{ "edition": "2026-10-16", "years": [ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 ], "ai_labels": [ [ "infra", "AI workload support" ], [ "stack", "AI platform stack" ], [ "ops", "AI-assisted operations" ], [ "agents", "Agent openness" ] ], "index_weights": { "cap": 35, "cred": 20, "safety": 20, "ai": 10, "integ": 10, "mom": 5 }, "domains": [ { "key": "lifecycle", "label": "Lifecycle and upgrades", "weight": 15 }, { "key": "security", "label": "Security and compliance", "weight": 15 }, { "key": "hardware", "label": "Hardware and architectures", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "virt", "label": "Virtualization and cloud images", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "containers", "label": "Containers and Kubernetes host", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "packages", "label": "Software currency and packaging", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "fleet", "label": "Fleet management and automation", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "storage", "label": "Storage and filesystems", "weight": 5 }, { "key": "integration", "label": "Enterprise integration and certifications", "weight": 5 }, { "key": "ai", "label": "AI and GPU readiness", "weight": 10 } ], "groups": { "commercial": "Commercial subscription", "rebuild": "RHEL rebuild", "community": "Community distribution", "cloud": "Cloud vendor distribution", "container": "Container host", "asia": "Asian distribution" }, "platforms": [ { "key": "rhel", "name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux", "short": "RHEL", "kind": "product", "group": "commercial", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Real innovator", "grade": "B", "driver": "V", "mix": { "V": 47, "C": 24, "M": 12, "U": 6, "P": 12 }, "idx": 0.57, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 4, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 5 }, "security": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "hardware": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "virt": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "containers": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "packages": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "fleet": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "storage": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "integration": { "2015": 5, "2016": 5, "2017": 5, "2018": 5, "2019": 5, "2020": 5, "2021": 5, "2022": 5, "2023": 5, "2024": 5, "2025": 5, "2026": 5 }, "ai": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "Two minors a year in May and November, kept from 2020 to 2026; exact dates are not published in advance" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3.5, "Public release notes, lifecycle policy and a developer preview list; no dated roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 4, "Of ten dated items since 2023, eight are GA or in force within 12 months; the MCP server is still a developer preview and the NVIDIA collaboration has nothing to check" ], [ "Velocity", 4, "Several substantive items per minor since 10.0: image mode, post-quantum crypto, attestation, livepatch on 10" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 4.5, "Ten years plus paid extensions and Leapp upgrades 7 to 8 to 9 to 10; the x86-64-v3 floor in 10 excludes older CPUs" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 3, "Source access moved behind the subscription in 2023; tier changes 2024 and a reported 10% rise on EUR and GBP lists in 2025 (secondary sources)" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 2.5, "Subscription only for production; free tiers limited to 16 personal nodes or 25 development and test instances" ], [ "Channel and access", 3, "Binaries, errata and source sit behind the subscription agreement; the partner programme is open to apply" ], [ "Owner stability", 2, "IBM subsidiary since 2019; ownership is stable, the 2023 source decision reversed an earlier stance" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 2.5, "Ten years of updates with a subscription; EUS, E4S and ELCP are paid add-ons and Standard covers each minor for six months" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM, qcow2, OCI and bootc images" ], [ "Export path", 1, "Scripted conversions exist in both directions between RHEL and its rebuilds; image mode moves through any OCI registry" ], [ "Stack coupling", 1, "Satellite and Lightspeed are optional; Ansible Automation Platform is a separate subscription" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 1, "Broad certified hardware and offline mirrors through Satellite; RHEL 10 requires x86-64-v3" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 0.5, "The most widely held Linux skills and certifications in the market" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 4, "Large tiered partner programme open to apply; terms not read" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 3.5, "Satellite organisations and locations; Insights is per account; no hosted multi-tenant console for service providers found" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4.5, "Satellite REST API, RHEL system roles (sudo role added in 10.0, upgrade roles in 10.2)" ], [ "Skills and certification", 5, "RHCSA, RHCE and RHCA are the reference certifications of the field" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "RHEL scores as the reference distribution on lifecycle, integration and fleet tooling, and the 2025 and 2026 releases added image mode, post-quantum cryptography and livepatch on RHEL 10 without breaking the cadence. The software is easy to leave; the subscription is where the risk lives, with source access, tiers and prices all changed since 2023 and extended support now a paid premium. Security stays at 4.5 because no FIPS 140-3 certificate for RHEL 10 was found. A buyer should check the exact ELCP terms and price before relying on the 14-year window.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/rhel", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "agents": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "RHEL AI 1.1 and 1.2 ship as bootable images for GPU servers with the drivers included", "stack": "RHEL AI 1.1 GA 2024-09-05: InstructLab and Granite models in a bootable image; later versions not verified", "ops": "10.0: RHEL Lightspeed command line assistant GA; Lightspeed advisor in Satellite 6.18", "agents": "10.1: linux-mcp-server and the Satellite 6.18 MCP server in developer or technology preview; no GA" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 5, "ga": 2, "preview": 2, "pending": 1, "dropped": 0, "note": "RHEL AI and the Lightspeed assistant shipped; both MCP servers are previews; the NVIDIA collaboration is an announcement." }, "ai_reading": "Red Hat ships more AI than any other distribution vendor in this group: a bootable AI image since 2024 and a command line assistant in RHEL 10. The agent interface is still a developer preview, and each RHEL AI release has a short support phase, so check the lifecycle before building on it.", "mom": 10.5, "credT": 20.5, "commT": 13, "lockT": 4, "integT": 17 }, { "key": "ubuntu", "name": "Ubuntu Server with Ubuntu Pro", "short": "Ubuntu", "kind": "product", "group": "commercial", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Calendar-driven builder", "grade": "B", "driver": "C", "mix": { "V": 27, "C": 33, "M": 27, "U": 0, "P": 13 }, "idx": 0.31, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 5, "2026": 5 }, "security": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "hardware": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "virt": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "containers": { "2015": 3, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "packages": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "fleet": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "storage": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "integration": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "ai": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 3, "2026": 4 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 5, "April and October every year since 2004, an LTS every even April; 26.04 shipped 2026-04-23" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 4, "Public release cycle page with dates to 2041, release notes on Discourse, Launchpad in the open; Pro plans only in blogs" ], [ "Say-do", 4, "CUDA and ROCm in the archive shipped with 26.04 as announced; inference snaps shipped; 24.04 FIPS 140-3 still in assessment two years after release" ], [ "Velocity", 4, "Each LTS carries several substantive changes (24.04: kernel 6.8, Netplan 1.0, TPM encryption preview; 26.04: kernel 7.0, CUDA and ROCm in the archive)" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 4.5, "5 plus 5 plus 5 years, dates kept to the month; the Legacy window is security patching only" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 1.5, "Pro list price USD 500 per server per year; no change found since 2023; Legacy priced at 50% more" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 1, "Distribution free without registration; Pro in any quantity and free for 5 machines" ], [ "Channel and access", 1, "Open download, sources on Launchpad; ESM and Livepatch packages need a Pro token" ], [ "Owner stability", 2, "Founder-owned private company; an IPO was delayed per the November 2025 statement; no outside owner" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 2.5, "Years 6 to 10 need Pro at USD 500 per machine per year; years 11 to 15 cost 50% more; on-premises Landscape USD 3,099 per VM per year" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "deb, qcow2 and OCI; snaps depend on Canonical's proprietary Snap Store backend" ], [ "Export path", 0.5, "Debian-family packages and skills transfer; Pro features (Livepatch, ESM) do not" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0.5, "Landscape, MAAS, Juju and LXD are optional" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 0.5, "Any x86 or Arm server; Pro works offline with a token" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 0.5, "The most common server Linux skills" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 4, "Open reseller and cloud partner programmes; terms not published" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 3, "Landscape accounts and access groups; on-premises Landscape is priced per machine" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4, "Landscape and MAAS APIs, Juju, cloud-init, Terraform providers" ], [ "Skills and certification", 3.5, "The largest skills pool; Canonical's own certification programme is small" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Ubuntu scores highest on the two things a planner feels first: a calendar that has held for twenty years and a support window that now runs to 15 years. The capability lines are strong rather than reference in most domains because the vendor tooling (Landscape, FIPS, STIG profiles) sits behind the Pro subscription and the on-premises Landscape price is high. Security is a 4 and not a 5 because FIPS 140-3 is certified for 22.04 only and 24.04 is still in assessment. The thing to check is the Pro budget: free covers five years, and years 6 to 15 cost USD 500 to 750 per machine per year at list.