatibility with RHEL. At work, we mainly used CentOS for testing as we target RHEL, but it saves lots of money. CentOS was our “no-nonsense test platform” for MySQL, PHP, Nginx, Java, and many other apps. Once the app was ready, we will deploy it on RHEL 8 cluster. Of course we can get RHEL Developer Subscription, but only one no-cost Red Hat Developer Subscription can be added to a user account to such purposes. So if you have seven developers, Additional six developers can create their own user accounts at developers.redhat.com. We have to deal with additional accounts. So If developers want a free as in beer RHEL clone, the next best choice might be Oracle Linux.
- Brett M Dec 8, 2020 @ 16:18
Yeah this seems like an IBM influenced decision. This is unfortunate to see support for CentOS degrading over the next year.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 16:26
Yes, CentOS users now becoming Guinea Pigs for RHEL 8.4 and upcoming RHEL 8.x/9.x etc. Really sad and I am shocked that they killed it CentOS 8 just under 3 years life-cycle. I blame IBM.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 16:29
Oracle here I am come :P
https://linux.oracle.com/switch/centos/
RIP CentOS project. we don’t want Steam which is nothing but beta. I will switch to Debian or OpenSUSE.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 16:50
Did they kill CentOS 8 as a production OS? How good is Debian? I ran the church web site, forum, and database at AWS, and we use CentOS 8. We switched from CentOS 7 to CentOS 8 in January. Ours is a non-profit project, and we cannot afford RHEL cost. Please, can someone advise LTS for us?
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 18:50
I’ve been a Redhat user for more that 25 years, and will continue to be so in my work, but privately I’ll be jumping ship to Ubuntu or Debian. Both due to this announcement and also due to Docker and LXC support.
Though building rpms is way easier than building debs … but then I’ll just have an excuse to learn something new.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 21:09
Debian is just as good, if not better, than CentOS. For over a decade have run production web servers, database servers, etc. on Debian. It is rock solid. There will be no upgrade path for you though.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 21:30
You shouldn’t affaird Debian, this distribution is comparable to CentOS and have even better repositories. I work in big corpo as system administrator with many different system, and Debian is the most convenient to maintain for me. Have less packet updates and more stable software (and bit older ), but you can upgrade distribution to next main release by packet manager. I only miss SELinux contents in package that is provided by default in rpm.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 21:55
Debian is excellent; I highly recommend it. However, the admin tools and package manager are quite different from Red Hat-like distros, so there will be a learning curve.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:08
Debian stable is a great server OS if you don’t need a support contract or need to comply with regulations. With automatic updates and needrestart it is basically takes care of itself for 4 years. It is my favorite server OS. I’ve used Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu, Suse, Centos.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:46
Just switch to Oracle, easy to do and still free.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:56
Debian is excellent.
Though, migrating from RHEL/CentOS might be a bit tricky. But nothing too big to handle. - Dec 9, 2020 @ 0:36
Debian is preety damn good (and stable).
Ububtu is Debian based, and also offers LTS versions.
I havent used CentOS in a while but for what I understand most of the software for it is readily available for Debian, and OracleLinux is binary compatible.
OpenSuse used to be damn solid (I shamefully admit less technical envolvement over the last 6 years or so, so some things may have changed but I still hear good things about them).
So in short:
Check what software and features you use; check what distros also support them; test in the one you like best (or best suits you); once checked, plan migration (you do have a year ahead :) ) - Dec 9, 2020 @ 1:18
Best I can reccomend is Fedora Server. Sorry bud
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 2:31
Why not Ubuntu 20.04 LTS?
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 11:23
I think Debian ia a good option that meets stability and Longe Term Support. Debian is systemd now, so you don’t need to learn again All the stuff, but you have to look at apt vs yum/DNF…
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 16:59
Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 17:01
How dare all of you want a free operating system and that too enterprise class?
I was about to make the jump to CentOS 8. Glad that I didn’t waste my time! I will continue with OpenSUSE.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:38
I just finished my migration. FML!!!
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 17:28
I think they just scared the dev team. What were they thinking?
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 20:22
IBM is messing up RedHat after the take over instead of enhancing the biggest Open-Source company in the World.
This will result in massive financial losses by RedHat corporation by killing CentOS project.
There is a need to rethink certifying Professionals on RedHat/CentOS 8 Enterprise Linux. - Dec 8, 2020 @ 20:48
That is an unpleasant surprise. I guess we will have to look for alternatives. Oracle linux comes to mind, but I am not very fond of it as another big firm is behind it. It is a matter of time until they change their mind, too.
