AWS commits to update its own Linux every other year
(2021/11/23)
- Reference: 1637646792
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/11/23/amazon_linux_2022/
- Source link:
Amazon Web Services has announced that it will release an updated version of its own Linux every two years, starting with Amazon Linux 2022, which it is previewing now.
The cloud colossus launched its first Linux distro [1]in 2010 , and seven … years … later … [2]delivered a successor .
In the name of speeding things up a bit, Jeff Bezos's computer rental service has [3]promised a new release every other year, each of which will be supported for five years and receive quarterly tweaks.
[4]
AL2022 uses the Fedora project as its upstream, but AWS may add or replace specific packages from other non-Fedora upstreams. The preview of AL2022 is based on Fedora34, while the full release will move up to Fedora 35 (which was released on 2 November).
[5]
[6]
The SELinux security module is enabled and enforced by default in AL2022, but EC2 instances running the OS won't automatically implement patches or security updates. Users can instead choose to automate installation of packages, or patches, or both.
[7]AWS adds Linux app streaming alongside Windows to 'greatly lower' cost
[8]Veeam reveals cloud storage use patterns: Azure and AWS for bulk, IBM has ardent fans, Google has … not much
[9]AWS has started upgrading the software behind S3 storage cloud
For high-level packages, updates will be included in the quarterly install, but won't be imposed on users. "For example, default Python version in Amazon Linux 2022 may be 3.8, but we will add Python 3.9 (python39) as a separate namespaced package whenever it is made available," explains an [10]FAQ about AL2022.
Default packages included in a given release "will continue to be supported throughout the life of AL2022".
The [11]GitHub repo for the OS includes a [12]roadmap detailing future additions.
[13]
Migrating from previous versions of Amazon Linux won't be easy. AWS recommends "replacing your instances and migrating your application stack along with the OS configuration to a new AL2022 AMI". So that's your afternoon gone.
Amazon's pitch for the new release cycle is stability and predictability – which is just what the likes of Microsoft, Red Hat, Canonical, and SUSE have offered for years. The newly announced release cycle and AL2022 suggest AWS has decided it needs to play the OS game with the same professionalism as its rivals.
But AWS also offers "no license costs, tight integration with AWS-specific tools and capabilities, immediate access to new AWS innovations, and a single-vendor support experience". That combination is a clear pitch for customers to use AL2022 if they want a top-to-bottom AWS experience.
[14]
Other clouds can't – or don't – make that pitch. Microsoft isn't fussed which OS you use in Azure, but does recommend the Windows-Server-centric AzureStack for hybrid clouds. Google doesn't have a server OS, but asserts the fact it invented Kubernetes makes its cloud a fine place to put it to work. IBM offers a POWER cloud, and Oracle has a SPARC cloud, but both are niche concerns, and each player emphasises its x86 and Ampere offerings as the tools with which to run mainstream workloads.
AWS is also ostensibly indifferent to which OS you run in its cloud – you'll be paying it something regardless of your choice. But the fact that it's upped its game as an OS provider hints that the cloudy concern has a stronger preference for its own OS than has previously been expressed. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/introducing-amazon-linux-ami/
[2] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-linux-2-modern-stable-and-enterprise-friendly/
[3] https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/11/preview-amazon-linux-2022/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/17/aws_linux_app_streaming/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/16/veeam_cloud_storage_statistics/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/aws_s3_shardstore_upgrade/
[10] https://aws.amazon.com/linux/amazon-linux-2022/faqs/
[11] https://github.com/amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2022
[12] https://github.com/amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2022/projects/1
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The cloud colossus launched its first Linux distro [1]in 2010 , and seven … years … later … [2]delivered a successor .
In the name of speeding things up a bit, Jeff Bezos's computer rental service has [3]promised a new release every other year, each of which will be supported for five years and receive quarterly tweaks.