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/ubuntu", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "26.04: CUDA and ROCm 7.1 packaged in the archive and maintained for the LTS life", "stack": "Inference snaps (2025-10): packaged models with hardware-matched backends; Charmed Kubeflow not verified in this pass", "ops": "None", "agents": "Landscape and MAAS REST APIs; no MCP server found" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 3, "ga": 2, "preview": 0, "pending": 1, "dropped": 0, "note": "The 'agentic AI' positioning for 26.04 has nothing checkable behind it beyond the packaged toolkits." }, "ai_reading": "Ubuntu's AI story is packaging: CUDA and ROCm in the archive and inference snaps that pick a backend for the hardware. There is no assistant for operators and no agent interface beyond the Landscape and MAAS APIs.", "mom": 10.5, "credT": 21.5, "commT": 8, "lockT": 3, "integT": 14.5 }, { "key": "sles", "name": "SUSE Linux Enterprise Server", "short": "SLES", "kind": "product", "group": "commercial", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Dependable builder", "grade": "B", "driver": "C", "mix": { "V": 29, "C": 47, "M": 6, "U": 0, "P": 18 }, "idx": 0.36, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "security": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "hardware": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "virt": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "containers": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "packages": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "fleet": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "storage": { "2015": 4.5, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "integration": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "ai": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "A service pack each June from 2019 to 2025; 16.0 shipped 2025-11-04 and the lifecycle page dates every 16.x minor to November" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3.5, "Public lifecycle page with dated minors to 16.6 and public release notes; feature plans appear only in blogs and beta posts" ], [ "Say-do", 3.5, "16.0 and Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 shipped as announced; FIPS 140-3 is still 'prepared' a year after 16.0 and mcphost is still a preview" ], [ "Velocity", 3.5, "Service packs carried one or two changes each; 16.0 bundled SELinux, Agama, SEV-SNP and new CPU baselines" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 4, "13-year families and in-place service packs; the 16 line moves to 2-year minors, drops AppArmor and POWER9" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 1.5, "List prices are not published; no price or metric change announcement found since 2023" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 2, "Subscription only for updates and support, per socket pair or per VM; openSUSE Leap is the free sibling" ], [ "Channel and access", 2, "Update repositories need a registration code; sources are public on the Open Build Service; partner programme by application" ], [ "Owner stability", 4, "Private-equity owner (EQT) since the 2023 take-private; a sale of up to USD 6 billion was reported in March 2026" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 2.5, "LTSS is a paid extension; 16.x minors get 2 years of general support, so staying current means a yearly minor or paid LTS" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM, qcow2 and OCI; Btrfs root readable on any Linux" ], [ "Export path", 1.5, "No rebuild ecosystem; leaving SLES is a reinstall, except to Leap 16 which shares the base" ], [ "Stack coupling", 1, "Multi-Linux Manager and Rancher are optional; any storage and network" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 1.5, "16 requires x86-64-v2 and POWER10; otherwise any server and fully offline" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1.5, "zypper, Salt and SELinux skills; a smaller talent pool than the RHEL and Debian families" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 4, "Open by application; terms not published" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 3.5, "Multi-Linux Manager organisations plus role-based access control since 5.1" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4, "Uyuni XML-RPC and HTTP API, Salt as the native engine, Ansible in SLES 16, Terraform through the Rancher ecosystem" ], [ "Skills and certification", 4, "SCA and SCE certifications; skills common in SAP shops and in Europe" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "SLES is the most predictable of the commercial three in what it ships and when: a service pack every June for seven years, then 16.0 on the day the lifecycle page named. The 16 line is a bigger change than the version number suggests, with SELinux replacing AppArmor, a new installer, a two-year window per minor and POWER9 and older x86 CPUs dropped, so a 15 to 16 move is a project, not a patch. Capability is strong across the board and Multi-Linux Manager is the widest fleet tool in the group. The thing to check before signing is the owner: EQT took SUSE private in 2023 and a sale was reported in March 2026, and SUSE does not publish list prices, so put price and term protection into the contract.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/sles", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 2 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "CUDA repository for SLES 16; SUSE AI documentation pairs SUSE Linux Micro with the NVIDIA GPU Operator", "stack": "SUSE AI 1.0 documentation (2026-01): model serving on SUSE Linux Micro and Rancher, a separate product; GA date not confirmed", "ops": "None", "agents": "16.0: mcphost MCP agent as a technology preview; Multi-Linux Manager 5.1.3 adds an OpenID Connect endpoint for MCP integration" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 4, "ga": 1, "preview": 3, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "SUSE AI counts as GA on the strength of its 1.0 documentation; mcphost, the 16.1 MCP components and the AI Factory with NVIDIA are previews." }, "ai_reading": "SLES runs GPU workloads through NVIDIA's own repositories and leaves the AI platform to SUSE AI on SUSE Linux Micro, which is a different product with a different lifecycle. Its own AI items are MCP previews; nothing AI-assisted operates SLES itself yet.", "mom": 7.5, "credT": 19, "commT": 12, "lockT": 6, "integT": 15.5 }, { "key": "alma", "name": "AlmaLinux OS", "short": "AlmaLinux", "kind": "product", "group": "rebuild", "since": 2021, "archetype": "Dependable builder", "grade": "B", "driver": "C", "mix": { "V": 15, "C": 54, "M": 15, "U": 15, "P": 0 }, "idx": 0.18, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "security": { "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3.5 }, "hardware": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4.5 }, "virt": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 4 }, "containers": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "packages": { "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "fleet": { "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "storage": { "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "integration": { "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "ai": { "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 3 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "Minors about a week after RHEL since 2021, kept through 10.2; rhythm not formally published" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3.5, "Public blog, SIGs, bylaws and a 2026 direction survey; no dated roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 4, "ABI decision, Kitten, x86_64_v2, Btrfs, the NVIDIA repository and the certification all shipped; RISC-V board images still pending" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "One or two additions of its own per cycle on top of RHEL's content" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 4, "Ten-year majors with ELevate in-place upgrades; minors unsupported once the next ships" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 2.5, "Foundation staff funded by sponsors; three Platinum sponsors hold 50 votes each against 1 per individual" ], [ "Backer health", 2, "CloudLinux, TuxCare and Cybertrust are private; AWS, Azure, Meta and Equinix at Gold; budgets not published" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 2.5, "ABI compatibility reduces dependence on exact RHEL sources; still built from CentOS Stream and RHEL code" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 1, "Two releases on one day in 2026, elections held, direction survey open" ], [ "Security response", 1.5, "Project errata; fixes may ship ahead of RHEL under the ABI model; CVE response times not published" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM, qcow2, OCI; identical to RHEL" ], [ "Export path", 0.5, "Moving to RHEL or another rebuild is a scripted switch; ELevate handles major upgrades" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0, "No management stack required" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 0.5, "Widest hardware reach in the EL family (v2 and v3, arm64, ppc64le, s390x, riscv64 preview)" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 0.5, "RHEL skills transfer one to one" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 2.5, "Sponsor memberships; no formal reseller programme found" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "No management product" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 2.5, "Standard EL tooling: Ansible, community Terraform, web console API" ], [ "Skills and certification", 3, "RHEL certifications apply in practice; no certification of its own" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "AlmaLinux is the rebuild that changed its own rules in 2023 and then delivered on the room that gave it: Btrfs, a v2 build for older CPUs, in-place upgrades merged upstream, an NVIDIA repository and a Common Criteria certificate. Its capability now edges past Rocky's and its cadence has held at about a week behind RHEL. The sustainability picture is better than its peers' because the foundation is funded by several sponsors, though three of them hold most of the votes. A buyer should check that the ABI-compatible deviations (Btrfs, CRB, re-enabled drivers) do not matter to their ISV support terms.