What Are the Best Chinese Alternatives to CentOS in 2022?

Introduction

CentOS 8 was discontinued at the end of 2021 and replaced by CentOS Stream, while CentOS 7 will reach the end of its maintenance cycle in 2024. In 2022, many domestic Chinese alternatives have emerged to fill the gap.

OpenEuler

OpenEuler is an open‑source operating system built on the Linux kernel, supporting Kunpeng and other processors. It targets database, big data, cloud computing and AI workloads, offering high efficiency, stability and security. Compared with CentOS, it deeply optimizes process scheduling, memory management and I/O, and adds container runtime iSula, virtualization StraitVirt, confidential computing SecGear and BiSheng JDK. The latest LTS release is 22.03.

Anolis OS

Anolis OS 8, released by the OpenAnolis community, is a fully open‑source, neutral distribution that supports multiple architectures and is cloud‑optimized. It is 100 % compatible with the CentOS 8 software ecosystem and aims to provide a stable, high‑performance, secure and reliable OS for developers and operators.

Alibaba Cloud Linux

Based on Anolis OS, Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 is a Linux distribution tuned for Alibaba Cloud infrastructure. It remains compatible with the RHEL/CentOS 8 ecosystem while shipping the Linux 5.10 LTS kernel, GCC 10.2 and Glibc 2.32, delivering the latest community enhancements for cloud applications.

TencentOS Server (Tencent Linux)

TencentOS Server, also known as Tencent Linux, is a cloud‑focused Linux OS that provides performance optimizations and security features for cloud instances. It is free, binary‑compatible with applications built for CentOS, and supports Intel, AMD, ARM64 and domestic HaiGuang CPUs.

KylinOS

KylinOS offers server, desktop and embedded editions under the Galaxy Kylin and ZhongBiao Kylin brands. The latest server version V10 delivers reliability and manageability for enterprise workloads such as virtualization, cloud computing, big data and industrial IoT, and supports domestic CPUs including FeiTeng, Kunpeng, Loongson, HaiGuang and Zhaoxin.

deepin

deepin is a Linux distribution focused on a beautiful, user‑friendly desktop, security and stability. It is the highest‑ranked Chinese‑developed Linux distro, with version 20.6 released on 31 May 2022.

Red Flag Linux

Red Flag Linux Desktop V11 supports x86, ARM, MIPS and SW architectures and a range of domestic CPUs (Loongson, ShenWei, Kunpeng, FeiTeng, HaiGuang, Zhaoxin). Built on Debian 10.6 with a commercial 4.19 kernel, it also provides a container cloud management platform.

Conclusion

For public‑cloud users, foreign options such as Amazon Linux are available, while domestic choices include OpenEuler, Alibaba Cloud Linux and Tencent Linux, many of which also offer container‑cloud solutions. For private, hybrid clouds or on‑premise data centers, a variety of domestic and foreign distributions can be considered, especially as CentOS 7 support ends in 2024.