I really don’t know why to pay for support, we do not need.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 21:33
Knowing RH (IBM) would do this is enough to make me jump ship entirely. Looks like Ubuntu (perhaps) for me. Suggestions on other distros welcome. Thoughts?
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 21:34
This is all IBM. I was really hoping RH wouldn’t be totally hijacked, but it was just too good to be true.
As much as I’m not a fan of Oracle, this might be the best option. Time to take another look at OpenSUSE, too. I’d rather not do the Debian/Ubuntu/etc. switch.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 21:59
As a Red Hat Certified Architect, I am just appalled by IBM/RedHat on this move. This is a clear attack against the user base that helped them get to where they are today. This clearly is a GREED play by IBM/RedHat to make more money. They clearly think that they can just get all these CentOS users to migrate to paid customers.
I am very happy to find this out now as my current day job which uses Ubuntu has been talking about migrating to CentOS and now I have to rethink my entire strategy.
I hope the original founder of CentOS considers making another spin-off again so we can continue to have the same functionality and support we are use to.
Thank you IBM for making 2020 even more shitty.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 22:00
Goodbye CentOS. Hello Ubuntu Server.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 22:30
Uf…. going back to OpenSuse….
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 22:46
I KNEW the IBM buyout of Red Hat be no good! Here it is – the want to push everyone to buy RHEL!
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:07
Debian
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:16
There is typo above, you mentioned it acts as gateway between Fedora and Centos, actually you meant was between Fedora and Redhat. That will require to be changed.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:28
https://github.com/hpcng/centosng
original creator of centos is going for a new fork. I dont care what IBM does with centos, when redhat acquired centos. You know this was a risk.
Anyways this not the first time we lost a RHEL clone and wont be the last.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:33
“we expect CentOS Stream to have fewer bugs and more runtime features than RHEL until those packages make it into the RHEL release.” Who are they kidding. A dev/release branch that has fewer bugs?
This is simply an attempt at a cash grab. I also see Oracle has already jumped in to see how much they can take. Should just change to Debian, they have a long stable history and don’t pull these games on their users.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:37
Nightmare, we are a small SME with multiple centos8 boxes in client sites around the country. Now we are left in a position where this is discontinued.
Red hat needs to revert this decision. It’s going to have an impact on a lot of small companies that would eventually migrate to Red hat once they grow. Shooting themself in the foot
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:38
I used Redhat since 1998, this Is dissapointing. The best thing Is that since last year I begun to use Debían.
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:43
Does this mean no more SIGs too? OEL 8 is about to see a giant surge in utilization!
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:45
Time to move to Orae Linux. One of their partners is always talking about it, and being it is free, and tracks RHEL with 100% binary compatibly it’s a good fit for use. Also looked at their support costs, and it’s a fraction of RHEL pricing!
- Dec 8, 2020 @ 23:49
This is unfortunate. I’d distro hopped looking for a no nonsense server class OS for my Plex server, and raid controller. Anxiously awaiting OS8 because it supports Ryzen. I fell in love with this os. Granted, it’s only a personal server but it certainly has grown on me, moreso than the likes of ubuntu server and fedora. I guess I’ll just ride the wave until the inevitable happens.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 0:11
Yet another reason to never use redhat again
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 0:59
I really like centos, but unfortunately I have to find other ones.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 1:08
They will kill off CENT OS
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 1:19
In the words of Valve developers “This is utterly fucking retarded”
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 2:13
It’s an ibm money grab. It’s a shame, I use centos to develop and host web applications om my linode. Obviously a small time like that I can’t afford red hat, but use it at work. Centos allowed me to come home and take skills and dev on my free time and apply it to work.
I also use Ubuntu, but it looks like the shift will be greater to Ubuntu.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 2:28
我的天啊~使用者付費是正確的，但是看到其他社區的經驗，因為用戶將會變少了，這軟體將不會再是業界的指標了。
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 3:01
This makes me wonder if Microsoft has anything to do with this.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:02
This is all messed up. We are not going to pay 300 per machine to Red hat. CentOS was originally an independent project until Red Hat acquired it. Now Red hat itself acquired by IBM.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:03
Yes, that will happen.
Many will migrate to others like Ubuntu server, opensuse, debian….AND… it will be self-defeating for RedCrap.
