AlmaLinux vs. Rocky Linux: How Both Keep the Enterprise Strong
I wrote this for TuxCare, and it’s a personal one: CentOS was my own path into life as a Linux Systems Administrator, at home and at the office. When it reached end of life, two communities stepped up to carry the legacy forward, so I compared AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux and where TuxCare fits with both.
Originally published on TuxCare Read the full article →A few things I wanted people to walk away with:
- They took two different paths to the same goal. AlmaLinux maintains ABI compatibility under an independent non-profit foundation, while Rocky Linux pursues a strict 1:1 RHEL rebuild governed by the founder-led RESF.
- The shared strengths matter most. Both are free, open source, RHEL-compatible, and built for long-term production, so you no longer have to choose between open-source ideals and enterprise reliability.
- TES covers both under one contract. That means 24x7 response, up to 16-year lifecycle support, hardening automation, and a FIPS wrapper that brings Rocky closer to commercial-grade compliance.
Whichever you prefer, the point is that choice is the cornerstone of open source, and it’s fully supported.