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/alma", "ai": { "infra": { "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 2 }, "stack": { "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "NVIDIA-signed driver and CUDA 13.2 packages served from nvidia.repo.almalinux.org (2026-03-09)", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Web console API and Ansible; no agent interface" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 1, "ga": 1, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "The one AI item, the NVIDIA repository, shipped for 9 and 10." }, "ai_reading": "AlmaLinux has no AI platform or assistant and does not claim one. Its AI work is plumbing: NVIDIA builds and signs the driver and CUDA packages and AlmaLinux serves them, which removes the third-party repository step for GPU hosts.", "mom": 9.5, "credT": 19, "commT": 9.5, "lockT": 2, "integT": 8.5 }, { "key": "oracle", "name": "Oracle Linux", "short": "Oracle Linux", "kind": "product", "group": "rebuild", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Long-window upstream packager", "grade": "C", "driver": "U", "mix": { "V": 9, "C": 9, "M": 27, "U": 45, "P": 9 }, "idx": 0.2, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "security": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "hardware": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "virt": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "containers": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "packages": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "fleet": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "storage": { "2015": 4.5, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "integration": { "2015": 4.5, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "ai": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4, "Minors follow RHEL within weeks: 10.1 on 2025-12-06, 9.8 on 2026-06-23, 10.2 notes in August 2026; no dates published in advance" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 2.5, "Documentation and release notes are public and CC-BY-SA; no roadmap found, and the blog and pricing pages block automated readers" ], [ "Say-do", 3, "Few public commitments; OpenELA and Oracle Linux 10 both shipped, but the record is too thin to score higher" ], [ "Velocity", 2.5, "A rebuild plus UEK: one or two Oracle-specific items per release (UEK 8, Leapp, Automation Manager)" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 4.5, "10 plus 3 years per major since Oracle Linux 7, in-place Leapp upgrades, no renames or early endings" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 1, "No change found since 2023; the price list itself could not be read, so this rests on the absence of reported changes" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 1.5, "Free to use and update in any quantity; Ksplice, Automation Manager and Virtualization Manager support need Premier Support per system" ], [ "Channel and access", 1, "Open download and public yum repositories; partners through Oracle PartnerNetwork, terms not read" ], [ "Owner stability", 1.5, "Oracle is a stable public owner; Oracle Linux serves Oracle Cloud and Oracle Database first" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 1.5, "Free updates for 10 years per major; live patching and management tooling are paid" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM packages, qcow2 and OCI images" ], [ "Export path", 1, "ABI compatible with RHEL; conversion scripts exist in both directions; UEK is optional because the RHEL compatible kernel is installed too" ], [ "Stack coupling", 1, "Automation Manager and Virtualization Manager are Oracle builds of AWX and oVirt, neither required" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 1.5, "Runs on any x86 or arm64 server; support is included on Oracle Cloud and Exadata, which pulls deployments there" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1, "RHEL skills transfer directly" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 3, "Oracle PartnerNetwork is open to apply; terms and margins were not read" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 2, "Nothing in the OS; Automation Manager has organisations and roles" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 3.5, "Automation Manager REST API (AWX), Ansible collections, Terraform through the OCI provider" ], [ "Skills and certification", 3, "Oracle University certification for Oracle Linux administration" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Oracle Linux scores as a long-window RHEL rebuild: 10 years of Premier Support plus 3 of Extended on each major, Leapp upgrades between majors, and free binaries and updates for anyone who does not need support. The paid tier is where Oracle differentiates, with Ksplice live patching and Automation Manager. The evidence is the weakest in this group because Oracle's marketing, pricing and lifecycle pages blocked the researcher, so several scores rest on documentation titles and a third-party lifecycle table. A buyer should check the current support price list and the Oracle Linux 10 FIPS and Common Criteria status before signing. The practical risk is coupling: the distribution is cheapest and best supported inside Oracle Cloud and next to Oracle Database.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/oracle", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "Oracle Linux images for OCI GPU shapes; no Oracle-hosted driver or CUDA repository found", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Oracle Linux Automation Manager REST API (AWX based, Premier Support); no agent interface for the OS" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 0, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "No AI items for Oracle Linux were found; Oracle's AI announcements concern OCI services, and Oracle's pages blocked the researcher." }, "ai_reading": "Oracle Linux runs GPU workloads where a buyer brings NVIDIA's own repositories or an OCI GPU image; nothing AI-specific ships in the distribution. There is no assistant, no AI stack and no agent interface.", "mom": 8, "credT": 16.5, "commT": 6.5, "lockT": 5, "integT": 11.5 }, { "key": "debian", "name": "Debian", "short": "Debian", "kind": "product", "group": "community", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Volunteer upstream base", "grade": "A", "driver": "C", "mix": { "V": 15, "C": 62, "M": 8, "U": 15, "P": 0 }, "idx": 0.18, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "security": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "hardware": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "virt": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "containers": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "packages": { "2015": 4, "2016": 4, "2017": 4, "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "fleet": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "storage": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "integration": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "ai": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 3, "A stable release about every two years (2023-06-10, 2025-08-09) with no dates announced in advance; point releases every two months" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 4.5, "Everything is public: bug tracker, release team pages, votes, security tracker; there is no dated roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 4, "Debian announces little and ships what it freezes; the 2025 AI resolution was withdrawn and replaced in 2026" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "Each release refreshes the base and adds one or two platform changes (firmware in 12, riscv64 and systemd-boot in 13)" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 4.5, "Five-year windows kept since 8; in-place apt upgrades; Extended LTS to ten years" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 1.5, "Over a thousand developers with no single employer; LTS work is done by a smaller paid group" ], [ "Backer health", 1.5, "No owner company; LTS depends on sponsor funding (the wiki asks companies that benefit to contribute)" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 0, "Debian Free Software Guidelines and the Social Contract; thousands of copyright holders" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 0.5, "Releases since 1993; 13.7 on 2026-09-12; the 2026 leader election had a single candidate" ], [ "Security response", 1.5, "Security team advisories with CVE references; LTS years rely on volunteers and sponsors; no published response-time targets" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "deb, qcow2 and OCI; plain-text configuration" ], [ "Export path", 0.5, "Ubuntu and other derivatives take the same packages; nothing to convert" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0, "Any storage, any network, any tooling" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 0.5, "Any hardware; no official Google Cloud or Oracle Cloud images" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 0.5, "The most common package tooling" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 2, "No vendor; support is sold by third parties such as Freexian" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "No management product" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 3, "cloud-init, Ansible, Terraform and FAI-built images work unchanged" ], [ "Skills and certification", 2, "Large skills pool; no vendor certification (LPIC covers it generically)" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Debian is the base layer of this group: Ubuntu, Proxmox VE and most cloud images start from it, and it carries more architectures than any vendor. The scores are held back by what a volunteer project does not do: no live patching, no certifications, no management product, no release dates and five years of free updates against ten to fifteen from the commercial lines. What it has instead is a lock-in score near zero and a lifecycle that has kept its promises since 2015. The thing to check is the LTS years: the last two of the five are handled by a smaller sponsored team with fewer architectures, and anything past five years is a quote from Freexian.