Support Policies for Middleware and Comparison of Appstream Roles: RHEL vs. AlmaLinux

General Discussion & Chat
1

Hello,

I would like to learn about the support policies for various middleware.

Since the source code of RHEL has become closed, I am trying to find out if there have been any changes in the policy.

In the case of RHEL, appstream is a repository where packages are updated separately for each middleware, apart from the support for the OS, and each middleware has its own EOL. Does AlmaLinux also have a similar role for appstream? And as for the middleware provided through AlmaLinux’s appstream, do they have the same support lifespan as RHEL?

I assume they are most likely the same, but I haven’t been able to find any relevant official documentation. Could you please let me know if there are any documents or discussion pages related to these topics?

Thank you in advance.

2

It didn’t go closed source, they just changed where we get it from.

Everything in AlmaLinux is supported for 10 years, regardless of the individual software’s EOL for a given version.

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3

I think the “middleware with its own EOL” refers to Application Streams that Red Hat has for RHEL and which indeed do have not-10-years life cycle: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Application Streams Life Cycle - Red Hat Customer Portal

The basic premise is that AlmaLinux has what RHEL has. RHEL has components that Red Hat keeps alive beyond the EOL of upstream source via backports. What is backporting and how does it affect Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)? - Red Hat Customer Portal
An example that is Python 2.7 that is alive in RHEL 7, despite upstream Python 2 being very positively dead.

AlmaLinux can still get source of what is in RHEL, including the application streams. What benifit would one have from those “outdated” streams if they would be maintained (with backports, etc) by AlmaLinux after the EOL of same stream in RHEL, particularly considering the cost of all the backporting?

4

Ah indeed, those have separate EOLs. Since they are dnf modules that’s what I always think of them as, and AppStream is the name of a repo with all sorts of stuff…dangit RHEL and their confusing names that overlap.