{"slug": "almalinux", "name": "AlmaLinux", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 8, "warners": 0, "score": 3.51, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-01-28", "latest": "2026-09-11", "why": "So...I agree with the user above, what stops what I must imagine would be a simpler switch from RHEL to Alma instead of Debian?", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 6, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "So...I agree with the user above, what stops what I must imagine would be a simpler switch from RHEL to Alma instead of Debian?", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "almalinux.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://almalinux.org/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["AlmaLinux"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 794403344, "item_id": 49650209, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49650209", "by": "KAMSPioneer", "date": "2026-09-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So...I agree with the user above, what stops what I must imagine would be a simpler switch from RHEL to Alma instead of Debian?", "excerpt": "Best I can tell the article only decries the deprecation of x86-64-v2 in RHEL, and says that for that reason Alma is not a viable solution... Buuuut here is the fix: http://mirror.grid.uchicago.edu/pub/linux/alma/10.2/isos/x86_64_v2 There's you Alma installer with support for the processors they use, and you can even install EPEL packages built for x86-64-v2 on Alma as well! So...I agree with the user above, what sto", "context": "", "use_case": "Enterprise Linux distribution", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian"}, {"id": 794402400, "item_id": 49650150, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49650150", "by": "KAMSPioneer", "date": "2026-09-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Alma rebuilds with x86-64-v2 as a separate ISO", "excerpt": "Okay, but Alma rebuilds with x86-64-v2 as a separate ISO, and they even build EPEL packages with support for it: https://almalinux.org/blog/2025-06-26-epel-v2-now-covers-almalinux-10-stable/ So the original commenter's questions stands IMO: why is Alma not considered a solution?", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian"}, {"id": 765542336, "item_id": 47846396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47846396", "by": "eklavya", "date": "2026-04-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Everything works!!", "excerpt": "I was sooo in your boat just a while ago. Recently (15 days) switched to an Asus NUC pro (mini pc) with intel 225h. I kid you not, I am running Almalinux 10, KDE on it, not even the latest/greatest. I have HDR, VRR, 120Hz, media acceleration, with dual monitors with different settings you name it. Everything works!!", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop workstation OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman"}, {"id": 748762785, "item_id": 46797674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797674", "by": "cozzyd", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use AlmaLinux on my workstation and servers", "excerpt": "Or ... like me, switch to Fedora full time 20 years ago and still use it (ok, I use AlmaLinux on my workstation and servers)...", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "amadio", "context": "Gentoo developer who works at CERN", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49568606", "date": "2026-09-04"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["enterprise linux distribution", "desktop workstation os", "runs on an old acer"], "compared": [{"slug": "red-hat-enterprise-linux", "name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49648330", "title": "CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49562262", "title": "CERN Transitioning Computers To Debian After Being A Longtime RHEL Institution", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49538096", "title": "CERN Transitioning to Debian After Being a Longtime RHEL Institution", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48053623", "title": "Dirtyfrag: Universal Linux LPE", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47840219", "title": "Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47575212", "title": "\"Over 1.5M GitHub PRs have had ads injected into them by Copilot\"", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 3, "recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 794568273, "item_id": 49660517, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49660517", "by": "jasomill", "date": "2026-09-11", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "planning to continue to use RHEL and/or AlmaLinux", "excerpt": "And they are, in fact, planning to continue to use RHEL and/or AlmaLinux on their desktop and datacenter machines, even going so far as to adapt Fedora's build system to support building Debian packages[1] to leverage their existing RPM infrastructure. As I understand it (from reading another article[2] posted on HN a few days ago), this change applies purely to the layer of machines that more or less directly interf", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian"}, {"id": 794403344, "item_id": 