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/debian", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "13: ROCm libraries in the repositories; CUDA repository for Debian 13", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "None" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 0, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "Debian announced no AI features; two general resolutions (2025 withdrawn, 2026 adopted) set policy for how contributors may use generative AI." }, "ai_reading": "Debian packages the GPU drivers and, since 13, ROCm, and leaves everything above that to the user. It has no AI platform, no assistant and no agent interface, and in 2026 it voted rules for contributors rather than features for users.", "mom": 4.5, "credT": 19, "commT": 5, "lockT": 2, "integT": 7.5 }, { "key": "rocky", "name": "Rocky Linux (RESF, with Rocky Linux from CIQ)", "short": "Rocky Linux", "kind": "product", "group": "rebuild", "since": 2021, "archetype": "Rebuild with one backer", "grade": "B", "driver": "U", "mix": { "V": 20, "C": 30, "M": 10, "U": 40, "P": 0 }, "idx": 0.33, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "security": { "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3.5 }, "hardware": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "virt": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 4 }, "containers": { "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 4 }, "packages": { "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "fleet": { "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "storage": { "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "integration": { "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "ai": { "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 2.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4, "Minors follow RHEL by one to three weeks (10.0 after 22 days, 10.2 after 9 days); rhythm kept, not published" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3, "News posts and open build tooling; no written roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 3, "Security repository and 10.x shipped; RISC-V images announced in May 2025 without a verified GA; Infrastructure v2 pending" ], [ "Velocity", 2.5, "Each release carries RHEL's changes; the project's own additions are small (security repository, board images)" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 3.5, "Ten-year majors, but no in-place major upgrade and minors unsupported once the next ships" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 3.5, "The 2026-06-10 letter names reliance on a few people and slow onboarding; CIQ is the dominant backer" ], [ "Backer health", 2.5, "CIQ is private with no published finances; AWS, Google Cloud and Arm listed as sponsors" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 3, "Depends on RHEL sources taken through UBI, cloud instances and CentOS Stream; Red Hat's 2023 terms are contested" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 1.5, "Releases within weeks of RHEL through 2026; infrastructure being rehoused from donated Equinix hardware" ], [ "Security response", 2, "Project errata plus the 2026 opt-in security repository for urgent fixes; CVE response times not published" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM, qcow2, OCI; identical to RHEL" ], [ "Export path", 0.5, "migrate2rocky converts in; moving to RHEL or another rebuild is a scripted switch or reinstall" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0, "No management stack required" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 0.5, "Any x86-64-v3 or arm64 server; images on the four large clouds" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 0.5, "RHEL skills transfer one to one" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 3, "CIQ partner programme (terms not read); the community side is open" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "No management product in the community edition" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 2.5, "Standard EL tooling: Ansible, community Terraform, web console API" ], [ "Skills and certification", 3, "RHEL certifications apply in practice; no certification of its own" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Rocky Linux delivers RHEL's capability for free within weeks of each release, which is why its capability line tracks RHEL's minus the vendor services. Its own additions are modest: a security repository, board images and a RISC-V announcement. The risk is organisational rather than technical: one commercial backer, a founder who chairs both the foundation and that backer, a sourcing model that depends on Red Hat's tolerance, and a 2026 letter that admits key-person reliance. A buyer should check whether the CIQ edition or a third-party contract covers the compliance items the community edition lacks.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/rocky", "ai": { "infra": { "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 2 }, "stack": { "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 1 }, "ops": { "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "CIQ RLC+ ships NVIDIA and AMD data centre drivers integrated (vendor claim, undated)", "stack": "CIQ RLC Pro AI listed with CUDA, PyTorch and vLLM; availability not verified", "ops": "None", "agents": "Web console API and Ansible; no agent interface" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 1, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 1, "dropped": 0, "note": "The one AI item is CIQ's RLC Pro AI, listed as a product with no launch date found." }, "ai_reading": "The community edition carries no AI content of its own; GPU users install NVIDIA's repositories as on any EL system. CIQ's GPU-ready and AI editions are vendor claims without a verified launch date, so they count at half.", "mom": 6.5, "credT": 16, "commT": 12.5, "lockT": 2, "integT": 9 }, { "key": "al2023", "name": "Amazon Linux 2023", "short": "Amazon Linux 2023", "kind": "product", "group": "cloud", "since": 2023, "archetype": "Integrated stack, one cloud", "grade": "B", "driver": "P", "mix": { "V": 0, "C": 33, "M": 0, "U": 22, "P": 44 }, "idx": 0, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "security": { "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3.5 }, "hardware": { "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "virt": { "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "containers": { "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "packages": { "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "fleet": { "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "storage": { "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "integration": { "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "ai": { "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "Quarterly minors since 2023 with dated builds every few weeks; the 2023.12 line was still being built on 2026-10-14" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3.5, "Public GitHub issue tracker and release notes; FIPS validation schedule published; no written roadmap and no successor named" ], [ "Say-do", 3.5, "Few promises made; kernel 6.1 FIPS validation completed, 6.12 pending inside its stated window; support dates have held" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "Minors add runtimes and kernels; structural change inside a major is rare by design" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 2.5, "One major with 6 years total, no in-place upgrade to the next, and AL2 users had to rebuild by 2026-06-30" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 0.5, "No charge, so nothing to raise; AWS Support plan prices apply only on EC2" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 1, "Free in any quantity; vendor support exists only bundled with an AWS Support plan on EC2" ], [ "Channel and access", 1, "Open download and public repositories; no partner programme and no resale, which is neutral for a free product" ], [ "Owner stability", 1, "AWS is a stable owner; the distribution exists to serve EC2" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 2.5, "Six years per major, then a rebuild; no paid extension, as AL2's end on 2026-06-30 showed" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "RPM packages and standard qcow2, OVA and vhdx images" ], [ "Export path", 2, "No binary compatibility with RHEL or any Fedora release; leaving is a re-platform, eased by standard DNF and systemd" ], [ "Stack coupling", 1, "Nothing proprietary required; systemd-networkd and cloud-init are standard components" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 3, "Tuned for EC2 and Graviton; AWS Support covers it only on EC2; repositories are hosted by AWS" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1, "Fedora family skills transfer" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 2, "AWS Partner Network covers it; nothing to resell and no distribution-specific programme" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 2, "Tenancy comes from AWS accounts, not from the OS" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4, "AMI IDs in SSM parameters, CloudFormation and Terraform, Systems Manager patching and live patching" ], [ "Skills and certification", 3, "AWS certifications cover it; no Linux-specific certification" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Amazon Linux 2023 is a good operating system for one place. On EC2 it is free, patched quarterly, live patchable without a reboot and wired into Systems Manager, ECS and EKS, and its FIPS and CIS work is public. Off EC2 the images run but nobody supports them, and the lifecycle is one major of six years followed by a rebuild, with Amazon Linux 2 ending on 2026-06-30 and no paid extension on offer. A buyer should confirm that the 2029-06-30 date fits their refresh cycle, because no successor major has been named. The gap against RHEL-family distributions is portability rather than quality.