CERN, Fermilab particle boffins bet on AlmaLinux for big science
(2022/12/09)
- Reference: 1670542811
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/12/08/cern_fermilab_almalinux/
- Source link:
AlmaLinux, a somewhat popular free Linux distribution derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), received a vote of confidence on Thursday from the European and American science communities.
CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, based in Switzerland, and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), based in the US State of Illinois, said they will offer AlmaLinux as the standard Linux distribution for experiments at their facilities, based on discussions with researchers.
"AlmaLinux has recently been gaining traction among the community due to its long life cycle for each major version, extended architecture support, rapid release cycle, upstream community contributions, and support for security advisory metadata," the two research organizations said in [1]a joint statement . "In testing, it has demonstrated to be perfectly compatible with the other rebuilds and Red Hat Enterprise Linux."
[2]
CERN and Fermilab plan to continue using RHEL for a limited number of services and applications. CERN expects to continue supporting CERN CentOS 7 until June 2024, as Fermilab intends to do for Scientific Linux 7 – another distribution that's no longer active.
[3]
[4]
On December 8, 2020, IBM's Red Hat announced [5]the discontinuation of CentOS , a free version of RHEL – or rather the CentOS as we knew it. Gregory Kurtzer, the founder of the CentOS project, subsequently launched [6]RockyLinux , an RHEL clone.
It has demonstrated to be perfectly compatible with the other rebuilds and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Around the same time, CloudLinux, which offers its own commercial CloudLinux OS distribution, [7]announced it would fork RHEL in a distribution initially called [8]Project Lenix that's now known as AlmaLinux.
The two distributions have since been politely competing with one another for [9]market and mind share. AlamaLinux has been working at [10]a faster release rate ; Rocky Linux appears to have more users. Each has its fans for … reasons.
[11]A match made in heaven: systemd comes to Windows Subsystem for Linux
[12]Sick of Windows but can't afford a Mac? Consult our cynic's guide to desktop Linux
[13]Rocky Linux sponsor CIQ secures $26m funding for CentOS successor
[14]AlmaLinux comes to Windows Subsystem for Linux
Rocky Linux earlier this year secured [15]$26 million in funding from Two Bear Capital. AlmaLinux has [16]support from AMD and others , not to mention CloudLinux.
AlmaLinux (like Rocky Linux) is designed to be binary-compatible with RHEL – it will run applications certified for RHEL, without the cost of using RHEL. Version 8.3 debuted as a beta release in February, 2021, and saw its first stable release on March 30, 2021. That was when the AlmaLinux OS Foundation was formed as a 501(c) organization.
Last month, Rocky Linux got a foundation of its own, the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF). However, RESF is not a non-profit 501(c) – it's a Delaware Public Benefits Corporation, which has shareholders and can seek a profit.
[17]
If you like RHEL but are less keen on the fees, you'll probably be fine with either Alma or Rocky. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.fnal.gov/2022/12/fermilab-cern-recommendation-for-linux-distribution/
[2] 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=2Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] 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=44Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] 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=33Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/centos_red_hat/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/rocky_linux/
[7] https://blog.cloudlinux.com/announcing-open-sourced-community-driven-rhel-fork-by-cloudlinux
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/15/centos_alternatives/
[9] https://rocky-stats.tiuxo.com/
[10] https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/rhel-9-releasing-very-soon-rocky-9-beta/5932/2
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/24/systemd_windows_linux_microsoft/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/31/the_cynics_guide_to_linux/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/11/rocky_linux_ciq/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/04/almalinux_wsl/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/11/rocky_linux_ciq/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/18/almalinux_os_foundation_amd/
[17] 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=44Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, based in Switzerland, and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), based in the US State of Illinois, said they will offer AlmaLinux as the standard Linux distribution for experiments at their facilities, based on discussions with researchers.
"AlmaLinux has recently been gaining traction among the community due to its long life cycle for each major version, extended architecture support, rapid release cycle, upstream community contributions, and support for security advisory metadata," the two research organizations said in [1]a joint statement . "In testing, it has demonstrated to be perfectly compatible with the other rebuilds and Red Hat Enterprise Linux."
[2]
CERN and Fermilab plan to continue using RHEL for a limited number of services and applications. CERN expects to continue supporting CERN CentOS 7 until June 2024, as Fermilab intends to do for Scientific Linux 7 – another distribution that's no longer active.
[3]
[4]
On December 8, 2020, IBM's Red Hat announced [5]the discontinuation of CentOS , a free version of RHEL – or rather the CentOS as we knew it. Gregory Kurtzer, the founder of the CentOS project, subsequently launched [6]RockyLinux , an RHEL clone.
It has demonstrated to be perfectly compatible with the other rebuilds and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Around the same time, CloudLinux, which offers its own commercial CloudLinux OS distribution, [7]announced it would fork RHEL in a distribution initially called [8]Project Lenix that's now known as AlmaLinux.
The two distributions have since been politely competing with one another for [9]market and mind share. AlamaLinux has been working at [10]a faster release rate ; Rocky Linux appears to have more users. Each has its fans for … reasons.
[11]A match made in heaven: systemd comes to Windows Subsystem for Linux
[12]Sick of Windows but can't afford a Mac? Consult our cynic's guide to desktop Linux
[13]Rocky Linux sponsor CIQ secures $26m funding for CentOS successor
[14]AlmaLinux comes to Windows Subsystem for Linux
Rocky Linux earlier this year secured [15]$26 million in funding from Two Bear Capital. AlmaLinux has [16]support from AMD and others , not to mention CloudLinux.
AlmaLinux (like Rocky Linux) is designed to be binary-compatible with RHEL – it will run applications certified for RHEL, without the cost of using RHEL. Version 8.3 debuted as a beta release in February, 2021, and saw its first stable release on March 30, 2021. That was when the AlmaLinux OS Foundation was formed as a 501(c) organization.
Last month, Rocky Linux got a foundation of its own, the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF). However, RESF is not a non-profit 501(c) – it's a Delaware Public Benefits Corporation, which has shareholders and can seek a profit.
[17]
If you like RHEL but are less keen on the fees, you'll probably be fine with either Alma or Rocky. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.fnal.gov/2022/12/fermilab-cern-recommendation-for-linux-distribution/
[2] 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=2Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] 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=44Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] 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=33Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/centos_red_hat/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/rocky_linux/
[7] https://blog.cloudlinux.com/announcing-open-sourced-community-driven-rhel-fork-by-cloudlinux
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/15/centos_alternatives/
[9] https://rocky-stats.tiuxo.com/
[10] https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/rhel-9-releasing-very-soon-rocky-9-beta/5932/2
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/24/systemd_windows_linux_microsoft/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/31/the_cynics_guide_to_linux/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/11/rocky_linux_ciq/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/04/almalinux_wsl/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/11/rocky_linux_ciq/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/18/almalinux_os_foundation_amd/
[17] 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=44Y5LA7@MsP90J@qHz4xNyuQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Been using it for almost a year.
I've been using AlmaLinux as a replacement for CentOS for automated software testing for almost a year now, and I've had no problems with it that I can recall. I can recommend it for that purpose without hesitation.
I was motivated to use it by CentOS dropping support of their then latest release. I had to either pick something new or drop Red Hat as a supported distro for my software project. AlmaLinux was a straight drop in replacement for CentOS.
I want to congratulate Lord Raglan and Marshal Saint-Arnaud for their success at Alma, hard fought it no doubt was. With that out of the way Sebastopol should be within their grasp before long. Hurrah!