49650209, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49650209", "by": "KAMSPioneer", "date": "2026-09-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So...I agree with the user above, what stops what I must imagine would be a simpler switch from RHEL to Alma instead of Debian?", "excerpt": "Best I can tell the article only decries the deprecation of x86-64-v2 in RHEL, and says that for that reason Alma is not a viable solution... Buuuut here is the fix: http://mirror.grid.uchicago.edu/pub/linux/alma/10.2/isos/x86_64_v2 There's you Alma installer with support for the processors they use, and you can even install EPEL packages built for x86-64-v2 on Alma as well! So...I agree with the user above, what sto", "context": "", "use_case": "Enterprise Linux distribution", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian"}, {"id": 794402400, "item_id": 49650150, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49650150", "by": "KAMSPioneer", "date": "2026-09-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Alma rebuilds with x86-64-v2 as a separate ISO", "excerpt": "Okay, but Alma rebuilds with x86-64-v2 as a separate ISO, and they even build EPEL packages with support for it: https://almalinux.org/blog/2025-06-26-epel-v2-now-covers-almalinux-10-stable/ So the original commenter's questions stands IMO: why is Alma not considered a solution?", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian"}, {"id": 793097697, "item_id": 49568606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49568606", "by": "amadio", "date": "2026-09-04", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "We run most things on Alma Linux", "excerpt": "I'm a Gentoo dev and work at CERN since a while. Of course I jokingly suggested that to my colleagues. I think it could actually work pretty well, though. Many physicists use Gentoo. We run most things on Alma Linux, but there's also RedHat in the mix. A good intersection of CERN and Gentoo is EESSI. They use CVMFS, which is a FUSE filesystem used for software distribution from CERN, and Gentoo as part of their softw", "context": "Gentoo developer who works at CERN", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Transitioning Computers To Debian After Being A Longtime RHEL Institution"}, {"id": 792626144, "item_id": 49539134, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539134", "by": "maxnoe", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Alma Linux specifically", "excerpt": "For industrial computers and other embedded systems. Computing AFAIK is very much still based on RHEL-based distros, Alma Linux specifically. https://linux.web.cern.ch/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "CERN Transitioning to Debian After Being a Longtime RHEL Institution"}, {"id": 768895777, "item_id": 48055986, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48055986", "by": "42wim", "date": "2026-05-07", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Tested on almalinux 8/9/10", "excerpt": "Runtime fix made with Claude on https://gist.github.com/42wim/ddd3a82a81b3e6413420054d5bf5a95c Stops the exploit, ymmv Tested on almalinux 8/9/10", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dirtyfrag: Universal Linux LPE"}, {"id": 765542336, "item_id": 47846396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47846396", "by": "eklavya", "date": "2026-04-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Everything works!!", "excerpt": "I was sooo in your boat just a while ago. Recently (15 days) switched to an Asus NUC pro (mini pc) with intel 225h. I kid you not, I am running Almalinux 10, KDE on it, not even the latest/greatest. I have HDR, VRR, 120Hz, media acceleration, with dual monitors with different settings you name it. Everything works!!", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop workstation OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman"}, {"id": 761209313, "item_id": 47575582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47575582", "by": "cozzyd", "date": "2026-03-30", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sent from Firefox on AlmaLinux 9.", "excerpt": "which is an ad... Sent from Firefox on AlmaLinux 9. https://getfirefox.com https://almalinux.org", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "\"Over 1.5M GitHub PRs have had ads injected into them by Copilot\""}, {"id": 756398000, "item_id": 47274875, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47274875", "by": "ido", "date": "2026-03-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Ive owned a lot of macs and PCs over the last 15-20 years (many of them from work so i didnt \"own\" them but i used them daily), the % of pc laptops that have technical/hardware issues is way higher than macs in my experience. Of course YMMV with either.", "context": "", "use_case": "runs on an old Acer", "switched_from": "", "story": "First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In"}, {"id": 748762785, "item_id": 46797674, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797674", "by": "cozzyd", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use AlmaLinux on my workstation and servers", "excerpt": "Or ... like me, switch to Fedora full time 20 years ago and still use it (ok, I use AlmaLinux on my workstation and servers)...", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux"}]}