

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Rocky Linux compete in the enterprise operating systems category. RHEL has the upper hand due to its comprehensive enterprise-grade features, strong security, and robust support structure, making it well-suited for mission-critical applications.
Features: RHEL includes enterprise-grade features such as failover clustering and superior security measures like SELinux. It seamlessly integrates with platforms like OpenShift and Ansible, enhancing management and automation. Meanwhile, Rocky Linux offers stability and full compatibility with RHEL, serving as a cost-effective CentOS replacement with no licensing fees, extended maintenance, and a community-driven support system.
Room for Improvement: RHEL users often face challenges related to costly licensing, upgrade complexities, and the need for better integration with third-party applications. Additionally, improvements in documentation are necessary. Rocky Linux could enhance its offering by speeding up patch cycles, improving integration with emerging technologies, and potentially developing a more formal support option.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEL is favored for both on-premises and cloud setups, praised for its multilayered support, although response times may vary. Rocky Linux ensures straightforward deployments with community-driven support but lacks the formal support structure RHEL offers, which might affect response times.
Pricing and ROI: RHEL justifies its subscription costs with high-level support, security, and extensive features, providing significant ROI for enterprises prioritizing these factors. In contrast, Rocky Linux offers a cost-effective alternative with no licensing fees, appealing to businesses seeking a stable, financially viable solution without sacrificing stability or compatibility, especially for those transitioning from CentOS.
A long lifecycle is key to having a good return on investment.
Being able to transform common manual tasks that previously took all day into processes that take an hour, half an hour, or even less, demonstrates clear value.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has saved us time and increased productivity.
When it comes to return on investment, a lot of money is saved since we moved from a purchased license to the open source provided by Rocky Linux.
ROI has been good as we have significant open source community involvement.
I have seen a return on investment since there was definitely money saved at the time due to the lack of need for licensing since Rocky is available openly.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support is great, as they go beyond their duty to help resolve issues and provide solutions even for third-party software such as XRDP.
When we do contact customer service, they are generally very knowledgeable and well-versed in our size.
Usually, I send the information, and they have something for me within hours, sometimes even minutes.
The support level is extraordinary, providing on-time assistance.
We have not yet needed to contact a vendor regarding Rocky Linux.
Even if we raise a support ticket, we receive a resolution or a reply from the team within two business days.
Many of our applications scale really well, with some having several hundreds of VMs, which we couldn't accomplish on Windows.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales very well with the growing needs of our company.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) handles increases in users, applications, or data smoothly, which is why we use it for all our projects, as it provides us with confidence.
Even if the server is not responding and we want to attach the volume on another instance or a temporary instance, it is very easy and straightforward with no hiccups.
It has handled growth or changing needs well.
The scalability is quite good, though there are some issues with Rocky Linux.
It works consistently with minimal downtime and very few bugs or glitches.
It just works, and that's really the key factor; I can't remember the last time we had a system go down and had to restore it due to a bad patch.
We've not had a service outage with Red Hat in six years.
Rocky Linux is stable, scalable, and it is very much easier to use.
Rocky Linux is stable.
Addressing these limitations would significantly enhance the operating system's flexibility and efficiency.
The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.
By providing pre-installed, native automation tools within the operating system, Red Hat would streamline processes and improve user efficiency.
It is based on customer requirements, as they might want to use Rocky Linux or Ubuntu, depending on their needs.
Rocky Linux could be improved by having more integration with Kubernetes.
Currently, it takes more than one month to release a new package or kernel, so speeding that up would help reduce reported vulnerability remediations.
It may be considered expensive compared to other solutions like CentOS or Ubuntu, which offer some of the same features without additional costs.
Its pricing has room for improvement because it's more expensive in the local market due to purchasing power parity in India.
Windows Servers base their cost on the number of users and have high licensing fees, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers free versions alongside its paid, supported versions.
We switched to Rocky Linux because of the license price, and in our business, we don't need to have a higher cost as that is not a good idea.
There is no extra cost for a license if we are purchasing Rocky Linux from the AWS Marketplace.
Rocky Linux is free, and I can download it and deploy it in whatever environment I have, whether it be H3C, VMware, or Hyper-V.
It also has strong security features, is OIS and FIPS certified, and has built-in Linux security configurations.
There is also no downtime.
The operating system allows for the simple addition of kernels, modules, and other applications, making it highly adaptable to various needs.
Rocky Linux has positively impacted my organization, specifically through cost savings, because we did not have to buy any licenses or extra licenses of other distros, such as Oracle or Red Hat.
For production deployment, Rocky Linux is a great choice because it offers full RHEL compatibility without licensing costs, along with strong community support.
Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) | 8.6% |
| Rocky Linux | 14.3% |
| Other | 77.1% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 83 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 47 |
| Large Enterprise | 249 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 5 |
| Large Enterprise | 13 |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers stability, security, and support for mission-critical applications with robust tools and scalable architecture, ideal for diverse environments and hybrid cloud compatibility.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides organizations with a reliable platform ideal for high-performance computing and virtualization. Known for its robust security and seamless network administration, it integrates well with OpenShift and Ansible, ensuring adaptability and scalability. Despite challenges with documentation, upgrade complexity, and cost, RHEL remains a formidable choice thanks to its comprehensive documentation and extensive community support.
What are the key features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
What benefits should users look for when evaluating Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
Organizations across industries like financial services, telecommunications, and application hosting implement Red Hat Enterprise Linux for server and application management. Its compatibility with technologies such as SAP, Oracle, and Ansible supports functions including web, database, and enterprise solutions, ensuring stable and secure performance in high-pressure environments.
Rocky Linux is a robust and secure enterprise-grade operating system designed as a drop-in replacement for CentOS. Its primary use case is to provide a stable and reliable platform for organizations to run their critical workloads and applications.
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