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A CentOS major release takes a lot of planning and changes in tooling as it is based on a much newer version of Fedora than previous versions. This means that e

A CentOS major release takes a lot of planning and changes in tooling as it is based on a much newer version of Fedora than previous versions. This means that everything from the installer, packages, packaging, and build systems need major overhauls to work with the newer OS. This means that there is always a ramp up period depending on the changes needed to make a rebuild work. The differences between EL-8 and EL-7 are no exception as the kernel has changed drastically, the repository format has added 'modules' and RPMS have grown many features that EL7 and before do not have. About the only item which has not drastically changed between EL7 and EL8 is the init system which is still systemd. [This is a first as EL5 had SysV, EL6 had Upstart, and EL7 had Systemd]. https://wiki.centos.org/About/Building_8 https://wiki.centos.org/About/Building_8

robbyt 7y ago
This doesn't really answer the question...
- washadjeffmad 7y ago
  It did well enough? OP didn't ask why this release in particular seemed to lag behind more than other releases. The answer to that was provided generally, but it's because CentOS had to redo their entire build system for 8.
  - Avshalom 7y ago
    The other half of the question is why centos has to wait until after RHEL8 is released to start the work instead of being given a month or two advanced access given their (quasi?) official status these days
    - nineteen999 7y ago
      I'm just speculating, but given that CentOS is (historically) pretty much identical for the most part to RHEL without the high licensing cost, there is little incentive for Redhat to ensure it is always available in lockstep with RHEL. They make a lot of money from RHEL licenses so why give a clone of it away on day one of a major release.
      - jsjohnst 7y ago
        The folks who use CentOS over RHEL wouldn’t likely use RHEL even if CentOS lagged much longer imho. You don’t buy RHEL generally because you want it faster, you buy it because you want the support.
        nineteen999 7y ago
        Exactly. We use Redhat because our contract with our customer explicitly states that there has to be support from the OS vendor in place.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]

robbyt 7y ago

This doesn't really answer the question...

washadjeffmad 7y ago
It did well enough? OP didn't ask why this release in particular seemed to lag behind more than other releases. The answer to that was provided generally, but it's because CentOS had to redo their entire build system for 8.
- Avshalom 7y ago
  The other half of the question is why centos has to wait until after RHEL8 is released to start the work instead of being given a month or two advanced access given their (quasi?) official status these days
  - nineteen999 7y ago
    I'm just speculating, but given that CentOS is (historically) pretty much identical for the most part to RHEL without the high licensing cost, there is little incentive for Redhat to ensure it is always available in lockstep with RHEL. They make a lot of money from RHEL licenses so why give a clone of it away on day one of a major release.
    - jsjohnst 7y ago
      The folks who use CentOS over RHEL wouldn’t likely use RHEL even if CentOS lagged much longer imho. You don’t buy RHEL generally because you want it faster, you buy it because you want the support.
      - nineteen999 7y ago
        Exactly. We use Redhat because our contract with our customer explicitly states that there has to be support from the OS vendor in place.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]