Alpine Linux vs Centos

Overview

CentOS

Stacks13.8K

Followers9.0K

Votes53

Alpine Linux

Stacks2.3K

Followers397

Votes37

Alpine Linux vs Centos: What are the differences?

Alpine Linux and CentOS are widely used operating systems. Let's explore the key differences between them:

Package Management: Alpine Linux uses its own package manager called APK, which is known for its simplicity, small size, and efficient security model. On the other hand, CentOS uses the YUM (Yellowdog Updater, Modified) package manager. YUM provides a rich set of features and is widely used in the Red Hat ecosystem.
Image Size: One of the main differences between Alpine Linux and CentOS is the size of their base images. Alpine Linux emphasizes minimalism and, as a result, has a significantly smaller image size compared to CentOS. This smaller image size leads to faster downloads, reduced storage requirements, and improved performance in containerized environments.
Security Model: Alpine Linux has a strong focus on security and adopts a minimalist approach by using a small attack surface. It utilizes a hardened kernel and minimal set of default packages to reduce the potential for vulnerabilities. CentOS, on the other hand, offers a more traditional security model and includes a wide range of features and packages that cater to enterprise-level security requirements.
Community Support: CentOS has a larger and more established community compared to Alpine Linux. This results in a wider range of documentation, tutorials, and user forums available for CentOS. The larger community also means that CentOS receives more contributions and updates, making it a preferred choice for enterprises and organizations seeking long-term support and stability.
Default Software Packages: Alpine Linux follows a philosophy of including only essential packages in its base image. This minimalistic approach means that Alpine Linux does not include many of the software packages commonly found in CentOS, such as MySQL, Apache, or systemd. While this approach reduces the attack surface and improves performance, it may require additional effort to manually install required packages.
Memory Usage: Another key difference between Alpine Linux and CentOS is their memory usage. Alpine Linux is optimized for resource-constrained environments and has a smaller memory footprint compared to CentOS. This lower memory usage is particularly beneficial for running containerized applications, where efficient resource utilization is crucial.

In summary, Alpine Linux is a more lightweight and minimalistic option, whereas CentOS provides a more comprehensive and enterprise-ready environment.

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Advice on CentOS, Alpine Linux

Jerome/Zen

Software Engineer

Aug 2, 2020

Decided

Global familiarity, free, widely used, and as a debian distro feels more comfortable when rapidly switching between local macOS and remote command lines.

CentOS does boast quite a few security/stability improvements, however as a RHEL-based distro, differs quite significantly in the command line and suffers from slightly less frequent package updates. (Could be a good or bad thing depending on your use-case and if it is public facing)

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Detailed Comparison

CentOS	Alpine Linux
The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.	Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.
Statistics
Stacks 13.8K	Stacks 2.3K
Followers 9.0K	Followers 397
Votes 53	Votes 37
Pros & Cons
Pros 16 Stable 9 Free to use 9 Reliable 6 Has epel packages 6 Good support Cons 1 Yum is a horrible package manager	Pros 10 Secure 9 Good in containers 8 Fast 1 Does not run glibc binaries 1 Supports armhf, aarch64, x86, ppc64, armv7,s390x Cons 2 Cannot install metasploit 1 Not for inexperienced users 1 Does not run glibc binaries

What are some alternatives to CentOS, Alpine Linux?

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

Linux

A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Manjaro

It is an accessible, friendly, open-source Linux distribution and community. Based on Arch Linux, it provides all the benefits of cutting-edge software combined with a focus on getting started quickly, automated tools to require less manual intervention, and help readily available when needed.

FreeBSD

An operating system for a variety of platforms which focuses on features, speed, and stability. It is derived from BSD, the version of UNIX® developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It is developed and maintained by a large community.

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Alpine Linux vs Centos: What are the differences?

Alpine Linux and CentOS are widely used operating systems. Let's explore the key differences between them:

Package Management: Alpine Linux uses its own package manager called APK, which is known for its simplicity, small size, and efficient security model. On the other hand, CentOS uses the YUM (Yellowdog Updater, Modified) package manager. YUM provides a rich set of features and is widely used in the Red Hat ecosystem.
Image Size: One of the main differences between Alpine Linux and CentOS is the size of their base images. Alpine Linux emphasizes minimalism and, as a result, has a significantly smaller image size compared to CentOS. This smaller image size leads to faster downloads, reduced storage requirements, and improved performance in containerized environments.
Security Model: Alpine Linux has a strong focus on security and adopts a minimalist approach by using a small attack surface. It utilizes a hardened kernel and minimal set of default packages to reduce the potential for vulnerabilities. CentOS, on the other hand, offers a more traditional security model and includes a wide range of features and packages that cater to enterprise-level security requirements.
Community Support: CentOS has a larger and more established community compared to Alpine Linux. This results in a wider range of documentation, tutorials, and user forums available for CentOS. The larger community also means that CentOS receives more contributions and updates, making it a preferred choice for enterprises and organizations seeking long-term support and stability.
Default Software Packages: Alpine Linux follows a philosophy of including only essential packages in its base image. This minimalistic approach means that Alpine Linux does not include many of the software packages commonly found in CentOS, such as MySQL, Apache, or systemd. While this approach reduces the attack surface and improves performance, it may require additional effort to manually install required packages.
Memory Usage: Another key difference between Alpine Linux and CentOS is their memory usage. Alpine Linux is optimized for resource-constrained environments and has a smaller memory footprint compared to CentOS. This lower memory usage is particularly beneficial for running containerized applications, where efficient resource utilization is crucial.

In summary, Alpine Linux is a more lightweight and minimalistic option, whereas CentOS provides a more comprehensive and enterprise-ready environment.