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CentOS Project

CentOS Project

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Verified working Sep 18, 2026

A community Linux distro positioned just ahead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The CentOS Project provides CentOS Stream, a free Linux distribution that follows development just before Red Hat Enterprise Linux releases. The site also organizes community Special Interest Groups that build variants, packages, images, and documentation for cloud, storage, virtualization, hyperscale, automotive, and other infrastructure use cases.

Why it stands out

  • Closely tied to the RHEL development path, making it useful for anticipating enterprise Linux changes.
  • SIG structure supports specialized builds rather than only a single general-purpose distribution.
  • Includes community efforts for large-scale infrastructure, virtualization stacks, storage platforms, and cloud tooling.
  • Public governance, contribution paths, and multiple community support channels are surfaced from the main site.

Good to know

  • CentOS Stream is positioned ahead of RHEL, so it is not the same model as a downstream RHEL rebuild.
  • Some SIG outputs are specialized or in-development previews, so suitability varies by project.
  • Support is community-oriented through forums, mailing lists, chat, and bug reports rather than a packaged commercial support offering from this site.

Under the radar: If the standard download page does not match your target environment, check the Special Interest Groups first; the Alternative Images and Cloud SIG pages point to builds such as WSL, Live ISO, OKD, RDO, and Stream CoreOS images.

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Illustration for CentOS Project