#1 most frequent
United States of America
47.8%3,001 installations of 6,280
CentOS Linux
136 Reviews and Ratings
What is CentOS Linux?
CentOS Linux is a Linux distribution is an enterprise OS platform compatible with its source RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Its end of life was announced for December 2021.
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Who Buys & Uses CentOS Linux
#2 most frequent
India
6.6%413 installations of 6,280
#3 most frequent
France
6.0%374 installations of 6,280
CentOS: stable, reliable, and secure Linux distribution
Pros
- Excellent "L" in the LAMP server.
- CentOS is a total workhorse and very stable distribution.
- Security and other updates are a breeze with YUM.
- The community support and documentation is as good as it gets.
Cons
- Sometimes we have to add some esoteric repositories to YUM, and that is a bit of a pain.
- Sometimes we fight with SE Linux if it is enabled.
- I wish I could get a CentOS t-shirt.
Return on Investment
- CentOS is all positive on return!
- The more CentOS machines we have around here the better.
- CentOS is a tight Linux distro, it is conservative and solid where it needs to be.
- Security options are excellent. You can really make it tight.
Alternatives Considered
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Ubuntu Linux
Other Software Used
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Ubuntu Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Apache Tomcat
CentOS Free Alternative to Commercial Alternatives
Pros
- Web Server
- Database Server
Cons
- Security
- Hardened OOB
Return on Investment
- No Cost
- Free Upgrades
Alternatives Considered
Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
CentOS - Absolutely the best value for the money
Pros
- As it is derived from the commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution, most instructions for installing enterprise software on Red Hat also work on CentOS, including the package manager.
- CentOS lags behind Fedora (the other free Red Hat derivative supported by Red Hat), which makes it a solid choice for the enterprise (or even SMBs - stability is universally appreciated!).
Cons
- CentOS isn't (and may never be) a strong contender for a desktop (GUI) Linux distribution.
Return on Investment
- The cost of ownership is debatable, but the purchase price is zero dollars ($0), which is hard to argue with.
Alternatives Considered
Ubuntu Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Other Software Used
ASP.NET, Visual Studio IDE, PyCharm
Fast, Reliable and Secure
Pros
- First of all, CentOS is one of the most secure and stable OSes straits from the box.
- High performance on the average hardware.
- In most of my scenarios—easy and quick deployment.
- Huge KB community that helps to build and support different services on CentOS.
- Versions lifecycle.
Cons
- Configuring network interfaces sometimes causes a lot of issues, especially when you are using it out of regular configuration.
- Server updates—would be better to decrease the time for that.
- CentOS is not a good desktop solution.
Return on Investment
- Being supported by Infosec software vendors provided us vendor documentation, knowledge bases and decreased time spent troubleshooting issues.
- Fast and easy deployment: saved time and people resources for implementation.
- Cost saving on deployment because no licenses needed.
Alternatives Considered
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu Linux and Windows Server
Other Software Used
VMware ESXi, VMware vCenter Server, Veeam Backup & Replication, Windows Server, Hyper-V, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu Linux, Microsoft Office 365, MS SharePoint, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, NETGEAR Ethernet Switches, Cisco Ethernet Switches, SonicWall TZ
Why I love CentOS
Pros
- It is highly customizable.
- Very secure.
- Very stable distribution with a wide user community.
Cons
- It is a little complex because few c/c++ libraries will give dependencies issues.
- Installing/uninstalling packages in RHEL is a little bit of a headache.
- Not being able to run certain things on CentOS because everything is so out of date.
Return on Investment
- Improved the development cycle.
- Improved and secure virtualized systems.
- Flexibility.
Alternatives Considered
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu OpenStack, Oracle Linux and IBM LinuxONE
Other Software Used
Ubuntu Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Oracle Linux