I'm curious what info is out there with regards to deploying a new Linux Major version release such as the upcoming CentOS 8, into Prod. For comparison I understand that many 'seasoned' Windows sysadmins will wait a significant amount of time after initial release before deploying any new Windows Server into production; a practice which seems to hold value even now after more than a decade of needful yet frustrating compliance.

Linux enjoys a significantly reduced fear factor in this arena but it still seems prudent to wait a bit after the initial release. On the other hand, since CentOS is such a close clone of RHEL I would think there is less reason for a long trial period since RHEL has now basically gone through such a period and any needed fixes would be relatively quick and easy to deploy downstream (forgive me if this is faulty thinking).

Now, in my case I'm just talking basic standalone servers for things such as DHCP, DNS, CA, etc. but I'd love to get a take on various deployment situations also.

So what are your thoughts?

Welcome to LQ!

I suspect that you are spot on here, although I should give a warning that I'm no system administrator. Caution with Windows is obviously wise because there's a limit to the amount of testing that one company, even Microsoft, can achieve. Linux distros are generally tested by a huge number of people. RHEL software is taken from a non-up-to-date version of Fedora, so it has already been extensively used. The resulting distro is then tested all over again. CentOS drops any patented software and removes the logos, but what's left is still RHEL. Of course, if you install the 32-but version of CentOS or add stuff from EPEL, that's another story. The fact that CentOS is now controlled by Red Hat obviously helps. It's interesting that Fermilab and CERN have dropped Scientific Linux (which was another debranded RHEL), saying that they've switched to CentOS.