# AlmaLinux

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/almalinux/

18 people recommended AlmaLinux in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 12 months, in 18 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free RHEL-compatible Linux distribution that people run on servers, praised for stability and a ten-year support lifecycle. Critics say it is unsuitable for CERN, which needs x86-64-v1 binaries.

Summary written by Claude from 23 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 22 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Free RHEL-compatible alternative (5 comments in the sample): "I prefer to use RockyLinux or AlmaLinux if you really need a RHEL compatible system." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45919617)) "Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux give you the same base for free and are worth a look" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47919443)) "It'd probably be easier to use a RHEL spinoff like Alma or Rocky Linux." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586260))
- Ten-year support lifecycle (2 comments in the sample): "Now there is a 10 year supported stable distribution which does." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45833520)) "Alma/rocky give you 10 years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48238395))
- Stable, low maintenance (2 comments in the sample): "So RHEL, or Debian, Alma, Rocky, offer a lot more stability and less maintenance requirement" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47085326)) "Use Debian or AlmaLinux and the ride is smoother." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47724795))
- Used for servers and hosting (2 comments in the sample): "CentOS was always the hosting companies OS, which is continued with Alma Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49813907)) "All my servers run Almalinux today and I am super happy with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49774227))

## What people warn about

- Unsuitable for CERN's x86-64-v1 needs (2 comments in the sample): "functional clones of RHEL/CentOS and unsuitable for CERN as mentioned in the article" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49649421)) "CERN wants x86-64-v1 binaries, not v2." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49650534))

## Other Linux distributions people recommend

- [Debian](https://hackerapproved.com/p/debian/): 454 recommend, 64 mixed, 165 criticize
- [Ubuntu](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ubuntu/): 408 recommend, 98 mixed, 444 criticize
- [Fedora Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fedora/): 359 recommend, 50 mixed, 109 criticize
- [NixOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nixos/): 351 recommend, 79 mixed, 95 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "AlmaLinux", https://hackerapproved.com/p/almalinux/ (18 recommend, 3 mixed, 3 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.