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/al2023", "ai": { "infra": { "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "stack": { "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "ECS and EKS GPU and Neuron AMIs on AL2023; GPU sharing comes from Kubernetes and ECS, not from the OS", "stack": "None; Deep Learning AMIs on AL2023 were not confirmed on the pages read", "ops": "None", "agents": "AWS APIs and Systems Manager drive instances; nothing specific to the OS" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 2, "ga": 2, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "Both items are ECS AMIs on AL2023 with GPU or Neuron drivers preinstalled; their announcement dates were not retrieved." }, "ai_reading": "AL2023 carries NVIDIA and Neuron drivers in the ECS and EKS images that AWS builds, so GPU nodes work without extra steps on EC2. The distribution has no AI stack of its own, no assistant and no agent interface; the intelligence sits in AWS services around it.", "mom": 4.5, "credT": 17, "commT": 6, "lockT": 8, "integT": 11 }, { "key": "flatcar", "name": "Flatcar Container Linux", "short": "Flatcar", "kind": "product", "group": "container", "since": 2018, "archetype": "Dependable builder with one sponsor", "grade": "B", "driver": "C", "mix": { "V": 17, "C": 25, "M": 25, "U": 25, "P": 8 }, "idx": 0.25, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2018": 3, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "security": { "2018": 3, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "hardware": { "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "virt": { "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "containers": { "2018": 4, "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "packages": { "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "fleet": { "2018": 3, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "storage": { "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "integration": { "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 }, "ai": { "2018": 0.5, "2019": 0.5, "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "Alpha, Beta and Stable released together on a regular rhythm; LTS yearly" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 4, "Open GitHub, public release notes with package versions; no dated roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 3.5, "sysext, the community LTS and CNCF milestones were delivered; few dated promises exist to measure" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "Steady component refresh; sysext is the one structural change since 2023" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 3.5, "Channels and LTS cadence unchanged since 2022; LTS streams last 18 months" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 3.5, "Core maintainers are largely Microsoft staff since the 2021 Kinvolk acquisition; the maintainer mix is not published on the pages read" ], [ "Backer health", 1.5, "Microsoft funds the work and now builds Azure Container Linux on Flatcar; CNCF incubating since 2024-08" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 1, "Apache 2.0 under LF Projects; no relicensing path found" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 1.5, "All four channels released in 2026; docs refresh and Discord in 2026; the Flatcar-branded AKS preview was retired for Azure Container Linux" ], [ "Security response", 2, "Embargoed-issue process and CVE lists in release notes; no published response times or CNA found" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "Ignition-provisioned standard images (qcow2, VMDK, OVA, cloud images)" ], [ "Export path", 1.5, "Workloads are containers; Ignition configs transfer in part to Fedora CoreOS" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0.5, "Nebraska is optional; any Kubernetes distribution" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 0.5, "Images for every major cloud, Proxmox VE, VMware, Hyper-V, OpenStack and bare metal" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1.5, "Ignition and sysext skills are niche but shared with Fedora CoreOS" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 1.5, "No partner programme; third-party support exists but no provider list is published" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 1, "Nothing in the OS" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4, "Ignition, Butane, Terraform modules and a Cluster API provider" ], [ "Skills and certification", 1.5, "No certification; community docs and Discord" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Flatcar is the most portable container host in this group: the same image-based, auto-updating design runs on every major cloud, on Proxmox VE, VMware and Hyper-V, and on bare metal, with no vendor gate. Its scores are held back by the things a general-purpose distribution offers and Flatcar does not: an 18-month LTS instead of years, no FIPS or Common Criteria work, no certification programme. The sustainability picture improved with CNCF incubation in 2024 and Microsoft's decision in 2026 to build Azure Container Linux on Flatcar, though that same decision retired the Flatcar-branded AKS preview. A buyer should check who will answer the phone, because the project publishes no list of paid support providers. For Kubernetes nodes outside a single cloud it is the natural choice among the container hosts scored here.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/flatcar", "ai": { "infra": { "2018": 0.5, "2019": 0.5, "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "stack": { "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "Prebuilt NVIDIA driver and runtime sysexts per release, tested against the GPU operator (secondary source)", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Ignition and the Nebraska API; no agent interface" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 1, "ga": 1, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "The one item is the prebuilt NVIDIA driver extension, reported by users as shipping from release 4344.0.0." }, "ai_reading": "Flatcar supports GPU nodes by shipping NVIDIA driver and runtime extensions matched to each release, which removes the boot-time compile it used before. It has no AI stack, no assistant and no agent interface, and publishes nothing about AI in its blog or roadmap.", "mom": 5, "credT": 18.5, "commT": 9.5, "lockT": 5, "integT": 8 }, { "key": "bottlerocket", "name": "Bottlerocket", "short": "Bottlerocket", "kind": "product", "group": "container", "since": 2020, "archetype": "Kubernetes-paced upstream rider", "grade": "B", "driver": "U", "mix": { "V": 18, "C": 18, "M": 0, "U": 55, "P": 9 }, "idx": 0.5, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "security": { "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "hardware": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "virt": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 2.5 }, "containers": { "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "packages": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "fleet": { "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "storage": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "integration": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "ai": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "A release every two to four weeks through 2026, each dated in the changelog" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3.5, "Public GitHub issues and changelog; previews are labelled; no dated roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 3.5, "Secure Boot, FIPS, SBOM and GPU DRA all shipped; the ecs-4 preview has been open since 2026-05" ], [ "Velocity", 3.5, "Most releases carry a kernel, variant or security feature beyond rebases" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 2.5, "Variants retire with Kubernetes versions; bare metal and ECS-1 variants were dropped" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 0, "Free; nothing to raise" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 0.5, "Open source; AWS Support plans apply only on EKS and ECS" ], [ "Channel and access", 0.5, "Open download and public AMIs; VMware images published by the project" ], [ "Owner stability", 1.5, "AWS employees lead; no foundation and no stated governance beyond GitHub" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 2.5, "Nodes must move to a newer variant whenever a Kubernetes version retires" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 2, "Own image layout, TOML settings and API; no package manager" ], [ "Export path", 2, "Workloads are containers and move; host configuration does not transfer" ], [ "Stack coupling", 2, "Update operator, control container and SSM are AWS paths; VMware variants exist" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 3, "AWS first; VMware variants remain; bare metal variants are gone" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 2, "API-driven administration without a shell is unfamiliar to most Linux teams" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 1, "No programme; AWS Partner Network in general" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 1, "Nothing in the OS" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4, "Settings API, TOML user data, CloudFormation, Terraform and Karpenter" ], [ "Skills and certification", 2, "AWS training only" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Bottlerocket does one job well: it is an image-based, read-only, SELinux-enforcing host that updates atomically and rolls back on a failed boot, and it has added Secure Boot, FIPS variants, an SBOM in every image and GPU resource allocation since 2023. Its weakness as an enterprise Linux is structural: there is no calendar lifecycle, variants retire with Kubernetes versions, bare metal variants are gone, and nobody supports it outside AWS. A buyer should check that the Kubernetes minor they run has a variant with the FIPS or NVIDIA build they need, because those exist for some combinations only. For EKS and ECS nodes it is the lowest-maintenance choice in this group.