The following article compares two different and very popular for servers Linux distros with Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (Jammy) and CentOS Stream 9. These are the latest versions released in the past month. Bear in mind, that they have different release cycle, but the these are the system with log support up to 2032! The two Linux distors Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (Jammy) and CentOS Stream 9 support is till 2032! Here is the links to their life cycle and what kind of support could be expected in the time frame of 10 years:
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS life cycle – https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle. In simple words – 5 years of Standard and 5 years of Extended/Security support till April 2032.
- CentOS Stream 9 life cycle –https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata#RHEL9_Planning_Guide. In simple words – 5 years of Full and 5 years of Maintenance support till April 2032.
In the Desktop world upgrading to the new and latest version of a Linux distribution is almost mandatory, but in the server world, upgrading is more complicated. The first step in updating a server is to check what software versions come with the new distribution version and then check whether the running custom (application) software supports the software versions. For example, updating to a new distribution version, which comes with PHP 8.1, but the current application supports only 7.4 is not very wise and in addition, the current version may have years of support in the future.
Lately, with the virtualization and container software and it is more common to choose a long-living Linux distribution for the host and more short-living with bleeding edge technologies for the guest environments. So check out the Fedora 36 Server Edition articles in the site – Minimal network installation of Fedora 36 Server, Software and technical details of Fedora Server 36 including cockpit screenshots and the comparison software table between Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Fedora 36 Server Edition – Software comparison Ubuntu server 22.04 LTS vs Fedora 36 server edition – head-to-head.
Software comparison table – Ubuntu 22.06 LTS vs CentOS Stream 9 (20220606.0) as of June 2022:
| Software | Ubuntu 22.04 | CentOS Stream 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Support | 10 years (April 2032) | 10 years (31.03.2032) |
| Linux kernel | 5.15.0 | 5.14.0 |
| libc | 2.35 | 2.34 |
| OpenSSL | . 3.0.2 | 1.1.1k 3.0.1 |
| GNU GCC | 9.4.0 10.3.0 11.2.0 12-20220302 | . . 11.3.1 . |
| PHP | 8.1 | 8.0.13 |
| Python | 2.7.18 3.10.4 | . 3.9.10 |
| Perl | 5.34.0 | 5.32.1 |
| Ruby | 3.0 | 3.0.3 |
| OpenJDK | 8u312-b07 11.0.15 17.0.3 18~36ea-1 | 1.8.0.332.b09 11.0.15.0.10 17.0.3.0.7 . |
| Go lang | 1.13.8 1.17.3 1.18.1 | . 1.17.5 . |
| Rust | 1.58.1 | 1.61.0 |
| llvm | 11.1.0 12.0.1 13.0.1 14.0.0 | . . . 14.0.0 |
| nodejs | 12.22.9 . | . 16.14.0 |
| Subversion | 1.14.1 | 1.14.1 |
| Git | 2.34.1 | 2.31.1 |
| Apache | 2.4.52 | 2.4.53 |
| Nginx | 1.18.0 | 1.20.1 |
| MySQL server | 8.0.29 | 8.0.28 |
| MariaDB | 10.6.7 | 10.5.13 |
| PostgreSQL | 14.2 | 13.7 |
| SQLite | 2.8.17 3.37.2 | . 3.34.1 |
| Xorg X server | 1.22.1.1 | 1.20.11 |
| Gnome Shell | 42.0 | 40.10 |
| qemu | 6.2 | 7.0.0 |
| docker|podman | 20.10.12 | 4.1.0 |
| lxc | 5.0.0 | . |
For more detailed overview the two systems check out the following articles – Software and technical overview of Ubuntu server 22.04 LTS and Software and technical details of CentOS Stream 9 minimal install.
Copy of the Life cycle plans of Ubuntu server 22.04 and CentOS Stream 9 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9) of the official sources only for time-freeze feature:
