# Red Hat Enterprise Linux Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/red-hat-enterprise-linux/ 28 people recommended Red Hat Enterprise Linux in Hacker News comments, 21 had mixed feelings and 56 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 12 months, in 29 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended, mainly for slow patching and difficult major-version upgrades; those who recommend it cite stability, long support lifecycles and enterprise support. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Slow patching and painful upgrades (3 comments in the sample): "Red Hat patching slowness and upgrades from major version to next were reasons I gave up after 16 years using their distributions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50196006)) "for RedHat the long term support always ends up being "I hope I don't work here anymore when we eventually do have to upgrade" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46105105)) "We pay good money for their highest support tier and they are almost always the latest to bring a needed update." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198553)) - Backported patches sometimes break things (3 comments in the sample): "Backporting is inherently messy, you can introduce new bugs (including security bugs) while trying to transplant fixes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46485055)) "Their patches broke applications several times resulting in having to hold them back for months for it to be fixed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102880)) "I have had way more issues provoked on RHEL-compatibles by RHEL's Frankenstein backporty kernel" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49932867)) - Free version limited, paid tiers (3 comments in the sample): "the free version exists at the sufferance of IBM, a company not well known for being motivated by keeping tech enthusiasts happy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48828383)) "you’ll need to buy RHEL or something and rework stuff, which is more expensive than windows." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46929946)) "Red Hat determined this path in 2001, when it started pivoting to enterprise customers only." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49924950)) - Drops support for older systems (1 comment in the sample): "RedHat has a bad habit of dropping support for things not because they need maintenance but because they're just old." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814066)) ## Why people recommend it - Enterprise-grade and commercially supported (5 comments in the sample): "The only real player that charges "enough" to have a "absolutely zero tolerance for base OS breakage" approach to OS development is Red Hat." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47524718)) "RHEL does a much better job than most due to the nature of the company/ products." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46482555)) "I have traditionally worked on "Enterprise" Linux where RHEL is the standard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568533)) - Stable with long support lifecycle (4 comments in the sample): "RHEL was the most stable alternative I could think of when her Windows computer stopped being reliable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49598053)) "That's why, RHEL for example, has such a long support lifecycle." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46370085)) "RHEL is so stable, even a first time parent can use it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48745892)) - Security fixes backported, compliance-ready (3 comments in the sample): "I think that SUSE and RH can definitely work well in a fairly secure setting as needed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48444084)) "RHEL has support for SOC2 requirements. RHEL is also very nice in general" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48399531)) "RedHat backports security fixes into the original code" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102183)) - Standard in enterprise deployments (2 comments in the sample): "several European countries… have many offices that are already long time Red Hat (and other) users" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46053614)) "by far the most commonly deployed Linux variant among US Enterprise orgs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47614278)) ## 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 ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux) ## 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, "Red Hat Enterprise Linux", https://hackerapproved.com/p/red-hat-enterprise-linux/ (28 recommend, 21 mixed, 56 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.