Using RHEL on laptops/workstations
Posted by Naz6uL@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 72 comments
Recently, I found out that some people actually use RHEL as their main OS, whether on their laptops or workstations.
Does any of you do this too? If so, what are the main reasons? Enterprise support? Stability?
Thank you in advance.
Large-College-4772@reddit
Distro hopping is not appropriate for work.
shimoheihei2@reddit
What's wrong with it? Not everyone uses the same popular options. Case in point, I use Debian on my desktop.
BinkReddit@reddit
I tried this; it didn't work well for me. Too many of Debian's packages languish and, when you need functionality that's in a newer package or three, you're stuck. I started doing various workarounds to address this, but then my workarounds needed workarounds and at some point I decided to stop wasting my time and moved to a distribution that gets more frequent updates.
Awkward_Tradition@reddit
Or just use an external package manager like nix or flatpak
BinkReddit@reddit
This doesn't work well for maintaining your desktop environment and, especially as it relates to flatpaks, many small, but valuable, packages are not available here.
Awkward_Tradition@reddit
> This doesn't work well for maintaining your desktop environment
Unless you're installing something that requires a nixos module like KDE, it does perfectly fine. I managed multiple tiling WMs without any issues because they can be installed with a single package.
But the issue is that it conceptually doesn't make any sense to install a bleeding edge DE on a stable system. The whole point of using Debian in that case is to have a base that doesn't change for years, and use nix for specific packages.
> and, especially as it relates to flatpaks, many small, but valuable, packages are not available here.
So use nix with home-manager. I put it in the first place because of your comment:
> I actually was doing development as well and needed newer packages to do my work.
I started using nix on debian for that exact reason before eventually moving to nixos.
BinkReddit@reddit
You're kind of proving my point here in that Debian doesn't handle this well. If you have to start pulling in all these different bits and pieces to get Debian to work the way you need it to, maybe in Debian is not a good fit. This is the reason I stopped using Debian.
gtrash81@reddit
Well, because Debian is 1st a server OS (not Enterprise!) and 2nd an OS for older office systems.
shimoheihei2@reddit
It's a development workstation, running on a 2016 mini PC, so I don't need modern stuff. I don't game on it
BinkReddit@reddit
I actually was doing development as well and needed newer packages to do my work.
Naz6uL@reddit (OP)
There's nothing wrong with it at all. At the corporate level, I've seen RHEL used solely on servers, with Ubuntu/Fedora if there's any Linux user.
maqbeq@reddit
When IBM landed on our place they offered you either a Linux (RHEL) or Windows laptop. It didn't last long, though, a couple of months later another MS partner replaced them, and all of the Linux laptops
RoboticInterface@reddit
At my Company all developers use Rhel Workstations and Dev Containers. It's fantastic.
Reasons? Linux makes our development easier, Rhel happens to be a good point of stability & support.
Willing-Actuator-509@reddit
RHEL 10 on 8 machines here. If you want to run your podman services, home media server for streaming, self hosted services for photo backups and songs or nextcloud for the next 10 years without restart, this is the correct choice. On top of that it also has a very polished experience out of the box.
geolaw@reddit
I worked for IBM for 5 years and had rhel 7 and 8 running on a Thinkpad. Left for a job at red Hat where I was running fedora also on a Thinkpad. Got force transferred back up IBM and by then they had ditched rhel for fedora as well.
InfiniteSheepherder1@reddit
We wanted to run something newer so we use Fedora Silverblue for our workstations. I have thought about making a RHEL image mode version.
JagerAntlerite7@reddit
For servers and many containers, enterprises switched to Debian based distros after IBM acquired Red Hat. Ubuntu being the most popular. As a result many developers did too. I run Ubuntu my desktop.
That said, my recent employers issued me an Apple MacBook. It works fine for development too, but has some important "quirks" that deca must be aware of when scripting.
AmarildoJr@reddit
I don't get the mysticism around RHEL.
RHEL/Rocky/Alma are completely fine. I use Rocky 9.7 as my main OS because of Maya (Autodesk), and I see basically no difference comparing it to other distros, honestly. I use it for work, I play Steam games on it, etc. No perceptual performance difference, even though we run the 5.14 Kernel.
