Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ go after Red Hat with the Open Enterprise Linux Association

In a groundbreaking move, CIQ, Oracle, and SUSE have come together to announce the formation of the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA). The goal of this new collaborative trade association is to foster "the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by providing open and free enterprise Linux source code."

The inception of OpenELA is a direct response to Red Hat's accurate alterations to RHEL source code availability. This new Delaware 501(c)(6) US nonprofit association will provide an open process for organizations to access source code. This will enable it to build RHEL-compatible distributions. The initiative underscores the importance of community-driven source code, which serves as a foundation for creating compatible distributions.

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Mike McGrath, Red Hat's vice president of Red Hat Core Platforms, sparked this when he announced Red Hat would be changing how users can access RHEL's source code. For the non-Hatters among you, Core Platforms is the division in charge of RHEL. McGrath wrote, "CentOS Stream will now be the sole repository for public RHEL-related source code releases. For Red Hat customers and partners, source code will remain available via the Red Hat Customer Portal."

This made it much more difficult for RHEL clone vendors, such as AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, and Oracle Linux, to create perfect RHEL variant distributions. AlmaLinux elected to try to work with Red Hat's new source code rules. Oracle restarted its old fighting ways with IBM/Red Hat; SUSE announced an RHEL-compatible distro fork plan; and Rocky Linux found new ways to obtain RHEL code. Now the last two, along with CIQ, which started Rocky Linux, have joined forces.  

Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE's Chief Technology and Product Officer, emphasized the significance of collaboration in driving innovation. He stated, "Collaboration is critical to fostering innovation, which is why they welcome everyone to be part of this association and help us uphold open community standards." Gregory Kurtzer, CIQ's CEO, echoed this sentiment, marking the announcement as the beginning of a new era for Enterprise Linux.

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According to the association, OpenELA is not just about providing open-source code. It's about upholding the spirit of open source and ensuring continuity for all Enterprise Linux downstream distributions. "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," added Wim Coekaerts, Oracle executive VP of software development, "OpenELA is their response to this need."

SUSE CEO Dirk-Peter (DP) van Leeuwen, added, "We're determined to make choice happen. The Open Enterprise Linux Association aims to give us all open access to source code that will bring the industry together. At the same time, we're committed to continuing their first-class support for SUSE Linux Enterprise. Their conviction is that their customers should be free to decide what works for them."

The OpenELA will only be producing source code. It will not produce its own binary distribution. The members, and anyone wanting to try it, can create their own EL-compatible distributions from the code. 

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Specifically, the OpenELA will be delivering the following by year's end.

OpenELA will provide sources necessary for RHEL-compatible downstreams to exist, with an initial focus on RHEL versions 8, 9, and possibly EL7. The project is committed to indefinitely ensuring the continued availability of OpenELA sources to the community.

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As Kurtzer explained, "At this point, the goal of OpenELA is to focus on providing sources from where vendors can get and build their own distro. Community members like Rocky Linux and others will continue producing distros like before." 

He added, "From the Rocky and CIQ side, it is important to remember that while CIQ is supporting this effort to ensure the longevity of all Enterprise Linux distributions, Rocky Linux and the Rocky Linux Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) is a separate entity and the decision and announcement of that is pending their board of directors."

The association claims its mission revolves around offering a secure, transparent, and reliable Linux source that's accessible globally. OpenELA's core tenets reflect its commitment to transparency, community inclusivity, and public benefit. It aims to provide a consistent and secure upstream location for all interested in Enterprise Linux distribution sources.

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The initial OpenELA board of directors will include equal representation from its founding entities, CIQ, Oracle, and SUSE. The group will also welcome other organizations and community members to help "to build a robust, community-driven standard that ensures impartiality and equilibrium in the RHEL ecosystem." 

Check here for how to get involved and join OpenELA via e-mail and Slack. 

And, what does Red Hat make of this? McGrath told me: 

In their view, 'enterprise Linux' isn't an implementation standard; it goes beyond the bits to encompass the expertise, support, and engineering that backs an operating system. This is what makes Red Hat Enterprise Linux an enterprise-level Linux product. We're proud to employ many of the talented minds driving innovation across not just Linux, but open source in general, advancing upstream projects and enterprise applications in tandem. They have always welcomed ongoing contributions to the broader Linux community, whether personally motivated or from companies like Oracle and SUSE, that actually move enterprise-level Linux forward rather than replacing one logo with another.

Oracle, SUSE and CIQ launch the Open Enterprise Linux Association amid Red Hat controversy

The fallout from Red Hat’s accurate decision to make it harder to access the source code of its flagship Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution continues. A number of Linux distributions, including Alma Linux, Rocky Linux and Oracle Linux, based their distributions on RHEL. When Red Hat cut off the standard ways they used to get the source code for their distributions, SUSE quickly jumped into the breach with a RHEL fork.

Today, Oracle, SUSE and CIQ (the commercial entity behind Rocky Linux) are launching a more formal pact in the form of the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA), which describes itself as a “community repository for enterprise Linux sources.” In the context of the Red Hat saga, OpenELA’s tagline says a lot: “No subscriptions. No passwords. No barriers. Freeloaders welcome.”

Image Credits: SUSE

The association’s stated mission is to encourage the development of RHEL-compatible distributions by providing open and free Enterprise Linux source code, starting later this year with the sources necessary to build RHEL 8 and 9. Support for RHEL 7 is currently being listed as “possibly.”

