CentOS is a community Linux distribution derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) sources. It historically provided a free, binary‑compatible rebuild of RHEL.
CentOS Stream is the active CentOS line today. It is a rolling‑preview distribution that sits between Fedora and RHEL, showing what will become the next RHEL minor releases.
CentOS Linux (7 and 8) was a downstream rebuild of RHEL. CentOS Stream is upstream of RHEL and receives changes earlier than RHEL, making it more suitable for preview and validation rather than strict production stability.
CentOS Linux 8 reached end of life on 2021-12-31. CentOS Linux 7 reached end of life on 2024-06-30.
CentOS Stream can be used in production if you want early access to RHEL changes and accept a rolling‑preview cadence. For strict RHEL compatibility and long‑term stability, consider RHEL or downstream rebuilds like AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux.
sudo dnf install centos-release-stream
sudo dnf swap centos-linux-repos centos-stream-repos
sudo dnf distro-sync
CentOS uses dnf and the RPM package format. Older releases used yum, which remains as a compatibility layer.
Common alternatives include RHEL for paid support or RHEL‑compatible rebuilds like AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.
The CentOS community provides documentation, forums, and mailing lists. For commercial support, consider RHEL subscriptions.
CentOS Overview
CentOS Package Management
CentOS History
CentOS Security