Rocky Linux 8.3 RC1 Released For This New RHEL Alternative

The first release candidate of Rocky Linux 8.3 is out, the project's inaugural release as a new binary-compatible alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

Rocky Linux is one of the Linux distributions born out of last year's announcement that CentOS 8 development would be discontinued at the end of this year in focusing on CentOS Stream. Rocky Linux is notable in that the original CentOS founder Gregory Kurtzer is backing the Rocky Linux effort that is aligned with the original CentOS goals.

Since founding the project at the end of last year, the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation has been working to put out a release between March and May... Now with May christened, Rocky Linux 8.3 RC1 has been published.

Rocky Linux 8.3 RC1 was issued this morning as their first release candidate and alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3.

Amazon Web Services, GitLab, MontaVista, and CIQ are among the notable names backing the Rocky Linux effort. Downloads and more details on the 8.3 RC1 inaugural release can be found via RockyLinux.org.