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/bottlerocket", "ai": { "infra": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 3 }, "stack": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "Opt-in GPU DRA for Kubernetes 1.34 to 1.37 and driver branch selection at boot; sharing is scheduled by Kubernetes", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Settings API through apiclient and the control container; no agent interface" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 3, "ga": 3, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "Neuron kernel module (2024-08), NVIDIA driver branch selection and opt-in GPU DRA (2026-09) all shipped as GA in the release that announced them." }, "ai_reading": "Bottlerocket ships NVIDIA and Neuron driver variants for each Kubernetes minor and added opt-in GPU dynamic resource allocation in 2026, so GPU nodes are a first-class case. It has no AI stack, no assistant and no agent interface; those are AWS service concerns.", "mom": 6, "credT": 17.5, "commT": 5, "lockT": 11, "integT": 8 }, { "key": "leap", "name": "openSUSE Leap", "short": "Leap", "kind": "product", "group": "community", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Community twin of SLES", "grade": "B", "driver": "U", "mix": { "V": 14, "C": 7, "M": 0, "U": 64, "P": 14 }, "idx": 0.67, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "security": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "hardware": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "virt": { "2015": 3.5, "2016": 3.5, "2017": 3.5, "2018": 3.5, "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "containers": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "packages": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "fleet": { "2015": 1.5, "2016": 1.5, "2017": 1.5, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "storage": { "2015": 4.5, "2016": 4.5, "2017": 4.5, "2018": 4.5, "2019": 4.5, "2020": 4.5, "2021": 4.5, "2022": 4.5, "2023": 4.5, "2024": 4.5, "2025": 4.5, "2026": 4.5 }, "integration": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "ai": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 3.5, "Yearly minors (June in the 15 line, November with SLES from 16); the 16.1 release candidate ran a week late against a published roadmap" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 4, "Public roadmap with dated milestones, release notes and news posts; the lifetime wiki was not reachable in this pass" ], [ "Say-do", 3.5, "16.0 shipped on the announced day; the 16.1 release candidate slipped about a week; the 2034 support text in the release notes contradicts the 24-month policy" ], [ "Velocity", 2.5, "Minors are mostly rebases of SLE service packs; 16.0 brought the one big change" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 3, "24 months per minor means an upgrade every one to two years; 15 to 16 changed the installer, the security module and the CPU baseline" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 3, "Release engineering and most packages come from SUSE staff; community packagers add the rest" ], [ "Backer health", 3, "One sponsor, SUSE, itself owned by private equity with a sale reported in 2026" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 0.5, "Open-source packages from SLE and Factory; no single licensor" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 1.5, "Leap 16 is planned to 16.6 in 2031, but the project depends on SUSE keeping the SLES 16 base open" ], [ "Security response", 1, "Security updates flow from SUSE's SLE maintenance on the same day" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM, qcow2 and OCI; Btrfs root readable on any Linux" ], [ "Export path", 1, "Supported migration to SLES; moving anywhere else is a reinstall" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0.5, "Uyuni optional; any storage and network" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 1, "16 requires x86-64-v2 and POWER10; otherwise any server, fully offline" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1, "zypper, Agama and SELinux skills; a smaller pool than the Debian and RHEL families" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 1, "None; SUSE partners cover SLES" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "None; Uyuni is a separate project" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 3, "Salt, Ansible, cloud-init and the Uyuni API" ], [ "Skills and certification", 2, "SUSE skills transfer; no Leap certification" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Leap is SLES 16 without the subscription, released the same day and patched from the same maintenance stream, which is why its security and storage lines match the commercial product. What it lacks is everything SUSE sells: certifications, live patching, support beyond 24 months per minor and a management product of its own. The lifecycle is the weak point and the published text is contradictory, with release notes that copy the SLES 2034 date next to a 24-month community policy. The thing to check is the upgrade rhythm: plan a minor upgrade every year or two, and treat the migration tool to SLES as the paid exit.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/leap", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1.5, "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2015": 0.5, "2016": 0.5, "2017": 0.5, "2018": 0.5, "2019": 0.5, "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 0.5, "2023": 0.5, "2024": 0.5, "2025": 0.5, "2026": 0.5 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "NVIDIA CUDA repository for openSUSE 15 (start date not read); none listed for 16 as of 2026-10-15", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Uyuni's XML-RPC API is the only agent-drivable surface and belongs to a separate project" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 0, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "No AI items were announced for Leap; SUSE's MCP previews ship in SLES 16." }, "ai_reading": "Leap carries whatever GPU support NVIDIA and AMD publish for it, and NVIDIA's repository list has no Leap 16 entry yet. There is no AI platform, no assistant and no agent interface in the project itself.", "mom": 10.5, "credT": 16.5, "commT": 9, "lockT": 4, "integT": 6.5 }, { "key": "azl", "name": "Azure Linux (formerly CBL-Mariner)", "short": "Azure Linux", "kind": "product", "group": "cloud", "since": 2020, "archetype": "Integrated stack inside AKS", "grade": "B", "driver": "P", "mix": { "V": 27, "C": 9, "M": 0, "U": 18, "P": 45 }, "idx": 0.75, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "security": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "hardware": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2.5 }, "virt": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "containers": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "packages": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "fleet": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "storage": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "integration": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "ai": { "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 0.5, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 4.5, "Monthly dated 3.0 releases on GitHub and weekly AKS node images" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 3.5, "Public GitHub feature roadmap board and release feed; 4.0 has no date" ], [ "Say-do", 3, "3.0 went from AKS preview on 1.31 to GA on 1.32 as stated; the Flatcar for AKS and OS Guard previews were retired rather than taken to GA" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "Kernel lines, FIPS and HWE kernels arrived; most releases are package and CVE refreshes" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 2, "Renamed in 2024, 2.0 retired 2025-11-30 without a published table, 4.0 moves the base to Fedora, OS Guard retires 2026-12" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 0.5, "No charge on AKS; nothing to change" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 1, "Free; Microsoft support only inside Azure support plans and only for the AKS container host" ], [ "Channel and access", 1.5, "Open source on GitHub; supported use is on Azure; ISO installs are community supported" ], [ "Owner stability", 1.5, "Microsoft is stable; its Linux strategy shifted three times since 2023 (rename, Fedora base, Flatcar derived Azure Container Linux)" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 3, "Majors retire with Kubernetes versions; 2.0 lost support after about three years with images removed 11 months later" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "RPM, VHD, ISO and OCI base images" ], [ "Export path", 2, "Not binary compatible with RHEL or any Fedora release; on AKS a node pool OS SKU change moves workloads off in one step" ], [ "Stack coupling", 2.5, "Built around Azure agents, AKS add-ons and Arc" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 3.5, "Supported only on Azure; about 400 packages tuned for AKS" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1.5, "RPM and systemd skills transfer; the build toolchain is Azure specific" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 1.5, "No Azure Linux programme; the Microsoft partner programme in general" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 2.5, "AKS and Azure subscriptions provide tenancy" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 4, "AKS API, Azure CLI, Bicep and Terraform" ], [ "Skills and certification", 3, "Azure certifications; nothing Linux specific" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Azure Linux is a competent, small and well patched node OS for AKS, and a weak general-purpose distribution. Its scores are capped by what is missing on a public page: a support lifecycle, a hardware list, and any supported path outside Azure. Microsoft's own direction adds uncertainty: 4.0 moves the base to Fedora, the OS Guard preview is being retired, and the new Azure Container Linux is built on Flatcar rather than on the Azure Linux image model. A buyer should ask Microsoft for a written lifecycle for 3.0 and 4.0 before standardising on it beyond AKS defaults. Inside AKS it costs nothing extra and follows the Kubernetes cadence automatically.