Rocky Linux, now available with contractual guarantees
We’re so excited to see the enthusiasm and interest around our new Rocky Linux from CIQ (RLC) offering. I’d like to share a little more about RLC, what it does, and why it exists. And I’m thrilled to announce it this week because it directly meets the needs of large compliance-driven organizations.
CIQ is addressing a gap in the market for enterprises and regulated businesses that want to use the community edition of Rocky Linux. You can’t beat Rocky Linux’s price (free) and capabilities (bug-for-bug compatibility with Enterprise Linux), but there are no legal protections or commercial guarantees offered by the community on any open source project. That’s changing with RLC.
For just $25K per year — a small cost that covers an unlimited number of systems — CIQ provides:
- SLOs on CVE patching
- Verified, secure, U.S.-based artifact repositories for Rocky Linux builds that are guaranteed to be safe for deployment
- Guaranteed OS updates and bug fixes
- Legal indemnification and verified software package content
- Coverage for unlimited Rocky Linux deploys in both production and pre-production environments, no matter where they exist
RLC solves a major pain point for regulated and controlled IT environments. Let’s dig into some additional details about RLC and why it’s one of the best enterprise Linux products on the market.
Why use Rocky Linux from CIQ when there is enterprise Linux?
When compared to RHEL, RLC takes the best of leveraging an open source project (freely available, no license management, community stability, etc.) with the guarantees and mitigations that large organizations require. RLC has no license management, no entitlements, no infrastructure audits, and all at a very inexpensive and compelling price.
Is it $25k per server or sitewide?
The $25K annual fee covers as many Rocky Linux deployments as you have and need — because you’re not paying for an OS license. Instead, you’re paying for compliance services that wrap the existing Rocky community edition, which include: guaranteed CVE patching with SLOs; verified, secure, U.S.-based downloadables from a CIQ-hosted repository; guaranteed OS updates; and indemnification and verified package content.
Why Rocky Linux “from” CIQ?
You can get Rocky Linux from any number of places. CIQ is distributing Rocky Linux as anyone can. And when you choose to get Rocky Linux from CIQ, we ensure that it meets the business needs of large organizations with contractually guaranteed updates, compliance, verification, SLO, and indemnification.
Who is Rocky Linux from CIQ for?
Rocky Linux from CIQ (RLC) is for organizations with compliance mandates requiring contractual mitigations for production infrastructure that the open source community can not provide. This is a hurdle for many organizations who can not run a non-validated software stack that is not commercially guaranteed. RLC ticks the boxes of business requirements so even the largest and most risk-averse organizations can now use Rocky Linux without having to get special exceptions.
Is Rocky Linux from CIQ a version of Rocky Linux?
No, Rocky Linux from CIQ (RLC) is not a separate version of Rocky Linux. It is the same Rocky community distro we all know and love wrapped with additional commercial guarantees backed by CIQ. RLC is a contract that says CIQ stands behind the Rocky community and we are willing to guarantee it.
Why pay for Rocky Linux from CIQ?
Rocky Linux will always be a freely available, community-maintained Enterprise Linux. CIQ is not putting up or creating any walls or barriers to gain access. Larger and/or regulated organizations require commercially-backed guarantees. For example, indemnification coverage for Rocky Linux from CIQ shields these organizations from legal disputes connected to the software. In this sense, CIQ provides businesses peace of mind by reducing their legal risk in a way that the community cannot — and should not — provide.
Is Rocky Linux from CIQ bug-for-bug compatible with enterprise Linux?
Rocky Linux from CIQ is exactly the same as Rocky Linux from the community, with the same level of Enterprise Linux compatibility as you’d expect. However, Rocky Linux from CIQ enhances the community edition with commercially-backed legal protections and SLOs that businesses need. From a technical standpoint, we’re not changing the Rocky source code — just providing commercial backing for the community edition.
Unbeatable value for enterprise Linux
The value of Rocky Linux from CIQ is for large organizations and those in regulated sectors. This is a fantastic deal that will provide a low-friction path toward Rocky Linux, which is good for both global business and the Rocky Linux community.
We love Rocky Linux so much, which is why we stand behind it. CIQ is the primary sponsor of the Rocky Linux community. We’ve made substantial investments in the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) and the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA). We also contribute a significant amount of our dev time on open source projects, giving back to the community — and specifically to Rocky Linux.
If your organization is already running Rocky Linux or is thinking of making the switch, please reach out to us to chat at info@ciq.com.
