5 ms·

Rocky Linux 8.8 Available Now

36 points by mikece 3y ago

kuon 3y ago
This is interesting. I use archlinux as my daily linux driver, but for server it is not ideal as it is a bit fragile to upgrade (for example, if you have postgresql installed, an update can put a new version and you have to migrate your db and if you keep the old version, some .so might get updated and it won't start). This could be a solution for servers. I used to use FreeBSD for servers instead of linux, but some softwares I have to deploy are not compatible with BSD which saddens me.
- web3-is-a-scam 3y ago
  Run postgres in a container with the proper tag and you'll be fine. I run my homelab on OpenSuse MicroOS which is a rolling release with immutable filesystem and that's what I do for software I need to stay at specific versions.
- sgtnoodle 3y ago
  I've been running Arch on all my personal computers for about 8 years now, including a low power server in my garage. It's true that there's the occasional issue to work out after updating, but overall I'd say I've come out ahead simply from never having the need or urge to wipe my filesystem and start fresh. I currently have upgrade anxiety about my work laptop that's still running Ubuntu 20.04. My most personally nefarious Arch update glitch happened recently. Flatpak support quietly pulled in pipewire, but I already had pulseaudio installed. Apparently they're not mutually exclusive even though they're redundant and incompatible unless you explicitly configure them properly. So, I had a month or two where my audio "worked" but dynamic sink switching was really unreliable. Once I figured it out, I just uninstalled pulseaudio and configured pipewire properly in its place. The only other one I can remember, in the past 8 years, was a new major PHP version breaking my web page's CMS. That was mostly my CMS's fault for being both obscure and horribly out of date.
  - kuon 3y ago
    Yeah, pulse/jack/pipewire was a bit of a mess. But since 2023, pipewire can replace both and works very well. At least with my hardware. I actually DO use arch on my personal servers and never had any problem, I was also able to always fix the OS. But I have a new project starting where I will host more sensible stuff and I am wondering what I'll use. I might just use arch with N+1 machines and use the +1 to test upgrades.
- bombcar 3y ago
  For servers I've been using Ubuntu LTS ever since CentOS died, but this might bring me back.
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    Look at AlmaLinux also. I'm not sure of any technical reason why you'd chose one over the other, but AlmaLinux is a public non-profit with a board, Rocky ownership is a private org. https://almalinux.org/ https://almalinux.org/ I moved everything to UbuntuLTS also, and I'm not moving again. But if I had waited, and I sort of wish I had, I'd probably be moving to Alma.
sgtnoodle 3y ago
Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rocky Linux is a non-commercial drop-in replacement for Red Hat. So I guess it's for folk that want to migrate from Red Hat, or duplicate its functionality, but don't want or need paid support?
- ktm5j 3y ago
  While that's super valid, they are catering to existing CentOS users who are being forced to find an alternative since CentOS was discontinued. I'm not surprised that they aren't focused on trying to bring in new users, they've got a lot of work to do and the userbase already exists.
- martinpw 3y ago
  Well you could argue the name needs some explanation. The first time I heard it my mind immediately jumped to the dictionary definition of the word rocky - "difficult and full of obstacles or problems."
  - sgtnoodle 3y ago
    It seems like a fine name. I personally didn't link it to that connotation, and instead initially thought of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and a distant relative of a past generation. For all I know the honored co-founder was a curmudgeon, so maybe it's an especially clever pun? If I were tasked with improving the about page, I would probably use the about page to explain the purpose and merits of the operating system. I would move the explanation of the name to the first question in the FAQ, or to a separate "Rocky's Legacy" page. Mainly, it would depend on whether the guy was known to be modest or proud. Then that section could be a true tribute without any risk of compromising the readability of the site.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
ashvardanian 3y ago
Looking at the release notes, it's still the Linux kernel 4.18, and for the upcoming 9.1 it is only 5.14. Are there any RHOS-like distros with recent kernels like 5.19 and 6+?
- realgmk 3y ago
  ELRepo has upstream kernels for all Enterprise Linux compatibles. Also, the Rocky Linux SIG/Kernel group may even provide an alternative ISO(s) with those upstream kernels at periodic intervals. If you (or anyone else) is interested in helping with that, jump into https://chat.rockylinux.org https://chat.rockylinux.org and join that special interest group. SHAMELESS PLUG: CIQ (my company) also has an upstream optimized kernel that we support provided via Mountain (our operating system delivery platform).
- prmoustache 3y ago
  If you want something much newer in the rpm/rh based world, you run Fedora.
- zokier 3y ago
  elrepo has lts and mainline kernel packages http://elrepo.org/tiki/HomePage#elrepo-kernel http://elrepo.org/tiki/HomePage#elrepo-kernel
- phendrenad2 3y ago
  I don't think a newer kernel is needed in a server distro such as this.
- ch_123 3y ago
  You'll need to wait for RHEL 10 :) It's worth noting that Red Hat backports newer hardware support and some functionality to its new kernels, so in practice it is not as out of date as the version may imply.
gigatexal 3y ago
Which is the defacto one to use? alma Linux or Rocky?
- realgmk 3y ago
  At the moment, there is no "defacto", as both provide significant value. As others have said, Alma has been awesome and blazingly fast on releases, both Rocky and Alma are very fast on security/errata updates, and Rocky has been excellent on testing/QA (as our identification of a pretty major PPC bug demonstrates). Rocky has always been 100% open with all development and community involvement with every part of the process and always reproducible by others. While this is does add a bit of latency in the build and release process, we believe always having a diverse community involved is well worth the tradeoff. Where we can do better? ... Messaging! I've become a personal target since starting Rocky, so I tend to not engage directly anymore. Luckily, we do have a new community team lead, and she seriously ROCKS! It is necessary for the community to always have alternatives. This is what will ensure that an open source Enterprise Linux alternative will exist for everyone. It is amazing to be part of this and we would love to have you and others join us and check it out for yourself: https://chat.rockylinux.org https://chat.rockylinux.org.
- jonathanspw 3y ago
  CERN went with AlmaLinux along with many other big names.
  - axus 3y ago
    I remember when CERN stopped supporting Scientific Linux, probably because CentOS was doing such a good job.
- Avshalom 3y ago
  Currently I think Alma, all the companies (and Fermilab (which used to maintain another RHEL clone)) seem to have gone with Alma. That said, in theory, it's irrelevant: bug-for-bug compatibility and all that. That That said if I was going to install one on a laptop I'd choose Rocky because it feels vaguely less commercial and I appreciate that.

