Azure Linux 3 hits general availability - but don't expect any frills

With impeccable timing considering recent Windows issues, Microsoft has made Azure Linux 3.0 generally available. It includes an update to the Linux kernel and new versions of various packages.

However, users tiring of issues with Microsoft's flagship operating system should look away now. Azure Linux 3.0 (formerly CBL-Mariner) continues to be a bare-bones product, with just enough to get something like Kubernetes running but not much else. Desktop aficionados would be well advised to look elsewhere.

Which, to be fair, is as it should be. While Azure Linux 3.0 is the commercially supported face of CBL-Mariner (CBL stands for Common Base Linux), its primary purpose is as a container or container host and remains an example of the stripped-down, minimalist breed of distributions.

Sadly, the release does not yet include an ISO - the GitHub repository will direct users to the v2.0 edition, which weighs just over 800 MB. However, the source code is available for users who want to roll their own and check out Microsoft's take on a Linux distribution.

The release also lacks release notes at present, but a trawl through the source indicates that this is quite a big one, hence the change in the version number. One substantial update is the move to the 6.6 LTS Linux kernel, which is quite a jump from the 5.15 kernel used in earlier versions.

Previews of the update have been available for a few months now, with the last coming on July 3.

CBL-Mariner was rebranded partly as a way to indicate that Azure Linux was a commercially supported version of the operating system, with a few provisos - its primary purpose, after all, was to be a container host for the Azure Kubernetes Service.

Also, CBL-Mariner does not exactly trip off the tongue.

While the GitHub page for the project uses the Azure Linux naming, much of the rest of the repo continues to be all about CBL-Mariner. The README says: "CBL-Mariner has been engineered with the notion that a small common core set of packages can address the universal needs of first party cloud and edge services while allowing individual teams to layer additional packages on top of the common core to produce images for their workloads."

Something like the Windows Subsystem for Linux springs to mind.

The update is a sign that, despite the company's obsession with AI nowadays, projects such as Azure Linux continue to be developed and receive updates. A move to the 6.6 LTS kernel, along with other package updates, will be welcomed by users, internal to Microsoft and external alike. ®