AlmaLinux

AlmaLinux OS is a free, open-source Linux distribution that is binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It is produced and maintained by the AlmaLinux Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed by members of the open-source and hosting communities. The project emerged after Red Hat announced a shift of CentOS toward CentOS Stream, with the goal of providing a community-driven, 1:1 binary-compatible alternative to RHEL for production servers.

AlmaLinux provides builds rebuilt from RHEL sources to preserve binary compatibility. It aims to be a drop-in replacement for RHEL in enterprise environments, offering the same package set, system tooling, and long-term support. Each major AlmaLinux release aligns with a corresponding RHEL minor version and carries a long lifecycle, typically around a decade, with security updates and bug fixes.

Governance and community involvement are central to the project. The AlmaLinux Foundation coordinates development with input from corporate and individual contributors, maintaining official builds, security advisories, and release notes through transparent processes.

Technology and ecosystem support include the standard Red Hat-compatible tooling and repositories. AlmaLinux uses the DNF package manager and RPM-based workflows, and runs on architectures such as x86_64 and aarch64. It offers ISO installer images, cloud images for major providers, and container images to support deployments in virtualized, cloud, and bare-metal environments.

Use cases for AlmaLinux include enterprise servers, web hosting, virtualization, and container hosting—providing a stable, vendor-neutral platform with long-term support and community governance.