Skip to main content
Redhat Developers  Logo
  • Products

    Platforms

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux Icon
    • Red Hat AI
      Red Hat AI
    • Red Hat OpenShift
      Openshift icon
    • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
      Ansible icon
    • View All Red Hat Products

    Featured

    • Red Hat build of OpenJDK
    • Red Hat Developer Hub
    • Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
    • Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces
    • Red Hat OpenShift Local
    • Red Hat Developer Sandbox

      Try Red Hat products and technologies without setup or configuration fees for 30 days with this shared Openshift and Kubernetes cluster.
    • Try at no cost
  • Technologies

    Featured

    • AI/ML
      AI/ML Icon
    • Linux
      Linux Icon
    • Kubernetes
      Cloud icon
    • Automation
      Automation Icon showing arrows moving in a circle around a gear
    • View All Technologies
    • Programming Languages & Frameworks

      • Java
      • Python
      • JavaScript
    • System Design & Architecture

      • Red Hat architecture and design patterns
      • Microservices
      • Event-Driven Architecture
      • Databases
    • Developer Productivity

      • Developer productivity
      • Developer Tools
      • GitOps
    • Automated Data Processing

      • AI/ML
      • Data Science
      • Apache Kafka on Kubernetes
    • Platform Engineering

      • DevOps
      • DevSecOps
      • Ansible automation for applications and services
    • Secure Development & Architectures

      • Security
      • Secure coding
  • Learn

    Featured

    • Kubernetes & Cloud Native
      Openshift icon
    • Linux
      Rhel icon
    • Automation
      Ansible cloud icon
    • AI/ML
      AI/ML Icon
    • View All Learning Resources

    E-Books

    • GitOps Cookbook
    • Podman in Action
    • Kubernetes Operators
    • The Path to GitOps
    • View All E-books

    Cheat Sheets

    • Linux Commands
    • Bash Commands
    • Git
    • systemd Commands
    • View All Cheat Sheets

    Documentation

    • Product Documentation
    • API Catalog
    • Legacy Documentation
  • Developer Sandbox

    Developer Sandbox

    • Access Red Hat’s products and technologies without setup or configuration, and start developing quicker than ever before with our new, no-cost sandbox environments.
    • Explore Developer Sandbox

    Featured Developer Sandbox activities

    • Get started with your Developer Sandbox
    • OpenShift virtualization and application modernization using the Developer Sandbox
    • Explore all Developer Sandbox activities

    Ready to start developing apps?

    • Try at no cost
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Videos

What CentOS Stream means for developers

September 24, 2019
Bob Davis
Related topics:
Linux
Related products:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Share:

    Today Chris Wright, vice president and CTO at Red Hat, published a post describing how CentOS is changing and the opportunities it opens for developers in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) ecosystem. The net effect of this change is that, in addition to CentOS Linux 8, there is a new version of CentOS—CentOS Stream—that will provide a “rolling preview” of future Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernels and features. This is being announced in addition to the release of the traditional CentOS Linux 8, which is a downstream rebuild of the current RHEL release.

    CentOS Stream is an exciting addition to the family of Linux operating systems that are upstream and downstream of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

    CentOS Stream will live in-between Fedora and RHEL, providing a clearer vision of what the next version of RHEL will be, giving developers the opportunity to stay a step or two ahead in their planning, and making it easier to ensure next-generation applications will be compatible with future RHEL versions. CentOS Stream also will make contributing to future versions of RHEL much simpler and more direct.

    This clearly benefits ecosystem developers writing hardware drivers or extending protocols for RHEL, and can give application developers a testbed for applications they want to deploy on future RHEL versions. We hope this will bring even more community engagement to Fedora, CentOS, and RHEL, continuing our “upstream first” policy.

    Fedora has always been our upstream “proving ground” where the community innovates and experiments, and that won’t change. If you’re interested in reading more about Fedora, and the relationship between Fedora, CentOS, and RHEL, read Matthew Miller’s new article on the topic.

    In addition to the existing releases of CentOS Linux, CentOS Stream, and Fedora, all Red Hat Developer members have access to no-cost RHEL via a no-cost subscription. These options should make sure that, no matter what problem you’re trying to solve, there’s a Linux distro that best suits your particular needs.

    More information on why RHEL is a fantastic platform for application development can be found in the blog post "Why you should be developing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux."

    For container-based applications, Universal Base Images will provide the flexibility needed to deploy across multiple Linux distributions, which should include CentOS Stream. We encourage developers building applications that will run in VMs or on bare metal to explore Red Hat Enterprise Linux for your production platform, and take advantage of the no-cost RHEL available through Red Hat Developer for your development needs.

    We’d love to hear about how CentOS Stream will fit into your software development practices, and encourage your feedback.

    Last updated: August 14, 2023

    Related Posts

    • How to use Convert2RHEL to migrate CentOS to RHEL

    • Introducing the new Red Hat Enterprise Linux download experience

    • How the new RHEL 9.2 improves the developer experience

    • 6 steps to install Ansible Automation Platform 2.3 on RHEL

    Recent Posts

    • Why some agentic AI developers are moving code from Python to Rust

    • Confidential VMs: The core of confidential containers

    • Benchmarking with GuideLLM in air-gapped OpenShift clusters

    • Run Qwen3-Next on vLLM with Red Hat AI: A step-by-step guide

    • How to implement observability with Python and Llama Stack

    What’s up next?

    Convert CentOS Linux to RHEL share and feature image

    Convert2RHEL is a command-line utility that can streamline your migration path from CentOS Linux 7 to a fully supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system. This cheat sheet guides you through the process of converting a CentOS Linux instance to RHEL in just 7 steps.

    Get the cheat sheet
    Red Hat Developers logo LinkedIn YouTube Twitter Facebook

    Products

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    • Red Hat OpenShift
    • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

    Build

    • Developer Sandbox
    • Developer Tools
    • Interactive Tutorials
    • API Catalog

    Quicklinks

    • Learning Resources
    • E-books
    • Cheat Sheets
    • Blog
    • Events
    • Newsletter

    Communicate

    • About us
    • Contact sales
    • Find a partner
    • Report a website issue
    • Site Status Dashboard
    • Report a security problem

    RED HAT DEVELOPER

    Build here. Go anywhere.

    We serve the builders. The problem solvers who create careers with code.

    Join us if you’re a developer, software engineer, web designer, front-end designer, UX designer, computer scientist, architect, tester, product manager, project manager or team lead.

    Sign me up

    Red Hat legal and privacy links

    • About Red Hat
    • Jobs
    • Events
    • Locations
    • Contact Red Hat
    • Red Hat Blog
    • Inclusion at Red Hat
    • Cool Stuff Store
    • Red Hat Summit
    © 2025 Red Hat

    Red Hat legal and privacy links

    • Privacy statement
    • Terms of use
    • All policies and guidelines
    • Digital accessibility

    Report a website issue