[CentOS-devel] Queries on CentOS Stream

Greetings,

----- Original Message -----
> We are very concerned if CentOS Stream requires subscription and if updates/patches for CentOS Stream requires
> subscription.

No.  CentOS Stream 8 will NOT require a subscription.  It it did, it would be RHEL and not CentOS Stream.

>     * Updates for the CentOS Stream 8 distribution continue through
>     the full RHEL support phase .

That point is meant to convey that CentOS Stream 8 will not follow the complete support cycle of RHEL as CentOS Linux did in the past.  RHEL 8 support goes all the way to 2029 whereas CentOS Stream 8 will stop being supported when RHEL 8 ends its "full support phase" which is in 2024.  Well before CentOS Stream 8 goes EOL, CentOS Stream 9 should be available.  So, basically RHEL 8 continues to be supported for 10 years but CentOS 8 Stream, only 5.

> Question 2
> 
> In the announcement, it states ‘If you are using CentOS Linux 8 in a
> production environment, and are concerned that CentOS Stream will
> not meet your needs, we encourage you to contact Red Hat about
> options.’ Can you highlight what are the drawbacks of CentOS Stream
> causing not encouraged to run on a production environment?

There are pluses and minuses to everything.  The main change here is that CentOS Linux was downstream of RHEL and CentOS didn't make any changes until RHEL had made them first.  CentOS Stream 8 is upstream of RHEL 8, and changes will be made to CentOS Stream 8 first, and then made to RHEL 8.  I assume in some cases, there may be multiple iterations of change before it is finalized and put into RHEL 8.  Another way to look at it is that rather than CentOS Stream 8 getting a big bunch of changes all at once with a minor release update as it did in the past with CentOS Linux, Stream will get all of the changes sprinkled out over time.  That is why the term "rolling release" has been thrown out there as the updates will be coming out more frequently, but in smaller batches without the distinction of a minor release update.

Given the transition to changes-in-Stream-first and more-frequent-changes-than-in-the-past... and from-downstream-into-upstream... some things change... with one major difference being that the CentOS Stream kernel will be updated ahead of the RHEL kernel... and as a result newer kernels have changes and in some cases that affects hardware drivers, especially those provided by third-party repositories who offer out-of-tree drivers.  If you rely on third-party drivers, they may have difficulty keeping up with CentOS Stream kernel updates.  Various folks are definitely working on strategies to lessen the issue but we'll have to see how that works out.  If you don't use any third-party drivers, then it is definitely less of an issue for you.

Hopefully that answered the questions you asked... but I'm sure others will chime in too.

TYL,
-- 
Scott Dowdle
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