I can also have the latest NVIDIA drivers (595) but I chose to stay on v590, seeing how their latest vibe-coded ones can be problematic.
If I need newer software I'll just use Flathub.
In the end it's all Linux.
Ontological_Gap@reddit
The clones lag on security updates, which matters to some organizations
AmarildoJr@reddit
No I mean for general desktop usage, if I understood OP's question. Some people are truly afraid of using something like Rhel or the clones for some reason :P
As for the lag: I'm not sure that's an issue, honestly. Should be the same for Ubuntu when Debian releases a security update, or for an Ubuntu spin when Ubuntu releases an update.
Should be way less than 24h, specially if it's a small update.
Ontological_Gap@reddit
Should be and actually are are different things. I've had alma and Rocky lag for weeks on some CVEs. Back in the day, CentOS would sometimes lag for months.
Op specifically asked about "companies where you work"
chuckmilam@reddit
The problem is many organizations treat Microsoft Windows as a sunk cost of doing business, while RHEL licenses are considered a terrible burden that gets questioned at every turn.
So we end up with the RHEL clones that are “sort of compliant, but not really,” which gives even more ammo to the Windows camp when the audits come in.
I still be suffering from some OS Holy War PTSD.
southwestnickel@reddit
We used to use RHEL on our high performance analysis computers. They would hook up to an HPC cluster if the jobs they were running were too intense for the local machines.
sudo_rmtackrf@reddit
Im a linux engineer. We use rhel at work. The support and alot of apps are made for it. But its mostly about the support and eco system with it. Like aap, and openshift. All work flawlessly together. I use fedora at home as im use to redhat and yum etc.
bobj33@reddit
I've been designing computer chips for 30 years. In the 1990's we all had Sun Solaris SPARC workstations on our desk or HP PA-RISC. Since around 2003 everyone had a Linux machine on their desk.
That changed around 2010 when everything started getting virtualized. We have a compute cluster with over 100K machines and run a Linux desktop there. We connect to it from a windows or mac laptop but 99% of our actual work is done in a Linux remote desktop running RHEL submitting jobs to 100K computers all running RHEL.
stewbadooba@reddit
I've been running RHEL for years on my laptop playing games via steam and doing anything else any other linux distro would do. Its just linux, people put too much weight of the flavour
Whole-Ad3837@reddit
Tbh most of the people using computers are using browser workflows most of the time today. It does not make a huge difference for those to use RHEL with a Firefox ESM version or the OS at all.
gtrash81@reddit
Nope.
Had to make the expierence, that a too new system will cause issues.
One system from 2023 was running with EL9.
Plain Intel system, no dGPUs or something special.
After X hours the network connection starts to drop, because the NICs
had been too new for the drivers or firmware shipped with EL9.
JacksGallbladder@reddit
They probably like it
Naive_Site2740@reddit
Yeah some places I worked at used RHEL on development machines because IT department already had the support contracts and everything was standardized. Makes sense from management perspective - they don't want to deal with different distros when something breaks
gtrash81@reddit
And support contract.
Workstations with Debian break suddenly without any hints?
Good luck finding help.
Same with RHEL?
Create a ticket and they will help.
kernpanic@reddit
We have a number of developers using it - mainly because they are developing a Linux product. But a few who simply prefer it, and are developing a Java product so the environment doesn't matter as much.
They are all intune registered anyway.
Naz6uL@reddit (OP)
Without a doubt, 100%, if it is as reliable as their server versions.
charge2way@reddit
Plus if you've got a Site License, might as well anyway.
FerryCliment@reddit
Depends, especially your duties. I've ran similar, when I was SysAdmin the computer in the office was a RHEL.
I ran some dev environment for some of internal IT services, (That some were used as if they were prod ahaha). Because of that reason I went with RHEL on the office workstation to move these PoC to actuall prod server almost 1:1
My Laptop was Fedroa, because I had to do some field support (I was working in a production plant) some stuff where not that close to server environment.
FlagrantTomatoCabal@reddit
We are provided with Dell Windows laptops at work.
But I use RHEL on my thinkpad to do most of the work. The Windows laptop is mainly for comms as it's too "secured" and locked down you can hardly get anything work on it.
noobjaish@reddit
As a DevOps, I have to deal with RHEL VMs a lot and they're so annoying to deal with especially the RHEL 10 ones. Don't see why anyone would ever use it on a personal computer (like just use Fedora).
maarbab@reddit
Can you elaborate why they are annoying?
pppjurac@reddit
Same reasons as for Debian users - it is good, stable and boring. works all the time.
OS is a tool not a fashion statement. For that there is /r/unixporn or /r/mac .
RoomyRoots@reddit
Stability is king, I used to use AlmaLinux on my workstation and now moved to Debian. There is a time where you realize that bleeding edge doesn't offer much if you have old hardware that is stable.
sleepingonmoon@reddit
No but I use it personally for kernel stability since I need VMware. Also nice to have everything in Red Hat documentation available.
bluaki@reddit
My work computer runs Fedora, by my own choice. At previous jobs I was usually given Ubuntu workstations, except one that had me use RHEL 6 because of some strict security requirements. In more recent years, I use RHEL for testing some software but not as a primary workstation OS.
For my personal computers, there are some contexts where a 2-3 year major update cycle makes a lot more sense than a 6-month one. Like my home server. Since I like Fedora, the most obvious option on a slower cycle would be RHEL or derivatives, but I go with Debian Stable instead because RHEL doesn't support some things I like such as btrfs. Seems that one might change in RHEL 10.2 though, considering CentOS Steam added btrfs a few months ago.
linuxed1@reddit
I will tell you, back in around 1997 I started out with Red hat Linux 5.2. on a desktop and it was a pain in the ass! My work is is it until this day I have a network that I've run Linux 8 something... I think it's all the Linux is, this is the most archaic pos, and I would never ever put it on my laptop on my home computer.
aieidotch@reddit
same here.
Frolo_NA@reddit
At work i use what im given. That is always rhel
EvenDog6279@reddit
I wish that was the case, since everything I do for my job requires RHEL, but I'm constrained to VMs or deploying and connecting to a pod/containers in OpenShift.
Maybe some businesses do. Red Hat does. For us, it's mostly enterprise applications that are running on RHEL.
agent-squirrel@reddit
Funnily enough Red Hat gives their employees a choice of Linux or macOS. I was on a call with the Openshift guys and one was on a Mac.
EngFL92@reddit
We use RHEL8 on our engineering workstations. I have no clue why IT has decided to use it. Supposedly because of paid support, but they never actually use the paid support when they don't know how to do something. They either ignore the problem, or wait for me (engineering) to figure out what the solution is and then I tell them exactly what to do because 99% of the time I need sudo.
agent-squirrel@reddit
Because it gives the company the ability to point fingers if shit hits the fan. Support contracts are quite often not for support, they are for shifting liability.
Naz6uL@reddit (OP)
Common practice among IT/SD teams: solving the issue by ignoring it.
That sounds like an episode of the TV show The IT Crowd.
Jumpy-Dinner-5001@reddit
I’m a RHEL user at work:
Don’t use RHEL or any of its clones (Alma, CentOS stream, rocky, Oracle etc) as a regular desktop if you don’t want to suffer.
RHELs usp is being stable in the sense of not making changes to the interfaces. To do that, first party software support is limited. RHEL is a great distro if you have a very specific set of software you need and never ever want to anything and still want bug fixes and security updates. And that’s what it’s good at. Software (packages) availability is worse than on most other distros. It’s really good for Workstations with a really specific set of software to use long term
ReaperofFish@reddit
When I worked for IBM, I ran RHEL on my work laptop. It was a supported OS and worked great with me being a Linux Admin.
mrsockburgler@reddit
I’m mostly a RHEL user but use Windows as my workstation. Most of the people that I work with are heavy Teams/Sharepoint users and it sucks to be the only person with a technical problem on a Teams call because something isn’t working write right.
TipIll3652@reddit
We're a windows shop for workstations, and they have issues with teams and SharePoint ALL the time.
