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– Glassdoor

Red Hat rolled out updates to its CentOS Stream platform targeted at alleviating support issues tied to the new Linux platform that is set to supersede its long-standing CentOS Linux project.

The CentOS Stream platform will include “no- and low-cost” programs that will allow individual Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) subscriptions to run on up to 16 systems in a production environment. This includes the ability to run these RHEL systems on major public cloud environments like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This option will be available by Feb. 1, 2021.

Red Hat is now also making it possible to add development teams to its Red Hat Developer program by using a team member’s existing RHEL subscription. This will allow RHEL to be deployed using Red Hat’s Cloud Access program on top of those major cloud providers.

The vendor said that it was also working on use cases updates that it plans to unveil in mid-February.

CentOS Stream Is Red Hat’s CentOS Future

Red Hat launched the CentOS Stream initiative last September. It was tagged as an evolution – not a replacement – of the CentOS Linux project by allowing for a more rapid iteration of the underlying platform.

“It provides a platform for rapid innovation at the community level but with a stable enough base to understand production dynamics,” Chris Wright, SVP and CTO at Red Hat, wrote in a blog post explaining the CentOS Stream platform. “These changes and feedback can more quickly be channeled into productization, resulting in Linux platforms that meet the needs of an incredibly varied user base.”

It sits between Red Hat’s Fedora Project operating system and production environments, acting as “the primary innovation hub for the RHEL ecosystem.”

As part of the CentOS Stream push, Red Hat said that it will continue to support the last iteration of CentOS Linux – version 7 – until end of maintenance updates are published in 2024.

However, Red Hat’s move to ditch CentOS Linux was not warmly embraced by all.

CloudLinux, which had been offering a hardened version of the CentOS Linux platform to customers, announced last month that it was investing $1 million per year to maintain its Project Lenix version of the CentOS Linux platform.