[BlueOnyx:24606] Re: End of life of Centos 8?

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Brian,

> FWIW, I suspect there will be a lot of movement over the coming 
> months with relation to this, as an example ROCKY LINUX which 
> someone you may have heard of... Gregory Kurtzer has announced
> he would create (he was one of the co-founders of CentOS).

Yes, I've been following the Slack channels of Rocky Linux from day one
and also offered to chip in some help. But after just a few hours or so
the various Slack channels were already bustling with hundreds of people
doing different things and kicking cans down the curbs in parallel that
it was just amazing to watch. There are some (recent) former CentOS and
Fedora people involved right off the bat and they know their tools and
trade inside out.

> So I would not get too bogged down on this topic for now, let the 
> dust settle and we will probably see a better picture.

Indeed. I'm not worried either. Cloud Linux also announced that they're
starting a 1:1 community driven port of RHEL8 as CentOS 8 replacement
and will offer it free of charge. Like their commercial Cloud Linux it
will have (optional) support and some other (optional) add-ons for those
that want or need this and are willing to pay for those gimmicks. They
say they might have something to show in the first quarter of 2021.

The Rocky Linux guys are also targeting Q1 2021 or shortly thereafter.

And there is (if hell freezes over) the option to pick Oracle Linux.

That's three alternatives so far and they are perhaps not the only ones
we'll see.

With that in mind I'd say we can be optimistic and can choose and pick
whatever suits us best. When the dust has settled the BlueOnyx 5210R YUM
repository will receive a small update that switches 5210R to the OS
repository that we settle on and I'll also start publishing ISO's that
directly install 5210R with the new OS of choice.

Even then you're not married to it. If we pick Cloud Linux and you
prefer Rocky Linux instead (or vice versa) all you need to do is to
change one RPM that contains the OS related repository bindings.

Sure, some bystanders (not here, but elsewhere) have mentioned their
fears that RedHat might eventually pull the rug entirely and no longer
publishes the sources of RHEL8 in a reproducible manner that allows
repackaging after debranding.

However: The way Open Source works and the way licensing of the
components in RHEL8 works they can't do that. Even if the suits at IBM
perform rain dance and a goat sacrifice or throw tantrums. The pushback
from the industry would also be pretty spectacular and amusing to see.

Some even said: "What if IBM decides RedHat is no longer commercially
viable and make it go away?" Uhm ... that's even less likely. The US Air
Force has awarded RedHat a fat contract to keep the ancient OS in the
F-22's alive. And who else but RedHat knows best how to keep deprecated
software viable even long after its expiry date? That contract alone
will keep the cogs at RedHat greased enough to keep even the suits at
Incompatible Business Machines happy.

Lastly: The speed at which Rocky Linux got kickstarted is an indication
that both the industry *and* the community are ready to defend our niche
with tooths and nails and that highly professional help is readily
available to pour heartblood and efforts into keeping the status quo.

In the end: *** 'tis but a scratch *** \o/

Like in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhX_vGRx3WM

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber