- CERN and Fermilab announced that they will provide AlmaLinux as the standard distribution for experiments in their facilities.
- AlmaLinux is preferred due to its long life cycle for each major version, extended architecture support, rapid release cycle, upstream community contributions, and support for security advisory metadata.
- Scientific Linux 7, at Fermilab, and CERN CentOS 7, at CERN, will continue to be supported for their remaining life, until June 2024.
CERN and Fermilab announced their plans to provide AlmaLinux as the standard Linux distro for experiments at their facilities. The decision reflects recent experiences and discussions with experiments and other stakeholders.
Standard distribution for experiments
Due to its long life cycle for each major version, extended architecture support, rapid release cycle, upstream community contributions, and support for security advisory metadata, AlmaLinux is becoming more popular among the community. AlmaLinux was also demonstrated to be perfectly compatible with the other rebuilds and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For some services and applications, CERN and to a lesser extent, Fermilab, will also use Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Scientific Linux 7, at Fermilab, and CERN CentOS 7, at CERN, will also be supported until reaching end-of-life in June 2024.
Fermilab is America’s particle physics and accelerator laboratory, focusing on solving the mysteries of matter, energy, space, and time for the benefit of all. Fermilab’s 1,750 employees include scientists and engineers from all around the world. Fermilab collaborates with more than 50 countries on physics experiments based in the United States and elsewhere. Fermilab’s 6,800-acre site is located in Batavia, Illinois.