Bad news.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:06
We literally migrated our main production database and email server to centos8 hoping to let it run for another 10 years. Time to hunt for another server OS
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:20
As others said here, this is money grab. Me thinks IBM was the worst thing that happened to Linux since systemd. I will switch to Debian but never recommend anything related to Red Hat to anyone
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:49
Hello CentOS users,
I also work for a non-profit (Cancer and other research) and use CentOS for HPC. We choose CentOS over Debian due to the 10-year support cycle and CentOS goes well with HPC cluster. We also wanted every single penny to go to research purposes and not waste our donations and grants on software costs. What are my CentOS alternatives for HPC? Thanks in advance for any help you are able to provide.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 4:52
Thankfully, I use mainly Debian and Ubuntu for all my small biz needs and big corporations that I do work for don’t care so muct about CentOS. They will just buy another few (discounted) RHEL licenses..
So net-net, no impact for me. But sad to see Centos being turned from a useful tool to a worthless beta test platform.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 5:06
Folks who rely on CentOS saw this coming when Red Hat brought them 6 years ago. Last year IBM brought Red Hat. Now, IBM+Red Hat found a way to kill the stable releases in order to get people signing up for RHEL subscriptions. Doesn’t that sound exactly like “EEE” (embrace, extend, and exterminate) model?
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 5:08
For me it’s simple.
I will keep my openSUSE Leap and expand it’s footprint.
Until another RHEL compatible distro is out. If I need a RHEL compatible distro for testing, until then, I will use Oracle with the RHEL kernel.
OpenSUSE is the closest to RHEL in terms of stability (if not better) and I am very used to it. Time to get some SLES certifications as well. - Dec 9, 2020 @ 5:23
While I like Debian, and better still Devuan (systemd…), some RHEL/CentOS features like kickstart and delta RPMs don’t seem to be there (or as good). Debian preseeding is much more convoluted than kickstart for example.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 7:06
Exactly. I use Ubuntu for desktop, but for servers we use CentOS, because we are used to RH architecture since 1998. And we have created many kickstart scripts for automated installations. We cannot just migrate these scripts to some Debian or any other distribution.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 5:30
Can someone please explain in plain English the implications of this change?
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 1:19
No more free RHEL. The binary clone formerly known as CENTOS is dead (It’s dead Jim). So if you want RH you have to BUY RH. The noise you hear growing in the background is the huge stampeding exodus of all the people that wanted the stability of RH but didn’t want to pay for a license and instead used CentOS. Rober Heinlein said it best – TANSTAAFL.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 7:11
I’m still running Centos 7, and was considering upgrading to Centos 8. But my server is pretty old, and will need to be replaced by the time Centos 7 reached end of life.
I’ve been meaning to look at FreeBSD. I guess now is the time. I have 3+ years to get it right! - Dec 9, 2020 @ 8:59
They forgot billions of minor contributions by community
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 11:28
O hope someone to fork the project. Se don’t have scientific Linux anymore and now CentOS. Debian don’t have 10 years of Support, but is the only I have in mind for switch…
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 12:03
So what will be the problem of using Fedora instead of CentOS? Is it to bleeding edge as it is upstream? I know it will be a big task to migrate to new platform, and I get that it will not be as close to RHEL as CentOS is, but would it not be the “easy” decision to make?
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 13:17
1) oracle will use this opportunity to screw people as well, just watch
2) time for a new replacement. Just as their was several RHEL clones at one time, white hat, scientific, etc it’s time for a new copy of production RHEL just like CentOS is now.
3) by this time next year there will be a new RHEL clone everyone will be moving too. All this move by IBMhat does is destroy the CentOS brand and community. The community will rise again.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 13:57
IBM killed RHEL, for reduce distro.
It’ good for linux env, isn’t it? - Dec 9, 2020 @ 14:23
Lesson: Never sell your downstream community project to the upstream company.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 15:03
I think they don’t understand how many organizations use Centos to make sure their app work as expected before deployment on RHEL. This will push folks to Oracle Linux.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 15:15
Hadn’t even got around to thinking of upgrading to Centos 8 – still running 7 just fine but upon reading this news and knowing what a horrible company IBM has become I can’t see sticking around much longer. The main control panel software I run works on both so going to begin testing Debian to get ahead of the curve for when the time comes that I have to give up on Centos 7. Definitely not switching to Oracle as they are as bad at IBM. Sad to say because I really like how Centos works but whatever. Nothing lasts forever but if IBM does this with RedHat then I give up on anything connected to them now or in the future.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 18:42
It’s hard to beat Debian and its derivatives.