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/azl", "ai": { "infra": { "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 0.5, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "stack": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "All NVIDIA GPU SKUs on AKS; sharing and scheduling come from AKS and the GPU operator", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Azure and AKS APIs; nothing specific to the OS" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 1, "ga": 1, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "The one item is GPU VM size coverage on AKS; no AI feature of the OS itself was announced." }, "ai_reading": "Azure Linux runs NVIDIA GPU nodes on AKS, and that is the extent of its AI content. The distribution ships no AI stack, no assistant and no agent interface; those live in Azure services above it.", "mom": 21, "credT": 16, "commT": 7.5, "lockT": 10.5, "integT": 11 }, { "key": "openeuler", "name": "openEuler (OpenAtom Foundation)", "short": "openEuler", "kind": "product", "group": "asia", "since": 2020, "archetype": "Sponsor-aligned builder", "grade": "C", "driver": "U", "mix": { "V": 14, "C": 21, "M": 0, "U": 50, "P": 14 }, "idx": 0.4, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "security": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "hardware": { "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "virt": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2.5 }, "containers": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "packages": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "fleet": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "storage": { "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "integration": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "ai": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 2, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 3 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 3.5, "Innovation release every six months and an LTS every two years, kept from 2020 to 2025; the 26.03 LTS the pattern predicts has not appeared" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 2.5, "Release policy published in 2020 and open Gitee trackers, but the lifecycle table is an image and news pages were unreachable from outside" ], [ "Say-do", 3, "Six-month calendar held through 26.09; the 16 million installation target was reported as met; SuperPoD support shipped in SP3 as announced; 26.03 LTS missing" ], [ "Velocity", 3.5, "SP3 and SP4 added SuperPoD support, a 64K Arm kernel, NPU scheduling and confidential computing pieces within six months of each other" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 3, "Four-year LTS window with regular service packs; no renames; whether the window was extended cannot be read from the image table" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 3.5, "Huawei is the origin vendor and the sponsor of the SuperPoD and Ascend work; its share of commits is not published in English; 23,000 contributors claimed" ], [ "Backer health", 2, "OpenAtom Foundation hosts the project with 2,100 member organisations; funding depends on Huawei and other Chinese vendors" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 1, "Mulan PSL v2 stated for the project; packages keep upstream licences; no relicensing seen" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 0.5, "Releases every six months through 2026-10 and service packs for two LTS lines in 2026" ], [ "Security response", 2.5, "A security directory and advisories exist on the repository, but the advisory process and CVE response times were not read" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "RPM, qcow2 and OCI images; openEuler-specific kernel and packages" ], [ "Export path", 2, "No RHEL compatibility promise; migration tooling away from openEuler not found" ], [ "Stack coupling", 1, "Any storage and standard Linux networking" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 2, "Strongest on Kunpeng Arm, Ascend and domestic CPUs; x86-64 supported; AWS image available" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 3, "Skills, training and most documentation concentrated in China; English docs cover the main guides" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 2.5, "Community membership open to companies; compatibility certification exists but its terms were not read" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "Nothing in the OS beyond standard Linux accounts" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 2.5, "Standard Linux tooling; no vendor management API" ], [ "Skills and certification", 1.5, "Certification programmes operate in China; availability elsewhere not verified" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "openEuler scores like a mid-table enterprise distribution with one strength, architecture breadth, and one weakness, visibility. It ships every six months, covers six CPU families and now runs a full AI stack, yet the lifecycle table is an image, security errata and certifications could not be read, and much of the record sits behind pages that refuse outside requests. The sustainability risk is concentration: the foundation is real, but the hardware and AI roadmap follows Huawei. A buyer should first ask the vendor for the written support end date of 24.03 LTS and the advisory feed, because neither could be read here.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/openeuler", "ai": { "infra": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 2, "2026": 2.5 }, "stack": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "ops": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "agents": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 3 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "24.03 LTS SP4: xSched NPU scheduling framework and UB OS components; NVIDIA and AMD driver repositories not verified", "stack": "Intelligence BooM 2507 and 2511: full-stack AI solution with fine-tuning and inference (vendor claim; two adopting partners named)", "ops": "24.03 LTS: EulerCopilot assistant for problem analysis and operations (press coverage; scope not verified)", "agents": "openEuler Intelligence: LLM platform with MCP services and agent-based apps on the projects page; maturity not verified" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 6, "ga": 5, "preview": 1, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "EulerCopilot, Intelligence BooM 2507 and 2511, SuperPoD support in SP3 and xSched in SP4 counted as GA from vendor pages and press coverage; openEuler Intelligence counted as preview because no release note was read." }, "ai_reading": "openEuler puts more AI into the operating system than any other distribution in this group: an LLM platform with MCP services, a tuning engine, an assistant and NPU scheduling. The evidence is vendor pages and press coverage, the accelerators are Huawei's, and NVIDIA or AMD driver repositories could not be confirmed.", "mom": 10, "credT": 15.5, "commT": 9.5, "lockT": 9, "integT": 7 }, { "key": "centos-stream", "name": "CentOS Stream", "short": "CentOS Stream", "kind": "product", "group": "community", "since": 2019, "archetype": "Vendor-run upstream", "grade": "B", "driver": "P", "mix": { "V": 11, "C": 33, "M": 0, "U": 0, "P": 56 }, "idx": 0.25, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "security": { "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "hardware": { "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "virt": { "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "containers": { "2019": 3.5, "2020": 3.5, "2021": 3.5, "2022": 3.5, "2023": 3.5, "2024": 3.5, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 3.5 }, "packages": { "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "fleet": { "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "storage": { "2019": 4, "2020": 4, "2021": 4, "2022": 4, "2023": 4, "2024": 4, "2025": 4, "2026": 4 }, "integration": { "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "ai": { "2019": 1.5, "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 3, "Continuous updates; new streams arrive on Red Hat's major release calendar with no published dates" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 4, "Board meetings recorded and published, monthly news, open SIG process; no written roadmap" ], [ "Say-do", 3, "Since 2023 the few announced items shipped (Stream 10, Secure Boot); the 2020 CentOS Linux reversal remains the reference case for a sponsor changing course" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "Several substantive changes per cycle, all from Red Hat's RHEL engineering" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 2, "CentOS Linux 8 ended in 2021 instead of 2029; Stream 8 ended 2024-05-31; no minor releases to hold" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 4, "Nearly all engineering and release work is done by Red Hat staff" ], [ "Backer health", 1, "Red Hat is a profitable IBM subsidiary and funds the infrastructure" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 3.5, "Red Hat changed the meaning of CentOS in 2020 and the source policy in 2023 and owns the trademark" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 2, "Stream 10 is active; Stream 8 ended on schedule; build infrastructure is moving to Konflux" ], [ "Security response", 3.5, "No formal security errata; fixes arrive as package updates without advisories or published response times" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 0.5, "RPM, qcow2, OCI" ], [ "Export path", 1, "No supported in-place path to RHEL or a rebuild; reinstall or a subscription switch" ], [ "Stack coupling", 0, "No management stack required" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 0.5, "Any x86-64 or arm64 server; images from the Cloud SIG" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 0.5, "RHEL skills transfer one to one" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 1, "No partner programme; companies take part through SIGs" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "No management product" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 2.5, "Standard EL tooling: Ansible, community Terraform, web console API" ], [ "Skills and certification", 2.5, "RHEL skills transfer; no certification of its own" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "CentOS Stream scores low on lifecycle and fleet because it is built for a different job: it is the open development branch of RHEL, with current packages and no release to pin. Its software is RHEL's software a few months early, which is why packaging and storage match the rebuilds. The sustainability risk is concentrated in one sponsor that has changed course twice, and the lack of formal security errata is the first thing a regulated buyer should check. It suits teams that accept a continuously updated EL base; anyone looking for a replacement for CentOS Linux should look at the rebuilds.