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Scientific Linux @ CERN: Next Version

On January 7 2014, Red Hat and CentOS announced that they joined forces (centos.org).

Since Scientific Linux relies on Red Hat Enterprise Linux source code, this is of great interest to the Scientific Linux project. We have been learning more about their plans and considering the possibilities for Scientific Linux.

We've had conversations with CentOS and Red Hat, and between Fermilab and CERN. We plan further discussions with these groups and also with other contributors to and users of Scientific Linux. No final decisions have been made, but we can provide an update on our thoughts so far.

Fermilab and CERN remain committed to the original goal of Scientific Linux: providing a stable, well-supported, open-source platform which meets the needs of high-energy physics experiments. The fact that this platform is used by people outside of that community is something we appreciate and will be a factor in any decisions going forward.

There are still many questions to pursue as the details of CentOS Special Interest Groups continue to evolve. The anticipated release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 presents an opportunity to consider forming/joining a CentOS Special Interest Group (centos.org/about/governance/sigs/) and producing Scientific Linux 7 as a CentOS variant (centos.org/variants/). The variant structure may allow greater flexibility in adapting the distribution to scientific needs. The framework and relationship structure of CentOS Special Interest Groups is still under heavy discussion on the CentOS development list. This is only being evaluated for Scientific Linux version 7.

Security and other updates for the current Scientific Linux versions 5 and 6 will continue uninterrupted. We expect the process for SL 5 and 6 support to remain essentially the same, with the only substantive change being that source code will come from centos.org rather than redhat.com. We expect this change to be transparent to all users.

There will be many more details to fill in, and we'll try to keep everyone in the Scientific Linux community informed as we continue to explore the options the Red Hat / CentOS partnership presents.

Update 2015:

CERN will base next Linux releases on CentOS releases, starting with CentOS 7 major version.

Support for Scientific Linux CERN 5 and 6 releases remains unchanged.

Linux.Support@cern.ch

Updates:

This web replaces the old version of the Linux website. Please check linux-old.web.cern.ch for an archived version