- Dec 9, 2020 @ 19:50
And so goes another great idea, down the tubes, due to greed and just plain stupidity. I would recommend Oracle Linux but I am afraid Oracle might due something similar in the near future (i.e., no longer make their Linux free) lalthough I have heard nothing to this affect yet.
I use Linux Mint for home use — any pros or cons with using Linux Mint? (Linux Mint is Debian-based).
(I know you are saying “might as well use Ubuntu LTS)- Dec 10, 2020 @ 0:07
Linux Mint? No real cons for home use. You can always fall back to Ubuntu if the small company goes away… It has the same ‘base’ as Ubuntu LTS. I do believe Mint is supported for same length of time (5 years). My file server uses Ubuntu LTS (20.04). My desktops and laptops all run (K)Ubuntu LTS. In my world at least, 5 years is a long time. By the time 5 years roll around, I’ll probably be looking at new hardware and at same time install the latest LTS version at that point anyway.
I did run Linux Mint for a time on my desktops (CentOs was on the home server then, and I liked it too). I really liked the Mint Cinnamon GUI . But when AMD Ryzen 1000 series came out, and I upgraded a couple of my desktops, the latest Mint would not run. Nor would CentOs when I upgraded my server later…. Anyway, I had to go to a non LTS version of Ubuntu to get up and running. That got me on (K)Ubuntu. With the release of 20.04, I am finally back on an Ubuntu LTS with Ryzen 3000 series support across the board including the newer home server. Good now until 2025 on all systems.
To bad about CentOs. It was as good long term OS that worked well for those that needed the longer time frame. I had a work CentOs server up for 7 years before I took it out of service for example. It just sat there an ran.
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 0:52
Oracle Linux is not totally free. If you want to get the patches, updates, you need to subscribe the minimum Oracle Linux Basic Limited Support.
You will have 24×7 access to log unlimited number of service requests via web or phone as well as access to patches, updates and security fixes via both the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) and the Oracle Linux yum server.
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 0:58
There are companies that sell appliances based on CentOS. Websense/Forcepoint is one of them. The Websense appliance runs the base OS of CentOS, on top of which runs their Web-filtering application. Same with RSA. Their NetWitness SIEM runs on top of CentOS.
Likewise, there are now countless Internet servers out there that run CentOS. There’s now a huge user base of CentOS out there.
This is why the Debian project is so important. I will be converting everything that is currently CentOS to Debian. Those who want to use the Ubuntu fork of Debian, that is also probably a good idea.
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 1:24
That’s ok. For us, we left RHEL (and the CentOS testing cluster) when the satan spawn known as SystemD became the standard. We’re now a happy and successful FreeBSD shop.
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 7:51
Three days ago, I arranged everything for the migration of version 7 to 8. Due to specific scripts and details. And then this news greeted me. Migration is prolonged, CentOS is crossed, Debian is being tested. Rpm based distributions go in the trash. I’m charging IBM on that thing!
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 12:01
Like somebody already said, thank you f-ing IBM/RH, to make 2020 even more shitty, than it already is! Waiting for spinoff or just switch to OL.
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 14:33
Going towards openSUSE for now.
…after some +20 years on RH/Fedora based.Well openSUSE is also European distribution and these days it makes a difference!
Sad though. Goodbye CentOS.
- Dec 10, 2020 @ 15:20
- Dec 11, 2020 @ 13:32
aleo tonga dia miova OL fa tsy mety ity
- Dec 14, 2020 @ 19:09
- Jan 21, 2021 @ 11:47
Actually I never liked CentOS. There are so many oddities and bugs in the scripts, configuration and logic. It resembles an amateur community linux. Don’t blame, I just express my experience with this distribution.
- Feb 22, 2021 @ 15:04
I switched to Debian LTS 10. Enough of Red Hat drama.
- Feb 25, 2021 @ 19:27
After 25 years of RH-based distro’s it is finally time for a switch. We have burned our hands too often and will therefore completely abandon the RHEL ecosystem.
- Mar 4, 2021 @ 11:23
Time to move to AlmaLinux, the next forever-free and open source RHEL-based linux.
- Mar 15, 2021 @ 8:51
I just migrated all my systems to Debian.
Bye ~ CentOS , R.I.P. - Mar 15, 2021 @ 9:07
Just migrated all my systems to Debian.
Bye CentOS, and R.I.P.
