RHEL replacement Rocky Linux has shared more information about its strategy now that Red Hat has limited availability of its Enterprise Linux distro. The developer claims to have found methods to bypass the RHEL paywall and still obtain the source code.
The Rocky Linux team says it will now use multiple methods to get RHEL’s source code together. As an example, RL mentions that it can use ubi container images that are based on RHEL and are available from multiple sources. According to Rocky Linux, Red Hat source codes can be obtained “reliably” and “unhindered”.
Another method the distro says it uses is “public cloud instances” with a pay-per-use model. This should make it possible to run RHEL images in the cloud and obtain the source codes that way. Unlike the former option, this process can also be automated.
Red Hat said last week that it is no longer making RHEL generally available , selling only to Red Hat Enterprise customers. This is because other developers often use RHEL as the basis for their own distros which they then resell for a profit. The Rocky Linux team believes this measure is “contrary to the spirit and purpose of open source.” Therefore, the company says it can obtain the RHEL binaries and source rpms through these two methods in a “legitimate way” without compromising our commitment to open source software or agreeing to restrictions that interfere with our rights.
The project for Rocky Linux was set up in 2021 out of dissatisfaction with Red Hat’s course. That stopped rebuilding Red Hat Enterprise Linux at the end of 2020 and only focused on CentOS Stream. In addition to RL, there are other distros, such as AlmaLinux , that use RHEL.
