Liberty Linux Lite to keep the updates coming for a few more years ... for a fee

SUSE has unveiled a Liberty Linux Lite solution aimed at enticing CentOS 7 administrators facing the impending June 30 end-of-support deadline.

According to the veteran Linux vendor, "SUSE Liberty Linux Lite for CentOS 7 is a frictionless solution that provides customers with updates and security patches for their existing CentOS system, with no migration whatsoever."

SUSE, however, charges a fee. The service, starting at $25 per server/instance per year with a minimum spend of $2,500, includes long-life updates that will continue until June 30, 2028.

The deal is the latest aimed at extending CentOS 7 support. CIQ, which offers the CentOS rebuild Rocky Linux, has its own take on support extension in the form of CIQ Bridge, which will keep critical security updates coming for up to another three years.

Despite IBM subsidiary Red Hat's efforts to phase out the operating system, there remain many CentOS Linux 7 installations. A recent Lansweeper report, based on a survey of over 200,000 Linux devices, reckoned that as many as 26 percent were running CentOS. By the end of this month, support will end for those devices that have not migrated.

CentOS 7 users have a few options if they wish to migrate to something that won't result in a RHEL-shaped bruise in their finances. CIQ's Rocky Linux is an option, as is AlmaLinux. However, getting a few more years of support for CentOS 7 will cost.

At the North American Kubecon event in late 2023, SUSE chief technology and product officer Thomas Di Giacomo told us that plans to keep CentOS 7 support running for a few more years were afoot, but would come at a price. "Tomorrow," he said, "they cannot get what they were getting for free."

Rick Spencer, GM of Business Critical Linux, SUSE, said: "Ensuring CentOS 7 users have a secure, enterprise ready, future-proof Linux solution is important to SUSE, and we are delighted to be in a position to support CentOS 7 users as they face this uncertain and risky situation."