2023-07-26 10:20:16
Restrictions on the redistribution of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) source code have led some clones, such as AlmaLinux, to rethink their strategy. AlmaLinux has announced that it will drop its goal of providing 1-to-1 binary compatibility with RHEL and will instead focus on Application Binary Interface (ABI) support.
ABI support means that AlmaLinux will work to ensure that applications built for RHEL or its clones can run without issue on your distribution. This change will allow them to stop worrying about maintaining an exact copy of the RHEL source code.
The decision was made by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation board of directors after serious discussion. His new goal is to produce a long-term, enterprise-grade Linux distribution, aligned and compatible with the RHEL ABI, to meet the needs of his community and ensure that software that works on RHEL also works on AlmaLinux.
According to those responsible for the derivative, this change will not significantly affect the use of the system and applications compatible with RHEL will continue to work on AlmaLinux. They also ensure that security updates will be delivered as usual and in a timely manner. However, the door is open to accepting fixes outside of Red Hat’s release cycle.
The new approach will require modifications to the AlmaLinux build and development processes, and the patches will include comments with links indicating where each applied patch came from. This seeks to promote transparency in its development.
AlmaLinux reiterates its commitment to contribute to Fedora and CentOS Stream to meet its objectives and defend its interests in the Linux world. However, the community will be watching to see how they fare after giving up their original goal and if other RHEL clones will follow a similar path.
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