[4]
AL2022 uses the Fedora project as its upstream, but AWS may add or replace specific packages from other non-Fedora upstreams. The preview of AL2022 is based on Fedora34, while the full release will move up to Fedora 35 (which was released on 2 November).
[5]
[6]
The SELinux security module is enabled and enforced by default in AL2022, but EC2 instances running the OS won't automatically implement patches or security updates. Users can instead choose to automate installation of packages, or patches, or both.
[7]AWS adds Linux app streaming alongside Windows to 'greatly lower' cost
[8]Veeam reveals cloud storage use patterns: Azure and AWS for bulk, IBM has ardent fans, Google has … not much
[9]AWS has started upgrading the software behind S3 storage cloud
For high-level packages, updates will be included in the quarterly install, but won't be imposed on users. "For example, default Python version in Amazon Linux 2022 may be 3.8, but we will add Python 3.9 (python39) as a separate namespaced package whenever it is made available," explains an [10]FAQ about AL2022.
Default packages included in a given release "will continue to be supported throughout the life of AL2022".
The [11]GitHub repo for the OS includes a [12]roadmap detailing future additions.
[13]
Migrating from previous versions of Amazon Linux won't be easy. AWS recommends "replacing your instances and migrating your application stack along with the OS configuration to a new AL2022 AMI". So that's your afternoon gone.
Amazon's pitch for the new release cycle is stability and predictability – which is just what the likes of Microsoft, Red Hat, Canonical, and SUSE have offered for years. The newly announced release cycle and AL2022 suggest AWS has decided it needs to play the OS game with the same professionalism as its rivals.
But AWS also offers "no license costs, tight integration with AWS-specific tools and capabilities, immediate access to new AWS innovations, and a single-vendor support experience". That combination is a clear pitch for customers to use AL2022 if they want a top-to-bottom AWS experience.
[14]
Other clouds can't – or don't – make that pitch. Microsoft isn't fussed which OS you use in Azure, but does recommend the Windows-Server-centric AzureStack for hybrid clouds. Google doesn't have a server OS, but asserts the fact it invented Kubernetes makes its cloud a fine place to put it to work. IBM offers a POWER cloud, and Oracle has a SPARC cloud, but both are niche concerns, and each player emphasises its x86 and Ampere offerings as the tools with which to run mainstream workloads.
AWS is also ostensibly indifferent to which OS you run in its cloud – you'll be paying it something regardless of your choice. But the fact that it's upped its game as an OS provider hints that the cloudy concern has a stronger preference for its own OS than has previously been expressed. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/introducing-amazon-linux-ami/
[2] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-linux-2-modern-stable-and-enterprise-friendly/
[3] https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/11/preview-amazon-linux-2022/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/17/aws_linux_app_streaming/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/16/veeam_cloud_storage_statistics/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/aws_s3_shardstore_upgrade/
[10] https://aws.amazon.com/linux/amazon-linux-2022/faqs/
[11] https://github.com/amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2022
[12] https://github.com/amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2022/projects/1
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YZzJ5bNHoNWLMKZo9MvXwAAAAIM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Where can I get it?
> Amazon's pitch for the new release cycle is stability and predictability – which is just what the likes of Microsoft , Red Hat, Canonical, and SUSE have offered for years.
As an end user I wish I knew where I could get stability and predictability out of Windows10. They keep buggering about with it and breaking stuff. You always have to play guess what they broken now when you get an update. One of my laptops decided that after an update last week that I can no longer click on Start (or the windows key) and type the name of the program I want. Fortunately, only one seems to have done this. So I'd really love to know where I can get a bit of the stability and predictability thing you talk about.
Maybe enterprise customers get it. RHEL & Debian offer it, SUSE seems to be happy to change SW version in minor point releases with abandon, but at least they rarely seem to break it. Happy to accept that RHEL should be compared with what ever it is that MS offer the enterprise customer, but for home users there are CentOS/Alma/Rocky for those wanting the stability and predictability and of course Debian don't differentiate between different types of users.