Page 131 - Red Hat PR REPORT - JULY 2025

7/10/25, 8:53 AM Red Hat just expanded free access to RHEL for business developers | ZDNET
It's always been easy for programmers to get started with Linux. Just download one of the many free distros, learn
some C, and you're in business.

Also: SUSE launches new European digital sovereignty support service to meet surging demand

Learning how to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was a bit harder. Fortunately, Red Hat made it easy for

developers to get started. In 2016, the Linux giant started offering free RHEL to members of its Red Hat Developer
Program. Then, in 2021, after closing CentOS, Red Hat began offering free RHEL to small development teams.
Now, Red Hat is unveiling a new offering, Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Business Developers.

So, why yet another free offering? This program aims to make RHEL more accessible to business-focused
development teams working outside traditional IT. This move, announced on July 9, 2025, aims to foster greater

consistency between development and production environments while reducing friction across hybrid cloud IT
estates. The goal is to ease the transition of applications into production and reduce operational friction between
business groups and IT.

Also: 7 things every Linux beginner should know before downloading their first distro

As Gunnar Hellekson, Red Hat VP and general manager of RHEL, said in a statement: "Modern developers need to
be able to move at their own pace to deliver innovative applications, but must do so without increasing friction with
IT operations teams or production systems. RHEL for Business Developers helps empower developers with direct
access to the world's leading enterprise Linux platform without having to move through centralized IT channels,
giving them a more consistent, reliable foundation that aligns with the business's demands for production-
readiness."

Learn more

With this program, each registered Red Hat Developer Program user can run up to 25 physical, virtual, or cloud-

based instances. Besides the Linux distribution, the package includes signed developer content featuring modern
open-source programming languages, tools, and databases essential for next-generation enterprise applications.

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