CentOS

CentOS (short for Community Enterprise Operating System) is a family of open-source Linux distributions derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). For most of its history, CentOS Linux was a free, downstream rebuild of RHEL that offered enterprise-grade stability without licensing fees. In December 2020 the project pivoted: CentOS Linux was discontinued in favor of CentOS Stream, a rolling upstream distribution that previews future RHEL releases rather than tracking them after the fact.

What is CentOS?

CentOS Linux launched in 2004 as a community project that recompiled RHEL source code into a binary-compatible, freely redistributable operating system. It stripped Red Hat trademarks and branding but otherwise matched RHEL package for package, making it a popular choice for web servers, data centers, and HPC clusters where organizations wanted RHEL compatibility without per-system subscription costs. Red Hat began sponsoring the CentOS project in 2014.

The distribution uses the same Linux kernel lineage, YUM/DNF package management, and community repositories such as EPEL as the rest of the Enterprise Linux ecosystem, which is why CentOS is grouped among the RHEL forks.

CentOS Linux vs. CentOS Stream

The two distributions sit at opposite ends of the RHEL development cycle. CentOS Linux was downstream of RHEL: it rebuilt code that had already shipped in RHEL, so it was highly stable but lagged behind. CentOS Stream is upstream of RHEL: it is a continuously updated preview of what the next RHEL minor release will contain, receiving changes before they reach RHEL.

	CentOS Linux	CentOS Stream
Position vs. RHEL	Downstream (rebuild)	Upstream (preview)
Release model	Fixed point releases	Rolling
Stability profile	Production-grade, tried-and-tested	Leading edge, changes frequently
Status	Discontinued	Actively maintained by Red Hat

Because CentOS Linux drew from already-released code, it was well suited to production systems that value predictability. CentOS Stream, by contrast, is aimed at developers and partners who want to test and contribute to RHEL before it ships.

The end of CentOS Linux

Red Hat's 2020 announcement ended new development of the downstream CentOS Linux. CentOS Linux 8 reached end of life in 2021, and CentOS Linux 7 followed in 2024. Organizations that relied on CentOS Linux for stable production servers were left needing a replacement, which spurred the creation of community RHEL rebuilds such as Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux to restore a free, downstream, RHEL-compatible option.

Why the CentOS shift matters

The transition reshaped the Enterprise Linux landscape. Teams migrating away from CentOS Linux generally move to a downstream RHEL clone that preserves their existing tooling, automation, and application compatibility with minimal changes. CIQ, a founding sponsor of Rocky Linux, provides commercial support and services for organizations migrating off end-of-life CentOS and running Rocky Linux in production.