AlmaLinux
Hacker ApprovedRanked 29 of 63 Linux distributions by recommenders
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.
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.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 7.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free RHEL-compatible alternative
“I prefer to use RockyLinux or AlmaLinux if you really need a RHEL compatible system.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change” “Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux give you the same base for free and are worth a look”
Comment from 27 Apr 2026 in “Ask HN: RedHat for Personal Use” “It'd probably be easier to use a RHEL spinoff like Alma or Rocky Linux.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “A Modern Proxmox Docker Architecture with Disposable VMs, VirtIO-FS, and ZFS” - Comment from 21 May 2026 in “Blog ran on Ubuntu 16.04 for 10 years. I migrated it to FreeBSD”
- Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “How to declutter, quiet down, and take the AI out of Windows 11 25H2”
- Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “CVE-2026-111943: Compromised Intermediate Certificate Authority”
Ten-year support lifecycle
“Now there is a 10 year supported stable distribution which does.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “AlmaLinux adds btrfs support, a viable alternative to Debian” “Alma/rocky give you 10 years.”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Blog ran on Ubuntu 16.04 for 10 years. I migrated it to FreeBSD” Stable, low maintenance
“So RHEL, or Debian, Alma, Rocky, offer a lot more stability and less maintenance requirement”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “An ARM Homelab Server, or a Minisforum MS-R1 Review” “Use Debian or AlmaLinux and the ride is smoother.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech” Used for servers and hosting
“CentOS was always the hosting companies OS, which is continued with Alma Linux”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “Abandoning Scientific Linux Was a Mistake” “All my servers run Almalinux today and I am super happy with it”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “Btrfs/ZFS/bcachefs under workloads classic benchmarks skip”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unsuitable for CERN's x86-64-v1 needs
“functional clones of RHEL/CentOS and unsuitable for CERN as mentioned in the article”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian” “CERN wants x86-64-v1 binaries, not v2.”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “CERN Renounces RHEL in Favor of Debian”
Other Linux distributions people recommend
The four most recommended other Linux distributions, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu | 560 | 493 | 53% | 12 | 10 yrs116 owners | — |
| Debian | 552 | 191 | 74% | 13 | 10 yrs62 owners | Approved |
| NixOS | 454 | 112 | 80% | 13 | 2 yrs69 owners | Approved |
| Fedora Linux | 437 | 131 | 77% | 12 | 2 yrs72 owners | Approved |
| AlmaLinuxThis page | 23 | 3 | 88% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
23 of the 28 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I heartily recommend it as a free RHEL!”
“it's been a great way to access the ecosystem”
“CentOS was always the hosting companies OS, which is continued with Alma Linux”
“All my servers run Almalinux today and I am super happy with it”
“CERN wants x86-64-v1 binaries, not v2.”
“There's you Alma installer with support for the processors they use”
“Alma rebuilds with x86-64-v2 as a separate ISO, and they even build EPEL packages with support for it”
“functional clones of RHEL/CentOS and unsuitable for CERN as mentioned in the article”
“Debian/Devuan, Fedora/RHEL/Alma/Rocky, Arch/Artix, FreeBSD/OpenBS/NetBSD are all anyone will ever need.”
“It'd probably be easier to use a RHEL spinoff like Alma or Rocky Linux.”
“I find Ansible w/ Alma 10 Atomic gets the job done with less tokens, and less cognitive load on my team”
“Alma/rocky give you 10 years.”
“it could ship priviledge escalation fixes with new kernel updates faster”
“Alma and Rocky if you want fully free or have a lot of machines”
“Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux give you the same base for free and are worth a look”
“So they did same mistake all over again.”
“Use Debian or AlmaLinux and the ride is smoother.”
“So RHEL, or Debian, Alma, Rocky, offer a lot more stability and less maintenance requirement”
“They actually build something. They can actually contribute (and they do).”
“AlmaLinux 10 works especially well”
“I prefer to use RockyLinux or AlmaLinux if you really need a RHEL compatible system.”
“an rhel derivative such as Almalinux are available”
“Now there is a 10 year supported stable distribution which does.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.