In recent times, we have witnessed the growing popularity of CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) forks. These derivative distributions have emerged as solid and reliable alternatives for those seeking continuity in the RHEL and CentOS ecosystem following changes in support policies. After the initial surprise, they have become attractive options for companies and users who value stability, security and long-term support.
In recent weeks, three of the main alternatives in this field (Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux and EuroLinux) have been updated to their 9.2 versions, following in the wake of RHEL itself. But in addition to incorporating the bulk of the novelties that we find in the distribution from which they derive, each one presents its own peculiarities. We see them in this article.
Rocky Linux 9.2: with support for Intel ARC
Rocky Linux 9.2 inherits many features from its parent distribution, but it also introduces some notable improvements. It is important to mention that Rocky Linux 9.2 is available for x86_64, ARM64 (aarch64) and IBM Z (s390x) architectures. However, the PowerPC build (ppc64le) has been withheld due to an architecture-specific issue with Python 3.9, making installation difficult and affecting existing configurations.
Notable changes in Rocky Linux 9.2 include the provision of CentOS Stream 9 and RHEL 9.2-based content in centos-release-nfv, the availability of Microsoft Azure images in shared galleries for easier access, and the removal of “/ etc/lvm/devices/system.devices” on LVM cloud images to fix issues with PV/VG/LV due to device-specific coding.
Other notable features of Rocky Linux 9.2 include the availability of the 64kb page size on ARM64 builds via the “kernel-64k” package, the inclusion of the “nfsrahead” tool to configure read-ahead on NFS mounts, support for Intel Arc graphics cardsa fix in Flatpak for font-related issues, restored Wireguard functionality with SELinux enabled, and an alternate live image with the Cinnamon desktop environment.
As a clone of RHEL 9.2, many of the new features and changes can be found in the corresponding Red Hat release. Check here more details of this release.
AlmaLinux 9.2: the most complete and fastest clone
AlmaLinux has announced the release of its version 9.2, a well-known RHEL clone that uses the Red Hat source code but removes all references to the original brand to avoid legal problems. Being a clone of RHEL 9.2, there are no revolutionary changes compared to the original system, but that is precisely one of the objectives of this project that emerged after the discontinuation of CentOS.
AlmaLinux 9.2 is available for x86_64, ARM64 (aarch64), IBM PowerPC (ppc64le), and s390x (IBM Z). Many components and tools have been updated, including Python 3.11, nginx 1.22, PostgreSQL 15, Git 2.39.1, Git LFS 3.2.0, GCC 11.3.1, glibc 2.34, binutils 2.35.2, GDB 10.2, Valgrind 3.19, SystemTap 4.8 , Dyninst 12.1.0, elfutils 0.188, PCP 6.0.1 and Grafana 9.0.9. Additionally, toolsets such as GCC 12, LLVM 15.0.7, Rust 1.66, and Go 1.19.6 are included. The kernel used is Linux 5.14.
It is important to note that updating components and tools does not imply adoption of the latest versions of the original projects. AlmaLinux, like RHEL and the stable branch of Debian, is focused on providing a stable environment for production, so maintain stability it is a priority. Being a RHEL clone, AlmaLinux 9.2 inherits the ability to extend system roles via Ansible, making administrative tasks easier. In addition, it highlights support for podman, a robust, open source alternative to the Docker container engine. Podman has been enhanced to track container creation events and generate “health checks” on custom containers. Check here more details of this release.
EuroLinux 9.2: another derivative of RHEL that takes positions
Like the previous ones, EuroLinux 9.2 builds on RHEL 9.2 and adds its own tweaks. It was released around the same time as AlmaLinux, and like AlmaLinux, it focuses on compatibility with Red Hat repositories and collects all software updates. The EuroLinux 9.2 repositories include updated developer tools such as Python 3.11, Nginx 1.22, PostgreSQL 15, Rust v1.66, Go v1.19, and LLVM v15, among others.
An interesting development is that EuroLinux is now offered in a model called Open Core, both in the form of a paid subscription service and free of charge, both with the same level of support in terms of package updates. Paid plan subscribers have access to professional technical support, add-on packages, and other benefits. In essence, it works similarly to other RHEL derivatives and to RHEL itself.
EuroLinux prides itself on being the only RHEL derivative that officially provides complete compilation trees and buildroots. This allows users to build the packages themselves, following the same instructions and dependencies used for the distribution, helping to optimize the performance and functionality of applications on the system.
The announcement highlights that yes, that EuroLinux has not yet released its specific version for desktop, EuroLinux Desktop 9.2. The distribution offers different support periods for its ongoing releases, extending until June 2032 for EuroLinux 9.2. Check here more details of this release.
