With Red Hat/IBM making it harder for developers and teams to access the source for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), some organizations are joining forces to pave a new path forward.

CIQ, Oracle, and SUSE have come together to create the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA). Because those organizations have business models that depend upon maintaining compatibility with RHEL, they created OpenELA to share resources and work communally on a solution that will provide downstream compatibility.

This new organization describes itself as a "community repository for enterprise Linux sources." What's at the heart of the Open Enterprise Linux Association is that the source will be available with no subscriptions, passwords, or barriers. In fact, the group goes so far as to say, "Freeloaders welcome."

The stated mission for OpenELA is to support continued access to source code that provides RHEL binary compatibility. To do this, OpenELA will offer open and free enterprise-grade Linux source code required to build systems compatible with RHEL 8 and RHEL 9.

And OpenELA does not mince words when they say, "From Enterprise Linux downstream derivatives, to organizations that depend on Enterprise Linux, to vendors and individuals who just love being part of something amazing, YOU ARE INVITED!"

It's clear that this effort is for everyone who depends on RHEL but either needs help to afford the licensing for Red Hat's distribution or has soured on RHEL because they placed the source behind a paywall.

Currently, OpenELA is just getting off the ground.