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I cannot find a clear answer to that question.

All the answers lead to this: Red Hat providers technical support for their distro while CentOS does not.

Also, CentOS lags behind with the updates.

Are these the only differences?

Is there any difference in software? For example:

Does Red Hat have some specific embedded proprietary software, unlike CentOS?

Or does Red Hat have a modified Linux kernel or something in comparison with CentOS?

Could you describe any advantages of Red Hat over CentOS if the tech support is not needed?

Stuggi
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t7e
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1 Answers1

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CentOS is essentially the free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

CentOS is built from the RHEL source, and they strive to be 100% binary compatible with RHEL, but as RHEL gets updates, CentOS lags behind until they can implement the patches, which might take some time depending on the size of the updates. Some CVEs might get tested better on RHEL, and how CentOS is built differs a bit from RHEL.

So essentially, RHEL offers for a paid subscription a lot of peace of mind and convenience that enterprises value, but software wise it's more or less identical to CentOS.

Further reading:

Is CentOS exactly the same as RHEL?

The Difference Between Fedora, Redhat, and CentOS

Stuggi
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