One of the most successful CentOS alternatives, AlmaLinux, is about to reach the 9.0 version. The CloudLinux-backed distribution is aiming to fill the gap created by Red Hat’s move for CentOS. The developers of AlmaLinux are now preparing for the next release; continuing the development with the beta release.
Based on Linux kernel 5.14
AlmaLinux 9 Beta is based on upstream Linux kernel 5.14. It delivers some enhancements for cloud and container development in addition to the improvements in the web console. AlmaLinux 9 Beta also has some enhancements for security and compliance with the additional security profiles. You can see the full package versions list below:
- Perl 5.32
- PHP 8.0
- Git 2.31
- Apache HTTP Server 2.4
- Varnish Cache 6.5
- Squid 5.2
- MySQL 8.0
- Redis 6.2
- GCC 11.2
- glibc 2.34
- binutils 2.35
- Go Toolset 1.17.7
- GDB 10.2
- Valgrind 3.18.1
- SystemTap 4.6
- Dyninst 11.0.0
- elfutils 0.186
- Maven 3.6
- Ant 1.10
The new release removes some of the files and packages that are directly tied with Red Hat Linux Enterprise such as background images, default browser pages, and logos; replacing them with the AlmaLinux assets. AlmaLinux OS Foundation warns the users that OpenSCAP AlmaLinux 9 profiles are not ready and will be released later as this releases only known issue.
The beta version is obviously not for installation in a live environment. The AlmaLinux OS Foundation asks for testing of the operating system to discover the potential problems to fix before the final release. If you are interested in testing, you can follow the link below to download the ISO file: