The AlmaLinux OS Foundation has officially released AlmaLinux OS 10.0 “Purple Lion”, a stable and production-ready distribution that reinforces its role as a fully binary-compatible alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (RHEL 10). Built on the newly introduced AlmaLinux OS Kitten upstream, this release introduces developer-centric enhancements, extended hardware support, and optimizations that make it especially attractive for enterprise and hybrid cloud environments.
Developer-focused improvements with observability in mind
One of the most notable technical shifts in AlmaLinux OS 10 is the default activation of frame pointers, a feature that significantly enhances runtime observability. This change allows developers and system engineers to use advanced tools like perf, bpftrace, and systemtap with greater accuracy and minimal overhead—enabling effective system-wide profiling and performance tuning.
This is particularly relevant for organizations optimizing microservices, analyzing low-level bottlenecks, or building high-performance distributed systems.
Architecture inclusivity: x86-64-v2 is not left behind
In contrast to Red Hat’s decision to support only x86-64-v3 and above, AlmaLinux OS 10 introduces parallel support for x86-64-v2 systems. This ensures ongoing viability for older but still capable servers and edge devices, and extends security update coverage for another 10 years.
Furthermore, the EPEL repository is now being rebuilt for x86-64-v2 as well—an essential move for maintaining compatibility with third-party packages across legacy hardware.
Restored virtualization features: SPICE and KVM for POWER
AlmaLinux OS 10 also restores features that were deprecated upstream in RHEL:
- SPICE support is now fully re-enabled for both client and server environments, offering a performant and secure remote desktop protocol for virtualized environments.
- A Tech Preview of KVM virtualization for IBM POWER architecture is now included. This was a request initiated by Oregon State University Open Source Lab and demonstrates AlmaLinux’s responsiveness to enterprise and academic stakeholders relying on POWER systems.
Broad architecture and cloud readiness
AlmaLinux 10 continues to lead in multi-architecture support and offers installation ISOs for:
- x86-64
- x86-64-v2
- ARM64 (aarch64)
- IBM PowerPC (ppc64le)
- IBM Z (s390x)
In addition, a comprehensive set of cloud, live, and container images is being prepared or already available, including:
- AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud (x86_64 and AArch64)
- OpenStack-compatible generic cloud images
- OpenNebula images
- Vagrant boxes (Libvirt, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, VMware)
- Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
- Raspberry Pi support
- Container images (UBI, platform variants)
- Live Media: GNOME, GNOME-mini, KDE editions
This breadth of availability ensures that AlmaLinux can be integrated seamlessly across on-premises servers, hybrid clouds, development environments, and CI/CD pipelines.
Enterprise-grade security and tooling
Security enhancements in AlmaLinux OS 10.0 include:
- Initial post-quantum cryptography support
- Updated SELinux and OpenSSH modules
- A new sudo system role for centralized policy management
- Introduction of Sequoia PGP for advanced encryption workflows
For development and infrastructure automation, the release also delivers updated compilers, toolchains, and system management utilities—keeping pace with the needs of modern DevSecOps practices.
ELevate migration and testing support
Migration support via the ELevate Project is actively under development and will soon allow users to upgrade from AlmaLinux 9.x or 8.x directly to version 10.0. In the meantime, the community is encouraged to test migration paths to AlmaLinux OS 10.0 Beta and the Kitten upstream using the ELevate testing toolkit.
AlmaLinux OS 10: Stability, transparency, and community-first development
This release represents AlmaLinux’s strongest commitment yet to community-driven innovation without compromising enterprise-grade compatibility. Whether for cloud-native workloads, legacy system preservation, or high-performance computing, AlmaLinux OS 10.0 empowers system administrators and developers to build, deploy, and scale with confidence.
Sources: Revista cloud y almalinux
