CIQ, Oracle and SUSE have announced their intent to form an Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA) aimed at driving the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), by providing open and free Enterprise Linux (EL) source code.
This collaboration has been formed in response to Red Hat’s recent changes to RHEL source code availability. The project has stated its commitment to ensuring the continued availability of OpenELA sources to the community indefinitely.
Starting later this year, OpenELA will provide sources necessary for the existence of downstreams compatible with RHEL, focusing on RHEL versions EL8, EL9 and possibly EL7.
OpenELA’s core tenets will include full compliance with the existing standard and provide fast, secure updates and fixes to ensure the resource remains free and redistributable for all.
By welcoming other organizations and community members to join and contribute actively, OpenELA will aim to build a community-driven standard that drives impartiality and equilibrium in the EL ecosystem.
Thomas Di Giacomo, chief technology and product officer, SUSE, said: “Collaboration is critical to fostering innovation, which is why we welcome everyone to be part of this association and help us uphold open community standards.
“SUSE is a strong believer in making choice happen. Together with the open source community we will redefine what it truly means to be open and deliver a stronger future for EL.”
Gregory Kurtzer, CEO, CIQ, said: “Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a new era for EL.
“With OpenELA, CIQ, Oracle and SUSE join forces with the open source community to ensure a stable and resilient future for both upstream and downstream communities to leverage Enterprise Linux.”
Wim Coekaerts, head of Oracle Linux development, Oracle, said: “Many large organizations reached out to us to express the importance of community-driven source code for EL that can act as a starting point for compatible distributions.
“OpenELA is our response to this need, and it represents a commitment to helping the open-source community continue to develop compatible EL distributions.”
