OK, we realized that the changes are final, and must somehow deal with it. Before making final decisions we need some answers.
1. What about bugs and security issues? The FAQ says: "Security issues will be updated in CentOS Stream after they are solved in the current RHEL release."
Consider the scenario: a bug or security issue found in both Stream and current RHEL. It was fixed in RHEL in a few days. How fast it will be fixed in Stream? Obviously, it needs some time to port the fix to newer version of package. Days or months?
Another scenario: a bug or security issue found in Stream but NOT in current RHEL. How fast it will be fixed in Stream? In a few days or in next RHEL release (up to 6 months)?
2. What to do in 2024, when Stream 8 is EOL. Perform full reinstall of all servers to Stream 9? Or there will be some kind of major version upgrade?
A note about hardware: we don't know now what drivers will be dropped from RHEL and Stream 9. Bad news for server owners: in 2024 they may be forced to upgrade hardware or move to RHEL 8 because of its longer lifecycle.