“Collaboration is critical to fostering innovation, which is why they welcome everyone to be part of this association and help us uphold open community standards,” said Thomas Di Giacomo, chief technology and product officer of SUSE. “SUSE is a strong believer in making choice happen. Together with the open source community they will redefine what it truly means to be open and deliver a stronger future for EL.”

Red Hat’s decision left a vacuum in the Linux distribution space and SUSE, as one of the largest commercial Linux entities besides Red Hat, seems to be more than willing to fill it. Oracle’s association with this project may be a bit more of a surprise — and its reputation in the open-source ecosystem remains tarnished — but the company has long based its Oracle Linux distribution on Red Hat, and the Oracle Cloud essentially runs on it. Unlike some other companies, though, Oracle Linux offers support for what it calls the ‘Red Hat Compatible Kernel’ and the ‘Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel’ with its own enhancements.

It’s also worth noting that SUSE’s existing portfolio of Linux distributions won’t change because of this move.

“We will, of course, stay fully committed to their own Linux portfolio as well as to their openSUSE Linux distributions,” wrote Vojtěch Pavlík, SUSE’s GM for business-critical Linux, in a separate blog post today. “With their introduction of Liberty Linux last year, which provides support to former CentOS users and provides a migration path to many other distributions, they set the stage by supporting customers regardless of the distribution they are using, leading to more diversity and openness in the communities.”

The founding companies note that they invite other organizations and community members to join the new Linux foundation association.

Oracle, SUSE and CIQ launch Open Enterprise Linux Association to target Red Hat

SUSE SA, Oracle Corp. and Ctrl IQ Inc. announced Thursday the formation of a new industry alliance forming the Open Enterprise Linux Association, OpenELA, a new organization that aims to encourage the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The companies said the formation of the new alliance came about because of the accurate changes in the availability of the source code for RHEL, which would restrict its presence from public repositories. The new policy was outlined in June by Mike McGrath, vice president of core platforms at Red Hat, to make CentOS, a beta upstream version for the distribution, the only public source for RHEL, however as a repository it is always out of date. As a result, developers of open-source versions of Enterprise Linux would no longer be able to easily build and redistribute RHEL compatible distributions.

Already present RHEL clones such as Alma Linux and Rocky Linux that are available at no cost and with the source code have now had to make decisions about their future. Alma Linux opted to use the CentOS distribution and no longer be 1:1 bug compatible, but only “Application Binary Compatible,” and Rocky Linux said that it found new ways to obtain RHEL source code.

“Collaboration is critical to fostering innovation, which is why they welcome everyone to be part of this association and help us uphold open community standards,” said Thomas Di Giacomo, chief technology and product officer of SUSE. “SUSE is a strong believer in making choice happen.”

SUSE announced in July that it intended to fork RHEL along with a $10 million investment in the project over the next few years. The company said that it intends to produce “a long-term, enduring compatible alterative for RHEL and CentOS users.” The distribution would become an open-source foundation for ongoing free access alternative source code. Rocky Linux, which is commercially backed by CIQ, said would work in collaboration with SUSE on this project.

“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,” said Wim Coekaerts, head of Oracle Linux development, Oracle. “OpenELA is their response to this need, and it represents a commitment to helping the open-source community continue to develop compatible EL distributions.”

Later this year, OpenELA will provide sources necessary for downstream distributions compatible with RHEL to exist beginning with version EL8, EL9 and possibly EL7. The alliance members said that the project is committed to the continued availability of source availability for the community indefinitely.

“Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a new era for EL,” said Gregory Kurtzer, chief executive of CIQ. “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.”

It isn’t uncommon for companies to use open-source licenses and release code into public repositories in order to encourage developers to adopt and distribute their software broadly. A potential issue that can arise from this behavior is that although it gives a market appeal, it also means that the software is available for free in the market. Which could have been pressure from Red Hat’s parent company IBM Corp., which bought the company five years ago for nearly $34 billion.

Red Hat isn’t the only company that has been rethinking the use of open-source distribution and licenses recently. The information technology automation firm HashiCorp Inc. announced Thursday that it’s switching from the Mozilla Public License, a fully open-source license, to the Business Source License, on eight open-source projects.

Although the Business Source License allows for providing source availability as it is a license where the source code is provided, it is just not permissible for production use, but becomes open source four years after release. Also, under the BSL, users of HashiCorp projects can modify the source code but cannot use the code as part of commercial service during the four-year period if it competes with a HashiCorp commercial version.

In the announcement, HashiCorp Chief Technology Officer Armon Dadgar said that the open-source approach had made it possible for the company to partner closely with cloud providers and technology partners. “However, there are other vendors who take advantage of pure OSS models, and the community work on OSS projects, for their own commercial goals, without providing material contributions back,” he said. “We don’t believe this is in the spirit of open source.”

In conclusion, he said, that commercial open-source models would need to evolve in order to follow along with how the ecosystem was changing. Although these licenses have greatly reduced the barrier for developers to adopt services and products, and copy innovations, many different vendors have also caused the pendulum to swing toward closed source.

Current examples include enterprise infrastructure and software providers such as Redis Ltd., MongoDB Inc., Couchbase Inc., Cockroach Labs Inc. and MariaDB, all of which switched from open-source licenses to more restrictive licenses. The BSL was created by MariaDB in 2013 as a mixed alternative between open-source and commercially restrictive licenses that attempts to balance the interests between the two.

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