What is the Red Hat Education Program?
The Red Hat Education Program is a license offering made by Red Hat to qualified educational institutions. This program provides educational users with low-cost access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing.
Do I have to migrate my older version of Linux to Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
No, it is not required, but it is recommended. Any systems currently running Red Hat Linux can continue doing so. However, Red Hat has set an end of life for this product at April 30, 2004. After this date, Red Hat will discontinue all errata and maintenance support for Red Hat Linux. This means that if any problems or security issues are discovered, updates will not be issued.
What if I already have licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
Users who have already purchased licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) do not need to take any action. Any additional RHEL licenses, however, should be purchased under this program.
Does Red Hat still produce free alternatives?
Although Red Hat Linux has been discontinued, free Linux software is still available through the Fedora Project. Fedora is an open source project that is supported by Red Hat, and in many cases serves as a test bed for new features to be introduced in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux products.
Although Fedora does release stable builds, and may be suitable for personal use, Red Hat recommends that users who will be providing critical or production services use Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
