Red Hat Linux

Red Hat Linux

GNOME 2.2, the default desktop on Red Hat Linux 9
Developer	Red Hat
OS family	Linux (Unix-like)
Working state	Discontinued
Source model	Open source
Initial release	May 13, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-05-13)
Final release	9[1]  alias Shrike / 31 March 2003; 21 years ago (31 March 2003)
Package manager	RPM Package Manager
Kernel type	Monolithic (Linux)
Userland	GNU
License	Various
Succeeded by	Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora Linux
Official website	www.redhat.com/en

Red Hat Linux was a widely used commercial open-source Linux distribution created by Red Hat until its discontinuation in 2004.^[2]

Early releases of Red Hat Linux were called Red Hat Commercial Linux. Red Hat published the first non-beta release in May 1995.^[3][4] It was the first Linux distribution to use the RPM Package Manager as its packaging format, and over time has served as the starting point for several other distributions, such as Mandriva Linux and Yellow Dog Linux.

In 2003, Red Hat discontinued the Red Hat Linux line in favor of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for enterprise environments. Fedora Linux, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat, is a free-of-cost alternative intended for home use. Red Hat Linux 9, the final release, hit its official end-of-life on April 30, 2004, although updates were published for it through 2006 by the Fedora Legacy project until the updates were discontinued in early 2007.^[5]