Hi,
I’m looking for a distribution that can introduce me to RHEL without actually using it. I’m aware of the story behind CentOS and CentOS Stream, and after some research, I’ve noticed a lot of discussions about AlmaLinux and Fedora, mostly AlmaLinux. I’d like some advice (preferably from people who work with one of these) on which distribution to choose between AlmaLinux and Fedora. (I think AlmaLinux might “win.”)
Thank you in advance for taking the time to help me!
Welcome to the forum!
Fedora is upstream CentOS Stream, which is in turn upstream RHEL. Using Fedora doesn’t feel at all like using RHEL. I’ve had a couple of years of managing systems with CentOS 5, 6, 7 and 8 and I’ve used Fedora 25 through 33.
As a desktop, Fedora feels way different, but as a server, while it has some familiarity, it doesn’t quite work like RHEL. Back before the RHEL and CentOS 8 launch, Fedora already had DNF, so using it felt different from the get-go. Fedora was also heavily using NetworkManager, while CentOS still had mostly documentation written around /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts.
Things changed between rhel 8 and 9 releases, when it adopted more heavy-handed approaches to move to NM. The move to dnf was a welcome addition in 8.
Since I haven’t used Fedora or EL in a while, I can’t say how many differences there are, but given that fedora is still upstream, I’d say quite a few (besides just the general package availability).
I’d personally say to stick to Rocky Linux, given its commitment to stick closer to EL (bug-for-bug compatibility), compared to Alma’s / CloudLinux’s commitment to only ABI compatibility (to be fair in practice you won’t notice any difference between bug-for-bug and ABI, but at least with Rocky you’re guaranteed that whatever absolutely proprietary garbage you’re using, it’ll definitely work on Rocky, while Alma might have its own specific bugs). But whichever you choose (rocky or alma), it’ll still be better than going upstream (fedora).
With fedora you’re just going to be Red Hate’s beta tester (for better or worse). Fedora has some pretty stable packages (despite them being pretty bleeding edge), while EL has older packages confirmed to be solid. I also feel fedora has less dependency on EPEL, but that’s just me. Speaking of additional repos, I don’t know if copr made it into EL yet (correct me if I’m wrong), making it another difference that fedora has, while EL doesn’t.
I’d say to stick to rocky / alma, particularly for servers. However, that’s just if you’re somehow dependent on some packages that are easier to find there. Otherwise, go Debian.
Yeah, I’m using Fedora as my desktop and it is not perfect…