In a groundbreaking move, CIQ, Oracle, and SUSE have come together to announce the formation of the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA). The goal of this new collaborative trade association is to foster “the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by providing open and free enterprise Linux source code.”

The inception of OpenELA is a direct response to Red Hat’s recent alterations to RHEL source code availability. This new Delaware 501©(6) US nonprofit association will provide an open process for organizations to access source code. This will enable it to build RHEL-compatible distributions. The initiative underscores the importance of community-driven source code, which serves as a foundation for creating compatible distributions.

Also: Why don’t more people use desktop Linux? I have a theory you might not like

Mike McGrath, Red Hat’s vice president of Red Hat Core Platforms, sparked this when he announced Red Hat would be changing how users can access RHEL’s source code. For the non-Hatters among you, Core Platforms is the division in charge of RHEL. McGrath wrote, “CentOS Stream will now be the sole repository for public RHEL-related source code releases. For Red Hat customers and partners, source code will remain available via the Red Hat Customer Portal.”

This made it much more difficult for RHEL clone vendors, such as AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, and Oracle Linux, to create perfect RHEL variant distributions. AlmaLinux elected to try to work with Red Hat’s new source code rules. Oracle restarted its old fighting ways with IBM/Red Hat; SUSE announced an RHEL-compatible distro fork plan; and Rocky Linux found new ways to obtain RHEL code. Now the last two, along with CIQ, which started Rocky Linux, have joined forces.

Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE’s Chief Technology and Product Officer, emphasized the significance of collaboration in driving innovation. He stated, “Collaboration is critical to fostering innovation, which is why we welcome everyone to be part of this association and help us uphold open community standards.” Gregory Kurtzer, CIQ’s CEO, echoed this sentiment, marking the announcement as the beginning of a new era for Enterprise Linux.