Horsemeatburger@reddit
I wouldn't worry too much, there are lots of Teams users using Windows who see random technical problems in Teams.
At work I often have to talk to people from other companies who send me Team meeting invites, and the browser version seems to be a lot more reliable than the actual Teams app (we went from Windows/MS365 to GWS/ChromeOS a few years, so we no longer run Windows at work, nor any Microsoft programs).
aliendude5300@reddit
RHEL 10 on a laptop is fairly modern. No real sacrifice there.
passthejoe@reddit
If you hate full upgrades, RHEL or a clone on the desktop might make sense, but I think that Fedora makes for an easier time, even with yearly upgrades.
CircuitSynapse42@reddit
I was part of a pilot program at my former employer that tested both Ubuntu and RHEL on employee laptops. It was pretty cool for the 6 months we had it, but ultimately, they decided to stick with Windows and Macs.
CubeApple76@reddit
I develop software that runs on our RHEL servers which we use because of the long term support. While of course containers are an option I've found it nice to just have the same architecture/environment I am targeting on my desktop and laptop as on our production systems.
Horsemeatburger@reddit
At work we do. We use RHEL and Alma Linux on a large number of desktop workstations, and we also have some laptops (all rugged laptops from Dell and Panasonic) where we have RHEL installed.
Vendor support of course is one reason we stick with RHEL (and Alma Linux enterprise support through TuxCare is pretty good as well.)
However, the main reason we stick in the RHEL side of Linux is because they are all easily exchangeable. It doesn't matter if you use RHEL, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Alma Linux or Rocky Linux, if one vendor/distro does something stupid you can easily move across another one, with no change to your applications or management environment.
Which is probably why the ISV support on RHEL is so much stronger than on other Linux distros.
For us this is a big advantage over say the Debian branch where every distro is different in enough ways that make moving across a lot more painful. We also run some workloads on Ubuntu, and frankly it's nowhere as reliable as RHEL distros, nor is the support anywhere as good.
BinkReddit@reddit
Appreciate the details!
alonjit@reddit
my company is using RHEL on the developer machines. At home ... nah, not even on a server.
ejbvanc@reddit
When you have thousands of workstations that have to maintain compliance, Red Hat does a decent job at compliance. Also, with Red Hat 10.1, NVIDIA’s drivers are signed by a cert trusted by Secure Boot so you don’t have to manually inject certs just for video drivers. Lastly, legal indemnity.
nuxi@reddit
At work we were told we had to run RHEL/Oracle or Ubuntu LTS because thats all the corporate security software supported.
I don't know anyone who took the RHEL/Oracle option though.
modified_tiger@reddit
I considered using Alma as my main OS, then distrobox and flatpak to tack stuff on as needed.
SaintEyegor@reddit
We use RHEL on most systems, server and workstation. It’s easier to support one OS flavor and we only need to maintain a single repo that way.
Sol33t303@reddit
I would imagine it works fine. At the end of the day it's basically an LTS fedora.
KnowZeroX@reddit
If RHEL based distros included more proprietary stuff out of box, I would put everyone I know on an RHEL based distro. Less major updates to deal with, the better. It's also why I use them for servers and run everything in containers. If one needs modern software on desktop, flatpak is there.
jowco@reddit
This is actually not surprising, very similar to anyone who drives opensuse leap or even straight debian.
Suvalis@reddit
Before flatpak and distrobox it was a pain to use something like RHEL without adding a whole bunch of 3rd party repos, which defeats the point of running something like RHEL on a laptop or pc for a desktop.
Now though, between brew, flatpak and distrobox you can run just about anything on RHEL.
Scared_Bell3366@reddit
RHEL workstations at my last job. I run Fedora on my old laptop. Current company dev laptop is Ubuntu. Almost all the software I’ve worked on in the past 14 years runs on a linux server. Having a similar setup on a dev box makes it easier.
Linux is usually a hard sell in the corporate world. It’s hard to find people that know how to administer them and apply all the corporate policies.
cmrd_msr@reddit
Alma is on my parents' computer.
Because I feel comfortable in the RHEL ecosystem. RHEL is very stable and doesn't crash, and flatpaks keep the application software up-to-date.