Oracle Linux hits 8.0, with a hint of deja vu…

Oracle Linux hits 8.0, with a hint of deja vu…

Big Red has unleashed Oracle Linux version 8, which could the OS of choice for those using the database giant’s cloud or appliances – or who just can’t bear to see the words Red Hat (or IBM).

The database giant took the wraps of its Linux flavour yesterday, with director of product management Simon Coter flagging up a raft of new features, including the introduction of the concept of Application Streams which allow “multiple versions of user space components [to] be delivered and updated more frequently than the core operating system packages.”

He also flagged up improved systems management with the inclusion of the Dandified Yum package manager, which “installs, updates, and removes packages on RPM-based Linux distributions” and Cockpit, “an interactive server administration interface that offers a live Linux session via a web browser.”

Also new are container tools, podman, buildah and skopeo, which “can be used to manage the same Linux containers that are produced and managed by Docker and other compatible container engines.”

If all of this is giving you a strange sense of deja vu, that’s probably because the details of Red Hat’ launch of RHEL 8.0 last month are lodged deep in your brain. As Wikipedia puts it,  Oracle Linux “is compiled from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) source code, replacing Red Hat branding with Oracle’s.”

Coter’s blog adds, that Oracle Linux 8 ships with the “Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) kernel package kernel-4.18.0-80.el8” adding that “The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK), which is being built from a more current upstream kernel version, is undergoing final development.”

It goes on to say that Oracle Linux “maintains binary compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which is independent of the kernel version that underlies the operating environment. Existing applications in user space will continue to run unmodified on Oracle Linux 8 and no re-certifications are needed for applications already certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.”

So, if you really don’t want a Red Hat anywhere in your Linux setup, and would much prefer a red block instead, you know where to go. More practically, if you’re already an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure customer you’ll already have access to Oracle Linux Premier Support.