The entire value proposition of CentOS/RHEL was you don't have to do things like compile your own kernel. You have a relentlessly tested operating system with t

The entire value proposition of CentOS/RHEL was you don't have to do things like compile your own kernel. You have a relentlessly tested operating system with the certainty of knowing it is compatible with anything you could run on it. You don't want to manage multiple versions in the first place. > Unless you are doing kernelly things then the small difference in kernel version will not be that big a deal. > It's also not very hard to compile your own kernel if you really need an exact version. It isn't about having a specific version because the RHEL kernel backports features anyway. If you are compiling the RHEL kernel you might as well use the actual distribution that has been tested with it. What would be the point otherwise?