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/centos-stream", "ai": { "infra": { "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 }, "stack": { "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "NVIDIA driver from NVIDIA's repository", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Web console API and Ansible; no agent interface" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 2, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 2, "dropped": 0, "note": "Both items are SIG proposals or approvals, with nothing shipped yet." }, "ai_reading": "CentOS Stream has no AI content of its own. The 2026 SIG proposals for AI enablement and accelerated infrastructure are community groups and will count only when they publish packages or images.", "mom": 1.5, "credT": 15, "commT": 14, "lockT": 2.5, "integT": 6.5 }, { "key": "cloudlinux", "name": "CloudLinux OS", "short": "CloudLinux", "kind": "product", "group": "commercial", "since": 2015, "archetype": "Dependable builder", "grade": "C", "driver": "C", "mix": { "V": 13, "C": 60, "M": 0, "U": 20, "P": 7 }, "idx": 0.18, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3.5 }, "security": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 3 }, "hardware": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "virt": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "containers": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "packages": { "2015": 2.5, "2016": 2.5, "2017": 2.5, "2018": 2.5, "2019": 2.5, "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "fleet": { "2015": 2, "2016": 2, "2017": 2, "2018": 2, "2019": 2, "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 3 }, "storage": { "2015": 3, "2016": 3, "2017": 3, "2018": 3, "2019": 3, "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "integration": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 }, "ai": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 3, "10.x tracks AlmaLinux 10 minors; 9.7 and 9.8 directories at 2025-11 and 2026-07; no schedule published" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 2.5, "Blog posts carry dated updates and kernel versions; no public roadmap; the documentation home shows navigation only and the changelog page returned no entries" ], [ "Say-do", 3, "CloudLinux 9 went from beta (2023-01) to GA; ELevate steps and the LTS kernel shipped as posted; few items are announced ahead of time" ], [ "Velocity", 2.5, "One or two substantive items a year: ELevate steps, the LTS kernel, Isolates phases" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 3, "Lines follow RHEL majors with in-place upgrades; no renames; support windows not published" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Price and licence volatility", 1.5, "Per-server monthly prices in three editions with volume tiers; price history not found" ], [ "Purchase constraints", 2, "Subscription only, per server per month; no free or perpetual edition; download needs a licence key or trial" ], [ "Channel and access", 2, "Sold direct and through panel vendors and hosts; repositories need a licence; community forum discontinued 2026-08-03" ], [ "Owner stability", 1.5, "Private, founder-led since 2010; TuxCare brand added 2021-05; no acquisition found" ], [ "Cost of staying supported", 2, "In-place upgrades are free with ELevate; KernelCare live patching and extended lifecycle support are priced separately" ] ], "risk": "commercial", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "RPM; CloudLinux-specific kernel and LVE modules" ], [ "Export path", 2, "Conversion back to AlmaLinux is not documented; leaving means giving up LVE and CageFS limits" ], [ "Stack coupling", 2, "Value depends on cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin integration" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 1, "Any x86-64 server; no cloud attach" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 1.5, "EL skills plus CloudLinux selectors and limits tooling" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 3, "Reseller channel through hosting providers and panel vendors; terms not read" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 3, "Per-account resource limits and isolation are the product; per-site limits in beta" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 2, "Standard EL tooling; licence API not read" ], [ "Skills and certification", 1.5, "No certification found; EL skills transfer" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "CloudLinux OS is a hosting product scored against general server anchors, so its numbers are modest where it does not compete (hardware, cloud images, containers, AI) and solid where it does (per-account limits, panel integration, patch rollout discipline). Since 2023 the vendor has mostly delivered what hosts asked for: in-place upgrades between majors, an LTS kernel, panel support and same-day kernel fixes with staged rollouts. The gap is documentation: no lifecycle page, an empty changelog and an image for a product page. A buyer should get the support end dates for 9 and 10 in writing before relying on the EL pattern.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/cloudlinux", "ai": { "infra": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "stack": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2015": 0, "2016": 0, "2017": 0, "2018": 0, "2019": 0, "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2015": 1, "2016": 1, "2017": 1, "2018": 1, "2019": 1, "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "None", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Standard Linux APIs; licence API not read" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 0, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 0, "dropped": 0, "note": "No AI item was found on the vendor blog from 2023 to 2026." }, "ai_reading": "CloudLinux OS has no AI workload support, no AI stack and no assistant of its own. Its only AI-relevant surface is the standard Linux API, which any agent can drive.", "mom": 8.5, "credT": 14, "commT": 9, "lockT": 7.5, "integT": 9.5 }, { "key": "anolis", "name": "Anolis OS (OpenAnolis)", "short": "Anolis OS", "kind": "product", "group": "asia", "since": 2020, "archetype": "Sponsor-led innovator", "grade": "C", "driver": "V", "mix": { "V": 50, "C": 13, "M": 0, "U": 38, "P": 0 }, "idx": 0.8, "domains": { "lifecycle": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "security": { "2020": 2, "2021": 2, "2022": 2, "2023": 2, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2.5 }, "hardware": { "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3.5, "2026": 4 }, "virt": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "containers": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 2.5 }, "packages": { "2020": 2.5, "2021": 2.5, "2022": 2.5, "2023": 2.5, "2024": 2.5, "2025": 2.5, "2026": 3 }, "fleet": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "storage": { "2020": 3, "2021": 3, "2022": 3, "2023": 3, "2024": 3, "2025": 3, "2026": 3 }, "integration": { "2020": 1.5, "2021": 1.5, "2022": 1.5, "2023": 1.5, "2024": 2, "2025": 2, "2026": 2 }, "ai": { "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 0.5, "2023": 0.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 } }, "cred": [ [ "Cadence", 3, "23.x point releases about yearly (23.3 in 2025-07, 23.5 in 2026-07) and 8.x following RHEL; no schedule published" ], [ "Roadmap transparency", 2, "Announcements appear as articles on Alibaba's developer site and an open bug tracker; no English pages, no lifecycle policy found" ], [ "Say-do", 2.5, "Little is announced ahead of release; 23.6 timing was discussed in committee and cannot be checked; RISC-V went from preview (23.3) to RVA23 builds (23.5) in a year" ], [ "Velocity", 3, "23.5 added three CPU platforms, RVA23 and 147 packages in one release" ], [ "Lifecycle stability", 2.5, "Anolis 7 ended 2024-06-30 and 8 runs to 2031-03-31 on Alibaba Cloud's table; the 23 line has no published window" ] ], "comm": [ [ "Maintainer concentration", 3.5, "Alibaba Cloud co-founded the community and builds its own distribution on Anolis; the share of commits by company is not published" ], [ "Backer health", 2, "Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 and 3 are built on Anolis 7 and 8, which ties the sponsor's product to the project; 1,000 or more member organisations claimed" ], [ "Licence-change risk", 1.5, "Packages keep upstream licences; the distribution's own licence terms were not stated on the pages read" ], [ "Abandonment signs", 1, "23.5 in 2026-07, 8.10 in 2025-04 and monthly committee meetings" ], [ "Security response", 3, "Fix counts are published per release; no advisory feed or CVE response times found" ] ], "risk": "sustainability", "lock": [ [ "Formats", 1, "RPM, qcow2 and OCI images" ], [ "Export path", 1.5, "7 and 8 are RHEL compatible, so moving to another EL distribution is a package swap; the 23 line diverges" ], [ "Stack coupling", 1, "Any storage and standard Linux networking" ], [ "Hardware / cloud coupling", 2.5, "Strongest on Chinese CPUs and Alibaba Cloud; x86-64 and AArch64 supported" ], [ "Skills and tooling coupling", 3, "Skills and documentation concentrated in China; EL skills transfer to the 7 and 8 lines" ] ], "integ": [ [ "Partner programme openness", 2, "Membership open to organisations; resale and support terms not found" ], [ "Multi-tenancy and self-service", 0.5, "Nothing in the OS beyond standard Linux accounts" ], [ "API and infrastructure-as-code", 2, "Standard EL tooling; no vendor API" ], [ "Skills and certification", 1, "No certification programme found" ] ], "alt": null, "ranked": true, "reading": "Anolis OS is two distributions under one name: a RHEL-compatible 8 line that Alibaba Cloud builds its own product on, and a 23 line that moves fast on Chinese CPUs and RISC-V. The scores are held back by what cannot be read rather than by what ships: no lifecycle policy, no advisory feed and no English release notes were found, so lifecycle, security and credibility sit near the middle of the scale. The sustainability risk is the sponsor: the project's health follows Alibaba Cloud's interest in it. A buyer should first obtain the support end date for the 23 line in writing, because no page read here states one.", "report": "/reports/enterprise-linux-ledger-2026/anolis", "ai": { "infra": { "2020": 0.5, "2021": 0.5, "2022": 0.5, "2023": 0.5, "2024": 1.5, "2025": 1.5, "2026": 1.5 }, "stack": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "ops": { "2020": 0, "2021": 0, "2022": 0, "2023": 0, "2024": 0, "2025": 0, "2026": 0 }, "agents": { "2020": 1, "2021": 1, "2022": 1, "2023": 1, "2024": 1, "2025": 1, "2026": 1 } }, "ai_basis": { "infra": "epao repository with NVIDIA driver and CUDA packages, named in Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 documentation; first availability date not verified", "stack": "None", "ops": "None", "agents": "Standard Linux APIs; SkillHub and OSCopilot are linked from the community site without release notes" }, "ai_ledger": { "announced": 3, "ga": 0, "preview": 0, "pending": 3, "dropped": 0, "note": "The AI-native route with three plans (2024-09), the AI Agent ecosystem push (2026-05) and the OSCopilot and SkillHub links could not be matched to a released feature." }, "ai_reading": "OpenAnolis calls itself an AI-native operating system community, and the one AI fact that could be verified is a community repository with NVIDIA driver and CUDA packages used by Alibaba Cloud Linux 3. Nothing else, including the OSCopilot assistant, could be traced to a release.", "mom": 8.5, "credT": 13, "commT": 11, "lockT": 9, "integT": 5.5 } ] }