36 points by mikece 3y ago

kuon 3y ago

This is interesting. I use archlinux as my daily linux driver, but for server it is not ideal as it is a bit fragile to upgrade (for example, if you have postgresql installed, an update can put a new version and you have to migrate your db and if you keep the old version, some .so might get updated and it won't start). This could be a solution for servers. I used to use FreeBSD for servers instead of linux, but some softwares I have to deploy are not compatible with BSD which saddens me.

web3-is-a-scam 3y ago
Run postgres in a container with the proper tag and you'll be fine. I run my homelab on OpenSuse MicroOS which is a rolling release with immutable filesystem and that's what I do for software I need to stay at specific versions.
sgtnoodle 3y ago
I've been running Arch on all my personal computers for about 8 years now, including a low power server in my garage. It's true that there's the occasional issue to work out after updating, but overall I'd say I've come out ahead simply from never having the need or urge to wipe my filesystem and start fresh. I currently have upgrade anxiety about my work laptop that's still running Ubuntu 20.04. My most personally nefarious Arch update glitch happened recently. Flatpak support quietly pulled in pipewire, but I already had pulseaudio installed. Apparently they're not mutually exclusive even though they're redundant and incompatible unless you explicitly configure them properly. So, I had a month or two where my audio "worked" but dynamic sink switching was really unreliable. Once I figured it out, I just uninstalled pulseaudio and configured pipewire properly in its place. The only other one I can remember, in the past 8 years, was a new major PHP version breaking my web page's CMS. That was mostly my CMS's fault for being both obscure and horribly out of date.
- kuon 3y ago
  Yeah, pulse/jack/pipewire was a bit of a mess. But since 2023, pipewire can replace both and works very well. At least with my hardware. I actually DO use arch on my personal servers and never had any problem, I was also able to always fix the OS. But I have a new project starting where I will host more sensible stuff and I am wondering what I'll use. I might just use arch with N+1 machines and use the +1 to test upgrades.
bombcar 3y ago
For servers I've been using Ubuntu LTS ever since CentOS died, but this might bring me back.
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  Look at AlmaLinux also. I'm not sure of any technical reason why you'd chose one over the other, but AlmaLinux is a public non-profit with a board, Rocky ownership is a private org. https://almalinux.org/ https://almalinux.org/ I moved everything to UbuntuLTS also, and I'm not moving again. But if I had waited, and I sort of wish I had, I'd probably be moving to Alma.

