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CentOS
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<p>CentOS is a discontinued <a href="/facts/Linux_distribution/0vVl4N4f">Linux distribution</a> that provided a <a href="/facts/Free_and_open-source/1cHtjLCB">free and open-source</a> community-supported computing platform, functionally compatible with its <a href="/facts/Upstream_(software_development)/5eKgNGAn">upstream</a> source, <a href="/facts/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6Cekx2ed">Red Hat Enterprise Linux</a> (RHEL). In January 2014, CentOS announced the official joining with <a href="/facts/Red_Hat/5rhmBLBa">Red Hat</a> while staying independent from RHEL, under a new CentOS governing board. </p><p>The first CentOS release in May 2004, numbered as CentOS version 2, was forked from RHEL version 2.1AS. Since version 8, CentOS officially supports the <a href="/facts/X86-64/cyWvUFlP">x86-64</a>, <a href="/facts/AArch64/bauXRos7">ARM64</a>, and <a href="/facts/POWER8/kokdP5VT">POWER8</a> architectures, and releases up to version 6 also supported the <a href="/facts/IA-32/7yTv1aHH">IA-32</a> architecture. As of December 2015<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CentOS&action=edit">[update]</a>, AltArch releases of CentOS 7 are available for the IA-32 architecture, <a href="/facts/Power_ISA/GLy1WS0m">Power ISA</a>, and for the ARMv7hl and <a href="/facts/AArch64/bauXRos7">AArch64</a> variants of the <a href="/facts/ARM_architecture/SALsYA79">ARM architecture</a>. CentOS 8 was released on 24 September 2019. </p><p>In December 2020, Red Hat unilaterally terminated CentOS development in favor of <a href="/facts/CentOS_Stream/FGGc2cIx">CentOS Stream</a> 9, a distribution positioned <a href="/facts/Upstream_(software_development)/5eKgNGAn">upstream</a> of RHEL. In March 2021, CloudLinux (makers of <a href="/facts/CloudLinux_OS/NnWcaYs1">CloudLinux OS</a>) released a <a href="/facts/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_derivatives/pLElrb4r">RHEL derivative</a> called <a href="/facts/AlmaLinux/9nXs1Tfr">AlmaLinux</a>. Later in May 2021, one of the CentOS founders (Gregory Kurtzer) created the competing <a href="/facts/Rocky_Linux/5L6f3pN6">Rocky Linux</a> project as a successor to the original mission of CentOS. </p>