You can install it in a VM, Bare Metal, as container or via Vagrant. InstallationĬentOS Stream can be installed similar to other Linux derivates. But, since CentOS Stream is the upstream of RHEL, you can expect that bugs will be addressed quite fast and security issues will be handled as soon as possible. Support is provided from the community and there is no option to get enterprise level support for CentOS. For CentOS Stream 8, the support will end 31st May 2024. Instead, you will get a constant stream of patches, bug fixes and security fixes over time.Ī major version of CentOS Stream will be supported for the lifetime of the RHEL 'full support'. This means, you will download and install a major version (CentOS Stream 8, CentOS Stream 9), but that there are no minor versions. Release & SupportĬentOS Stream is released as a 'major version only' system. Please also check out the FAQ for CentOS and CentOS Stream. But I would avoid using it as a Desktop system or for mission critical 'single-instance' systems. You can think of 'RHEL development in public'.įor me, CentOS is a more server-oriented OS, which can be used in many uncritical production systems.

It is positioned right between Fedora and RHEL as a 'midstream' distribution. It provides a stable and reliable, but constantly updated operating system. What is CentOS Stream?ĬentOS Stream is the community enterprise OS, that tracks just ahead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

This article shows what you can expect from it.

In the article Future of CentOS I addressed the recent changes in the CentOS Project and the shift to CentOS Stream. CentOS Stream is the new downstream distribution of Fedora and the new upstream distribution of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

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