CloudLinux promises a CentOS Replacement

CloudLinux has put out a press release stating that it will commit over $1 million per year toward the creation and maintenance of a CentOS replacement distribution. "CloudLinux is sponsoring Project Lenix, which will create a free, open-source, community-driven, 1:1 binary compatible fork of RHEL 8 (and future releases). It will provide an uninterrupted way to convert existing CentOS servers with absolutely zero downtime. Entire server fleets will be able to be converted with a single command with no reinstallation and no reboots required."

From:		Joe Eckert <jeckert-AT-eckertcomms.com>
To:		corbet-AT-lwn.net
Subject:		CloudLinux Commits More Than $1 Million a Year to CentOS Replacement
Date:		Tue, 15 Dec 2020 06:47:30 -0800
Message-ID:		<8B400197-70D5-4889-B51B-B34B81F4F137@eckertcomms.com>

CloudLinux Commits More Than $1 Million a Year to CentOS Replacement
Project Lenix to be an open-sourced and community-driven RHEL fork, provides an alternative with
RedHat’s discontinuation of RHEL repackaging

PALO ALTO, Calif., December 15, 2020 -- CloudLinux, which has been making Linux secure and stable
since 2010, announced today it will invest $1 million annually in development and establish a
community initiative around its RHEL fork intended as a safe haven for CentOS users left stranded
with Red Hat’s announcement last week. CloudLinux will give current users a trusted, battle-tested
alternative supported by a governing board from members of the community.

CloudLinux is sponsoring Project Lenix, which will create a free, open-source, community-driven,
1:1 binary compatible fork of RHEL 8 (and future releases). It will provide an uninterrupted way to
convert existing CentOS servers with absolutely zero downtime. Entire server fleets will be able to
be converted with a single command with no reinstallation and no reboots required.

The name of the open source software will be decided by the project governing body. To learn more
about Project Lenix visit: https://www.projectlenix.org.

With 10 years of experience building a hardened CentOS Linux developed for data centers and
especially hosting companies, CloudLinux combines in-depth technical knowledge of enterprise
infrastructure, kernel development, and open source with client care expertise. The CloudLinux team
has more than 450 combined years working with Linux with more than 200,000 product installations
and 4,000 customers that include Liquid Web, 1&1, and Dell.

“RedHat’s announcement has left users looking for an alternative with all that CentOS provides and
without the disruption of having to move to alternative distributions,” said Igor Seletskiy, CEO
and founder of CloudLinux Inc. “We promise to dedicate the resources required to Project Lenix that
will ensure impartiality and a not-for-profit community initiative. CloudLinux already has the
assets, infrastructure and experience to carry out the mission, and we promise to be open about the
process of developing Project Lenix.”

The first software release will be delivered in 1Q 2021, according to the Cloud Linux blog.

Based on the research conducted on the CloudLinux website with 2,000 Linux enthusiasts, most of the
CentOS users (62%) are going to wait for another RHEL fork to be released instead of migrating to
Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE, or paid operating systems.

About CloudLinux
CloudLinux is on a mission to continually increase security, stability and availability of Linux
servers and devices.

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, CloudLinux Inc. develops a hardened Linux distribution,
Linux kernel live security patching, extended support options for Linux, and web server security
software used by enterprises, service providers, governments and universities all over the world.

CloudLinux has more than 4,000 customers and partners, more than 500,000 product installations
globally, and dedicated analysts and developers that together have more than 450 years' worth of
Linux experience along with a passion for delivering the best customer care.

For more information, visit CloudLinux.com.

# # #

Contact:
Glenn Rossman for CloudLinux
Eckert Communications
Glenn@eckertcomms.com
914-623-8354

CloudLinux promises a CentOS Replacement

Posted Dec 16, 2020 13:02 UTC (Wed) by clump (subscriber, #27801) [Link] (2 responses)

I'm glad other organizations are stepping in. Linux shouldn't be seen as a commodity where magic elves thanklessly do all of the work. This press release is a bit interesting, however. "Years" metrics are awkward: " The CloudLinux team has more than 450 combined years working with Linux". It is also interesting that the CEO could misspell the name of the company where the software originates.

CloudLinux promises a CentOS Replacement

Posted Dec 16, 2020 16:58 UTC (Wed) by hailfinger (guest, #76962) [Link] (1 responses)

The wording in the announcement is pretty vague. "more than 450 combined years working with Linux" does not imply that there are 450 years of Linux distribution development experience, and combined with the claim "10 years of experience building a hardened CentOS Linux" the numbers are just funny. There might be just 88 people who have used a word processor on Linux for 5 years each, and one person who has worked on building a hardened CentOS for ten years. I really hope that this wording was caused by an unfortunate accident in a PR agency instead of an actual dearth of development experience at CloudLinux.

More funny numbers in the announcement: "more than 200,000 product installations" and "more than 500,000 product installations"? Which number is correct?
(As an aside, do reinstallations count, and is this a number of concurrently running systems?)

It also strikes me as odd that there is no mention of prior investments by CloudLinux towards such a free-as-in-beer RHEL downstream. In the past, Red Hat probably would not have said no to more than $1 million per year as a gesture of appreciation for providing the old-style CentOS.

I don't doubt that quite a few people would love an old-style CentOS replacement, but will any new contender in that space ever be more than a byproduct of another repackager?

CloudLinux promises a CentOS Replacement

Posted Dec 17, 2020 17:33 UTC (Thu) by clump (subscriber, #27801) [Link]

I don't doubt that quite a few people would love an old-style CentOS replacement, but will any new contender in that space ever be more than a byproduct of another repackager?

Red Hat has known for quite a while that they need to diversify beyond RHEL. Running a Mac at Red Hat is just fine, though they try to minimize bad press when they're caught in public. I digress.

At best, making it harder to run a RHEL-like distribution free-of-charge could spur others to innovate. At worst, it looks like shenanigans. It also make you wonder why Red Hat doesn't just embrace a free RHEL while offering paid support. Of course a subscription to Red Hat's software does more than support, but they could offer RHEL freely, with updates, without support. No click-throughs like the "Developer Subscription".

Will bigger places use RHEL without paying? Sure. Just like they do now and have been doing so since the beginning.

CloudLinux promises a CentOS Replacement

Posted Dec 16, 2020 13:41 UTC (Wed) by gbailey (subscriber, #58) [Link]

One of the things that potentially differentiates this rebuild effort from others I've read about is the statement that "We plan to make all the build and test software free, open-sourced, easy to set up, so if we ever go in the wrong direction - the community can just pick up where we left off." I've dabbled with rebuilding sets of source RPMs (for a minimal distribution) and it's definitely non-trivial.

CloudLinux promises a CentOS Replacement

Posted Dec 17, 2020 17:36 UTC (Thu) by bobsol (subscriber, #54641) [Link]

The best article I have read, on CentOS replacements, suggests Springdale Linux. Already up to speed and live.