CentOS Become Official Part of Red Hat Linux Family

Linux leader Red Hat is now partnering with the CentOS community Linux project. CentOS is a clone of Red Hat’s crown jewel, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) platform, and in some circles has been seen as a rival, providing a free alternative to Red Hat’s subscription pricing for RHEL.

RHEL is an open-source platform, and as such the core code components are freely available. CentOS has been regarded by some to simply be a direct copy of RHEL, with the Red Hat copyrights and trademarks removed. That’s a perception that Red Hat does not agree with.

“It’s a misconception that CentOS is a stripped Red Hat Enterprise Linux clone,” Red Hat Chief Technology Officer Brian Stevens told eWEEK. “Beyond trademarks and support, there are significant differences.”

Stevens said there are different build environments, quality assurance processes and, in some editions, kernels and other open-source components. Another key difference between RHEL and CentOS are the hardware, software and government certifications that Red Hat provides, he added.

Read the full story at eWEEK:
Red Hat Embraces Rival CentOS

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.