CentOS has reached the end-of-life period. The distribution was meant to be lasting about ten years. But Red Hat has changed its focus and converted the project to CentOS Stream, which resulted in the early expiration of the operating system.
- Related: 7 Best CentOS Alternative
Early retirement
CentOS was released just two years ago, in September 2019. The end-of-life date of the CentOS 8 series was announced in December 2020. Until now, the distro has received updates. But from now on, no more updates will be released for CentOS 8. And looking at the future roadmap of CentOS, there won’t be the CentOS 9 version. Red Hat’s plans are based on the new version, CentOS Stream.
Red Hat does not position CentOS Stream the same as the original CentOS series. So, migrating to an alternative operating system seems to be the only option for future security and features. For this case, we highly recommend AlmaLinux as the best alternative, providing enterprise solutions. The AlmaLinux development team also provides free tools for migration. Just don’t forget to get a full backup to be ready for a worst-case scenario.