CentOS - Jan 2021 - RHEL changes

On Thu, 21 Jan 2021 13:57:19 -0600
Scott Techlist wrote:
> So this will muddy the waters for the spin-offs like Rocky Linux, or kill
> them?  I'd assume at least it would dilute who'd need an alternate
Centos
> replacement except those with more than 16 servers.  Or did I misunderstand
> the announcement?
I don't see how this would create any issues for Rocky Linux and the like. 
The new RHEL terms still require annual license activations (for every
installation I think) and that's a point of friction that doesn't exist
with Linux installations that are actually free.

With this new offering I've got to count my installations, track which ones
I've torn down, which ones I've updated, which ones I've scrapped,
which ones I'm running in a VM and which ones that I've installed on an
"appliance" in the dusty corner to running a printing press, and when
I get to the sixteenth installation then I need to pay up or start
decommissioning stuff....

Or I could use a license-not-required distribution like Rocky or Oracle and
avoid all of that.

I've got a number of machines with certain clients who bring their machine
back to me every year or two (or whenever they figure they can spare it and
happen to be heading this way) for updating.  I might not see one of those
machines for a few years; they may not have any Internet connection in the field
so it could be interesting if the machines tell them (or me) to buzz off because
the license has expired.

If there were no other options then I guess there would have to be a way figured
out to make this work anyway, but there are options and those options are
certainly more attractive than dealing with license activations and all of the
joy surrounding that sort of thing.

-- 
MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Real D 3D Digital Cinema ~ www.melvilletheatre.com

On 1/21/21 2:24 PM, Frank Cox wrote:
> On Thu, 21 Jan 2021 13:57:19 -0600
> Scott Techlist wrote:
> 
>> So this will muddy the waters for the spin-offs like Rocky Linux, or
kill
>> them?  I'd assume at least it would dilute who'd need an
alternate Centos
>> replacement except those with more than 16 servers.  Or did I
misunderstand
>> the announcement?
> 
> I don't see how this would create any issues for Rocky Linux and the
like.  The new RHEL terms still require annual license activations (for every
installation I think) and that's a point of friction that doesn't exist
with Linux installations that are actually free.
> 
> With this new offering I've got to count my installations, track which
ones I've torn down, which ones I've updated, which ones I've
scrapped, which ones I'm running in a VM and which ones that I've
installed on an "appliance" in the dusty corner to running a printing
press, and when I get to the sixteenth installation then I need to pay up or
start decommissioning stuff....
> 
> Or I could use a license-not-required distribution like Rocky or Oracle and
avoid all of that.
I tried Oracle Linux. After installation it took forever to update yum 
database, or do you yum search. Also: I didn't find mirrors... All this 
sort of ruled it out for me. Mind that I have 1 Gbps network...

So my shop: servers: FreeBSD  (for decade or so, since FreeBSD v. 8), 
number crunchers and workstations: Debian except for those that need 
NVIDIA binary driver or cuda, these rare ones will be Ubuntu.

In a hope this helps someone,

Valeri
> 
> I've got a number of machines with certain clients who bring their
machine back to me every year or two (or whenever they figure they can spare it
and happen to be heading this way) for updating.  I might not see one of those
machines for a few years; they may not have any Internet connection in the field
so it could be interesting if the machines tell them (or me) to buzz off because
the license has expired.
> 
> If there were no other options then I guess there would have to be a way
figured out to make this work anyway, but there are options and those options
are certainly more attractive than dealing with license activations and all of
the joy surrounding that sort of thing.
> 
-- 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Valeri Galtsev
Sr System Administrator
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics
University of Chicago
Phone: 773-702-4247
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++