sgtnoodle 3y ago

Not being familiar with CentOS or "Enterprise Linux", I wish their website explained a bit more about what Rocky Linux is in terms of features or functionality. The about page mainly just talks about the legacy of the name. The FAQ's first question isn't, "What is Rocky Linux", or "Who is Rocky Linux for?" Piecing it together based on a single sentence I stumbled on then did some Google searching, it sounds like Rocky Linux is a non-commercial drop-in replacement for Red Hat. So I guess it's for folk that want to migrate from Red Hat, or duplicate its functionality, but don't want or need paid support?

ktm5j 3y ago
While that's super valid, they are catering to existing CentOS users who are being forced to find an alternative since CentOS was discontinued. I'm not surprised that they aren't focused on trying to bring in new users, they've got a lot of work to do and the userbase already exists.
martinpw 3y ago
Well you could argue the name needs some explanation. The first time I heard it my mind immediately jumped to the dictionary definition of the word rocky - "difficult and full of obstacles or problems."
- sgtnoodle 3y ago
  It seems like a fine name. I personally didn't link it to that connotation, and instead initially thought of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and a distant relative of a past generation. For all I know the honored co-founder was a curmudgeon, so maybe it's an especially clever pun? If I were tasked with improving the about page, I would probably use the about page to explain the purpose and merits of the operating system. I would move the explanation of the name to the first question in the FAQ, or to a separate "Rocky's Legacy" page. Mainly, it would depend on whether the guy was known to be modest or proud. Then that section could be a true tribute without any risk of compromising the readability of the site.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

ashvardanian 3y ago

Looking at the release notes, it's still the Linux kernel 4.18, and for the upcoming 9.1 it is only 5.14. Are there any RHOS-like distros with recent kernels like 5.19 and 6+?

realgmk 3y ago
ELRepo has upstream kernels for all Enterprise Linux compatibles. Also, the Rocky Linux SIG/Kernel group may even provide an alternative ISO(s) with those upstream kernels at periodic intervals. If you (or anyone else) is interested in helping with that, jump into https://chat.rockylinux.org https://chat.rockylinux.org and join that special interest group. SHAMELESS PLUG: CIQ (my company) also has an upstream optimized kernel that we support provided via Mountain (our operating system delivery platform).
prmoustache 3y ago
If you want something much newer in the rpm/rh based world, you run Fedora.
zokier 3y ago
elrepo has lts and mainline kernel packages http://elrepo.org/tiki/HomePage#elrepo-kernel http://elrepo.org/tiki/HomePage#elrepo-kernel
phendrenad2 3y ago
I don't think a newer kernel is needed in a server distro such as this.
ch_123 3y ago
You'll need to wait for RHEL 10 :) It's worth noting that Red Hat backports newer hardware support and some functionality to its new kernels, so in practice it is not as out of date as the version may imply.

gigatexal 3y ago

Which is the defacto one to use? alma Linux or Rocky?

realgmk 3y ago
At the moment, there is no "defacto", as both provide significant value. As others have said, Alma has been awesome and blazingly fast on releases, both Rocky and Alma are very fast on security/errata updates, and Rocky has been excellent on testing/QA (as our identification of a pretty major PPC bug demonstrates). Rocky has always been 100% open with all development and community involvement with every part of the process and always reproducible by others. While this is does add a bit of latency in the build and release process, we believe always having a diverse community involved is well worth the tradeoff. Where we can do better? ... Messaging! I've become a personal target since starting Rocky, so I tend to not engage directly anymore. Luckily, we do have a new community team lead, and she seriously ROCKS! It is necessary for the community to always have alternatives. This is what will ensure that an open source Enterprise Linux alternative will exist for everyone. It is amazing to be part of this and we would love to have you and others join us and check it out for yourself: https://chat.rockylinux.org https://chat.rockylinux.org.
jonathanspw 3y ago
CERN went with AlmaLinux along with many other big names.
- axus 3y ago
  I remember when CERN stopped supporting Scientific Linux, probably because CentOS was doing such a good job.
Avshalom 3y ago
Currently I think Alma, all the companies (and Fermilab (which used to maintain another RHEL clone)) seem to have gone with Alma. That said, in theory, it's irrelevant: bug-for-bug compatibility and all that. That That said if I was going to install one on a laptop I'd choose Rocky because it feels vaguely less commercial and I appreciate that.