What Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation does

Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) is a Delaware Public Benefits Corporation founded in 2020 by Gregory Kurtzer, creator of CentOS and Rocky Linux, operating as a community-controlled open-source foundation headquartered in Albany, USA. RESF's primary product is Rocky Linux, an enterprise-grade operating system engineered to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, addressing demand for a vendor-neutral RHEL rebuild following CentOS's strategic shift away from its community model. The foundation also hosts Peridot, a cloud-native build and release tool that manages package composition, distro versioning, updates, and vulnerability handling for Rocky Linux and potential downstream forks. Both projects are released under OSI-approved permissive non-copyleft licenses.

RESF generates revenue exclusively through tiered corporate sponsorships and individual donations; the software itself is free. Sponsorship tiers range from $10,000/year (Tier 4) to $75,000/year (Tier 1 Principal), with named Principal sponsors including CIQ (founding sponsor), Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and VMware. Distribution occurs via direct download from rockylinux.org, AWS and Google Cloud marketplaces, GitHub, and an indirect enterprise channel through CIQ commercial support and resellers including OpenLogic, ProComputers.com, and Stromasys. Customer segments span enterprise organizations, hyperscale cloud providers, telecommunications (Rakuten Symphony), and enterprise storage vendors (45Drives, OpenDrives), as well as individual open-source contributors.

Governance is the foundation's defining structural feature: Gregory Kurtzer legally owns the entity but has ceded operational control to a merit-based board elected by community members, with no single company permitted to occupy more than one-third of any voting board and no board seats sold for sponsorship. A ratified charter and community operating principles (effective January 1, 2023) codify transparency, anti-capture protections, and the right of additional open-source projects to join the foundation, positioning RESF as a multi-project neutral ground rather than a single-product foundation.

Name

Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation

Legal name

Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation

Website

https://resf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation is a community-controlled open-source foundation hosting Rocky Linux, an enterprise-grade RHEL-compatible operating system, and Peridot, a cloud-native build tool, funded by corporate sponsorships and serving cloud, enterprise, telecom, and storage organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Albany

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Corporate Sponsorships: Funding from corporate sponsors at multiple tiers (Tier 1 Principal $75K/year, Tier 2 $50K/year, Tier 3 $25K/year, Tier 4 $10K/year). Sponsors receive media kits, logo placement, social media engagement, and advisory seat access. Funding used for legal expenses, hosting, physical hardware, tokens, and occasionally compensation for contribution activity.
2. Individual Donations: Individual donations from community members supporting the foundation's mission and projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RESF is a community-governed foundation that hosts, builds, and stewards open-source enterprise software projects. Its core offerings are Rocky Linux, an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Peridot, a cloud-native build and release tool used for packaging, versioning, and maintaining Linux distributions.

Product overview

The Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) is an organizational body that hosts open-source projects with a focus on enterprise-grade software. The foundation's primary product portfolio includes Rocky Linux, an open-source enterprise operating system that is 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Peridot, a cloud-native build and release tool that manages packages, modules, distro versions, updates, vulnerabilities, and repository management for Rocky Linux. Rocky Linux serves as the main community-driven enterprise Linux distribution under the RESF, while Peridot provides the underlying build system infrastructure that supports Rocky Linux's development and maintenance workflow.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rocky Linux: An open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It is the main project of the RESF.
• Peridot

Products and services

• Rocky Linux An open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, developed and maintained by the RESF community for enterprise Linux infrastructure use cases.
• Peridot A cloud-native build and release tool used for building, releasing, and maintaining Linux distributions and forks, providing native cloud-based management of packages, modules, distro versions, updates, vulnerabilities, and repositories.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting, strategic and minor.

• CIQcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCIQ is the founding sponsor of RESF and provides commercial support and services for Rocky Linux. They were instrumental in creating Rocky Linux and the RESF, but have no special control over the projects. CIQ offers commercial value-adds to the community while following the community-led direction.
• 45DrivessupportingGTM or Marketing Partner45Drives offers enterprise storage solutions built on powerful and robust open-source software. They sponsor RESF to support the open-source community and offer data storage solutions at competitive cost per terabyte.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerAWS provides infrastructure for RESF operations, running Koji builders for x86_64 and aarch64 in EC2, and SRPM blob storage in S3. AWS is foundational to much of the development and deployment of services supporting Rocky Linux.
• Google CloudcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGoogle is a principal sponsor providing resources for testing and validation. Partnered with RESF to ensure Rocky Linux is a first-class citizen on Google Cloud Platform from day one.
• OpenDrivessupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerOpenDrives is a global provider of enterprise-scale, software-defined data storage solutions. Committed to open standards and protocols facilitating ease of integrations. Headquartered in Culver City, CA.
• Rakuten SymphonystrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerRakuten Symphony is working to make Rocky Linux the standard operating system for running large telecom networks. They are collaborating with third-party vendors and technology partners within the telecom industry to deploy Rocky Linux across large networks.
• VMwaresupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerVMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all apps, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. They sponsor RESF as part of their open-source community support.
• OpenLogicminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed as a sponsor on the RESF sponsors page, offering commercial support services related to Rocky Linux.
• ProComputers.comminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed as a sponsor on the RESF sponsors page, providing commercial support services.
• StromasysminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed as a sponsor on the RESF sponsors page, offering commercial support services.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Apache Software Foundation: One of the most established open-source foundations with a mature merit-based governance model. Comparable as a reference governance framework — RESF explicitly chose not to adopt the ASF model but operates in the same foundation peer set.
• Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF): Foundation under the Linux Foundation that hosts cloud-native projects such as Kubernetes. Comparable as a foundation model hosting open-source infrastructure projects that intersect with Rocky Linux's cloud-native positioning and Peridot's build/release tooling.

Broad incumbents

• Oracle Linux: Oracle's RHEL-compatible enterprise Linux distribution, another alternative for customers seeking to leave Red Hat. Directly comparable as a vendor-backed RHEL-compatible offering competing for the same enterprise audience.
• Linux Foundation: The largest open-source foundation, host to numerous enterprise Linux and cloud-native projects (including the Fedora Project, which is upstream to RHEL). Comparable as an established foundation model that RESF's structure was designed to complement rather than replace.
• Red Hat: The reference platform for RHEL and the strategic incumbent whose decisions (CentOS transition, IBM acquisition, source-availability changes) define the opportunity RESF is built to capture. Comparable as the dominant enterprise Linux player.
• SUSE: Long-established independent enterprise Linux vendor offering SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Directly comparable as a vendor-neutral, enterprise-grade Linux alternative competing for similar workloads and customers.

Direct peers

• AlmaLinux OS Foundation: The closest direct competitor to RESF — a community-governed RHEL-compatible Linux distribution launched in response to the CentOS transition. Both foundations pursue the same enterprise audience with comparable bug-for-bug compatibility positioning.
• Canonical (Ubuntu): Operator of Ubuntu, the leading community-driven enterprise Linux distribution. Comparable as a community-led enterprise OS with both free and commercially supported editions targeting the same enterprise and cloud audiences.
• CentOS Project / CentOS Stream: The original community enterprise Linux project whose strategic shift under Red Hat/IBM created the vacuum RESF was built to fill. CentOS Stream is now the upstream (rolling) development branch of RHEL, making it a directly adjacent peer in the same ecosystem.
• Fedora Project: Community-driven Linux distribution that serves as the upstream for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Comparable as a community-governed enterprise Linux project closely related to the RHEL ecosystem in which Rocky Linux operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/resforg
• GitHubgithub.com/rocky-linux/peridot
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rocky-enterprise-software-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation