My main use case for Amazon Linux is to host my company's applications, internal applications, and automations.

For example, I host my own application called IriusRisk on Amazon Linux. I also deploy internal applications such as GoCD, which is a CI/CD solution, and I deploy agents that report information to my SIEM.

The best features Amazon Linux offers include how easy it is to deploy; I can launch a new EC2 instance from an AWS Amazon Linux image, and it helps significantly with maintenance since I do not have to maintain the image itself as it is already provided by AWS.

The easy deployment and managed images have helped my team by making it completely transparent for my engineers; we do not need to generate the images, we do not have to maintain the packages, and we only have to consume Amazon Linux images to always get the latest version.

Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by providing a great solution for hosting all of my applications, and it has helped my team focus only on the development of my applications since we do not have to worry about maintaining any base image.

Specific outcomes that show how Amazon Linux has helped my team include fewer issues since we do not have to worry about my own images or keep track of package versioning, which already comes within AWS Amazon Linux and translates into more performance since the images are already built; I cannot provide a metric since we have already used this image, and we have never had to build my own images.

Amazon Linux can be improved by providing security updates more frequently.

I have been using Amazon Linux for eight years.

Amazon Linux is stable.

The scalability of Amazon Linux is really good since I can consume it every time I need.

I have never had to use customer support for Amazon Linux, but I have used AWS customer support service, and it is really helpful with a very short response time.

Positive

I did not previously use a different solution.

I do not have any specific ROI metrics since I have always used Amazon Linux for deploying my products, but I know that I have some other images that I build myself, and I know that building them, maintaining them, and deploying them is much less effective than deploying an Amazon Linux image because I have to maintain them and keep an eye on the packages used to ensure they are up to date and do not have any security issues.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is very easy and straightforward; I just fill a form and my instance is already running if using the image, and as for the pricing, it is included within the AWS cloud usage, so no extra fees are added by Amazon Linux.

Before choosing Amazon Linux, I did not evaluate other options.

I would rate Amazon Linux a 10 out of 10.

I chose a 10 because it helps speed up deployments, it is really scalable, and it saves me a lot of headaches.

I do not purchase Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace; I use AWS Amazon Linux from within the EC2 application and do not have to buy it in the marketplace.

My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is to use it, and you will find new use cases for it; it will help you significantly in shipping faster.

My overall review rating for Amazon Linux is 10.

My primary use case was Amazon Linux as the default operating system for EC2 instances supporting Docker-based container deployments, CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Kubernetes worker nodes, back-end application servers, and monitoring and logging agents. I used Amazon Linux as an operating system in the service known as Amazon EC2 in Amazon Web Services. Our workflow typically involved provisioning EC2 instances with Amazon Linux, configuring IAM roles, installing Docker and runtime dependencies, setting up services, and deploying applications via automated CI/CD pipelines. Amazon Linux acted as the core layer in our cloud architecture. After provisioning EC2 instances, we used yum as the package manager to install and manage system dependencies. Security updates were applied automatically through AWS managed repositories, ensuring compliance and organizational security standards. Amazon Linux was used for both learning projects and production-like client deployments. Client identities cannot be disclosed, but its predictable update cycle and stability made it suitable for long-running services.

We used Amazon Linux for Docker daemon and container runtimes, for Jenkins agents and build servers, for NGINX and many back-end services, for CloudWatch agents for metrics, and for log collection. During my internship at Cognizant, I extensively worked with Amazon Linux as the primary operating system for workloads deployed on AWS. Amazon Linux served as the base OS for EC2 instances, running Docker containers, CI/CD tools, monitoring agents, and back-end services. Amazon Linux is a purpose-built Linux distribution maintained by AWS, optimized for AWS infrastructure, and designed to deliver long-term stability and enhanced security. The tight integration with native AWS services provides a production-ready environment with minimal overhead, making it suitable for enterprise-grade cloud deployments. It significantly reduces operational complexity in AWS environments. A solid understanding of Linux system administration and AWS fundamentals is required for efficient usage.

I strongly recommend learning Linux system administration fundamentals and AWS core services such as EC2, IAM, VPC, and CloudWatch for setting up the instance and giving basic permissions for users to use it, and security and network basics. When combined with Docker, CI/CD pipelines, and AWS infrastructure, Amazon Linux becomes a powerful and reliable operating system for cloud-native applications.

The best features Amazon Linux offers is that it has many packages installed as an operating system. I can directly use tools such as Docker runtime, Jenkins, and any DevOps features such as Ansible and many other tools. I can directly access it in the Linux environment using Amazon Linux. What stood out to me and made my experience better were the security updates. I continue to receive security updates so that bugs cannot come through the system.

Technical benefits include the AWS-optimized kernel, which is tuned for better EC2 performance, native IAM integration for secure access without static credentials, and CloudWatch compatibility for system-level monitoring. It has a security-first design, including SE Linux support and rapid patching. Amazon Linux reduces operational risk by minimizing incompatibilities between the OS and AWS infrastructure.

Amazon Linux is highly stable. In my experience, EC2 instances run continuously for long periods without unexpected OS failures. Combined with AWS managed infrastructure, it provides enterprise-grade reliability suitable for production workloads. Amazon Linux scales efficiently with AWS. It supports horizontal scaling using EC2 Auto Scaling groups and vertical scaling by resizing instance types. It performs consistently under high CPU, memory, and input-output workloads. It is well-suited for microservices and container platforms and for high-traffic back-end systems.

From a technical perspective, Amazon Linux could improve in broader availability of third-party packages, simplified system-level troubleshooting tools, and more beginner-focused system administration documentation. New users often need time to understand the permissions of Linux, networking, system services, and AWS security models together.

Amazon Linux has some limitations, such as a smaller package ecosystem compared to Ubuntu. It requires deep Linux knowledge for troubleshooting. The AWS-centric design makes it less portable outside AWS.

I am not currently using Amazon Linux, but I used it during my entire internship with Cognizant, probably for five to six months.

Amazon Linux is highly stable. In my experience, EC2 instances run continuously for long periods without unexpected OS failures. Combined with AWS managed infrastructure, it provides enterprise-grade reliability suitable for production workloads.

Amazon Linux scales efficiently with AWS. It supports horizontal scaling using EC2 Auto Scaling groups and vertical scaling by resizing instance types. It performs consistently under high CPU, memory, and input-output workloads.

Regarding community support and customer services, AWS provides extensive documentation and security advisors for Amazon Linux. Most issues can be resolved using official AWS documentation, AWS knowledge bases, community forums, and internal support teams.

Previously, I used general-purpose Linux distributions such as Ubuntu. I switched to Amazon Linux because it is fully optimized for AWS infrastructure. It integrates more naturally with AWS services, and it provides long-term support without license costs.

The initial setup is moderately complex. Launching an EC2 instance with Amazon Linux is straightforward, but configuring IAM roles, network security such as setting up VPC and security groups, and user permissions and services requires some foundational Linux and AWS knowledge. Once configured, daily operations are efficient and low-maintenance.

Amazon Linux delivers a positive return on investment by eliminating OS licensing costs, reducing maintenance overhead, improving operational stability, and accelerating DevOps and deployment workflows. While specialized knowledge is required, the long-term cost and reliability benefits outweigh the learning curve.

Amazon Linux is provided at no additional charge by AWS. This means I will not pay anything extra for the OS itself. AWS distributes and maintains Linux images free of licensing fees. Although Amazon Linux itself is free, I still incur AWS usage charges for the services I host on it.

If I am a new AWS customer, the AWS Free Tier typically includes, for the first six months, micro instances such as t2.micro or t3.micro for free, so I can use that.

Amazon Linux is an operating system, and I can install any of the other tools such as DevOps tools and other back-end services, back-end servers, and also AWS tools. I primarily used it in an EC2 instance, and an EC2 instance can be combined with any AWS tool, per my knowledge.

Amazon Linux is open to all AWS services. I can integrate any AWS service using Amazon Linux.

It is a cloud service that I use. The updates will be done by Amazon. I do not need to do anything. Amazon and AWS will handle the updates of Amazon Linux.

I rated this product nine out of ten.

I normally use Amazon Linux for monolithic applications or websites as a web server. Amazon Linux helps me run those monolithic applications or web servers by allowing us to install NGINX or HTTPd using the package managers, RPM. Amazon Linux provides a secure, stable, and high-performance environment that is optimized for the AWS ecosystem itself. It features deep AWS services integration, long-term support, and performance tuning for EC2, making it a reliable choice for monolithic applications.

I normally use Amazon Linux for containerized applications as well, such as EKS. As node groups in EKS, we use Amazon Linux AMIs. Since it is reliable, secure, and gives long-term support from Amazon AWS itself, it serves our needs well.

Considering the best features Amazon Linux offers, I would say the security and reliability stand out. The operating system has been optimized by AWS itself, so it is highly optimized. There are various pre-installed AWS tools inside it. It is Graviton optimized for Arm-based workloads and has security by default with enhanced security, lifecycle, and deterministic updates. Upgrades are also good in this offering. It is cost-effective and works well with the modern toolchain.

Regarding those features, Amazon Linux benefits my day-to-day work by enhancing creativity and content generation with visuals in slides, video productions, and it is quite time-saving.

Regarding how Amazon Linux has impacted my organization positively, it helped us mostly with the costing part. Beyond that, the security posture has improved, which is always a big challenge in larger organizations.

Using Amazon Linux gives us a pay-as-you-go model, paying for fewer resources instead of a large upfront investment in hardware servers. I have seen various case studies which have helped save a lot of costs. Regarding security, I have seen very few incidents related to Amazon Linux. There are various kernel issues which we face in other operating systems, but not in Amazon Linux.

While VM images exist in other virtualization platforms, Amazon Linux is primarily designed for EC2 itself. Expanding official support for on-premise and hybrid scenarios would improve the flexibility for companies with multi-cloud setups. Additionally, expanded package repositories for third-party software would be beneficial. Compared to Ubuntu or Red Hat, Amazon Linux has smaller communities and fewer third-party repositories. Documentation examples could be improved by providing more real-world, varied use case examples rather than just command references.

Amazon Linux should be easily upgradable. From Amazon Linux 2 to Amazon Linux 2023 requires a complete migration, as there is no direct in-place upgrade path. Having an easier upgrade path for migrating from one version to another would be really helpful. Standardized Yum behaviors would also help because Amazon Linux 2023 defaults to DNF, while Amazon Linux 2 was established using Yum workflows. This creates minor compatibility hurdles. Although we can use Yum, it would be better if those behaviors were standardized. Minor improvements could also be made regarding an enhanced terminal experience.

I did not rate Amazon Linux as a perfect ten because of the upgrade path and standardizing the package behaviors. The improvements I needed in Amazon Linux included the upgrade path, standardizing the package behaviors, and support for third-party software. That is why I rated it nine instead of ten.

I have been using Amazon Linux for the past seven years.

In my experience, Amazon Linux is stable. I have not faced any issues with stability.

In my experience, Amazon Linux's scalability is not an issue. I have not faced any issues with that.

The experience with customer support for Amazon Linux was very good. I interacted with them a couple of times and they were very helpful.

Positive

Previously, I was on a private cloud setup where we used to use Ubuntu or Red Hat as per the customer requirements. Later on, I switched to Amazon Linux because of its security and compatibility and everything else it offers.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was really good. The cost is comparatively less, and since there is no license involved when we are using it within AWS itself, the setup was also quite simple. Overall, it was a good experience.

I took Amazon Linux from the Marketplace itself.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was really good. The cost is comparatively less, and since there is no license involved when we are using it within AWS itself, the setup was also quite simple. Overall, it was a good experience.

I have not explored any other options because Amazon Linux itself has a lot of options and features which really helped me with my applications deployment and everything else. If I wanted to explore alternatives, I would have considered Ubuntu, which is also similarly very good.

Most of what I would recommend relates to the security, performance, compatibilities, and support of Amazon Linux that I mentioned earlier. My advice is to not perform in-place upgrades. Try to identify the differences that exist between Amazon Linux 2 and 2023 before upgrading. I rated this product nine out of ten overall.

My main use case for Amazon Linux is to run my production environment in a robust, scalable operating system. I have a SaaS platform where we run all our servers in Amazon, and we use Amazon Linux as the operating system that serves all our servers to our customers.

Being a SaaS platform, we need to ensure the security of the platform that we are running, and Amazon Linux provides the latest and greatest patches with all the packages included, making it easier for us to manage. The best features Amazon Linux offers include a very good package management system where we can quickly install everything, and the packages are compatible and very performant with Graviton processors. Graviton is even cheaper, but we do not have much expertise on running things on Arm processors, so we rely on the operating system, which abstracts us from the Arm processor to the application. Amazon Linux helps us do that, and the performance is so high on these servers. They are fine-tuned in such a way that it can use the best out of the hardware. Amazon Linux has positively impacted our organization. We were running on normal servers which were expensive, and we moved to Graviton servers. If we had used any other operating system, there might have been many packaging issues with the modules that we are using, the classes, the objects, and other components. Amazon Linux comes with all the packages required to run on Graviton, which helped us reduce our cost. We were able to achieve almost 30% more improvement in performance on the servers and almost 10% reduction in cost.

Amazon Linux is currently available mostly in Amazon, but I would like to see it available outside as well. Amazon last provided some security patches that were not very fast, which was one reason I did not rate it higher, along with a few things, such as some particular versions of Python that are not readily available in Amazon Linux.

I have been using Amazon Linux for almost four years.

We have Amazon Linux servers which we have not restarted for almost three years, and the operating system is very robust. Once we received a security patch from Amazon through proactive updates, and we had to update it. Amazon Linux is stable.

Amazon Linux is highly scalable.

Previously, we were using CentOS, and we switched to Amazon Linux for better reliability and continuous support, as Amazon Linux was also a Fedora flavor.

I have seen a return on investment. As I mentioned earlier, we were able to increase the performance by at least 10 to 20% and also reduce the cost by up to 10%.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Amazon Linux is that it was decent, and in fact, it was good.

Before choosing Amazon Linux, I evaluated CentOS as an option.

My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is that if you are moving to Graviton servers, Amazon Linux would be the best option, as you will get almost all the packages right away in Amazon Linux. I give this review a rating of 10.

My main use case for Amazon Linux is deploying Java microservice applications, Python applications, and .NET applications. I chose Amazon Linux most of the time because my platform and infrastructure are hosted in Amazon, so the compatibility is fine with Amazon Linux while using Amazon.

I deploy applications on Amazon Linux by writing scripts in the user data script and deploying the web application from there.

Amazon Linux is deployed in my organization in a private cloud where we deploy everything.

The best features Amazon Linux offers include optimized performance and tight AWS integration. SELinux is enabled on Amazon Linux and performs automatic security patching and CVE fixes. Critical vulnerability fixes and those security features have helped me significantly. The integration with AWS CLI, Cloud-init, and services such as SSM Agent and CloudWatch agent has been useful.

Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization primarily by providing cost savings, as we do not want to spend on the OS portion.

Amazon Linux can be improved by integrating other cloud features so that other cloud providers can also use Amazon Linux. GCP and Azure could benefit from Amazon Linux compatibility as well.

I have been using Amazon Linux for seven years.

I have saved approximately five percent.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing includes working on multiple other vendor licenses for the software licensing portion. The setup cost involves initial migration planning and related activities.

Amazon Linux cost is free to use, which provides significant cost optimization benefits that we always leverage. My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is to use it and save your cost. I would rate this product nine out of ten.

My main use case for Amazon Linux was running production workloads, primarily using it to host backend services for the company and web applications on EC2 instances while helping DevOps with several tasks, one related to QA, as a QA Analyst and QA Engineer.

I hosted a production REST API backend on EC2 using Amazon Linux which handled user authentication and core transactions for a customer-facing web application, and it scaled reliably using AWS Auto Scaling and load balancing.

Using Amazon Linux delivered ROI in several practical ways, notably eliminating OS licensing costs, saving thousands of dollars per year compared to licensed enterprise Linux options, and reducing operational effort with an estimated 25 to 30% reduction in OS-related operational work due to AWS-native defaults and predictable updates.

Amazon Linux fit very naturally into our automation and security practices, regularly used with infrastructure as code and automated provisioning, which made it easy to spin up consistent environments across development, staging, and production, aligning closely with AWS best practices.

The strongest features of Amazon Linux are its tight AWS integration, security, and long-term stability, with one of the biggest advantages being how well it integrates with AWS services out of the box.

The tight AWS integration of Amazon Linux made my day-to-day operations much simpler and more reliable, as IAM roles work seamlessly at the OS level, eliminating the need to manage static AWS credentials on instances, which improved security and reduced configuration effort when deploying new EC2 instances or scaling automatically.

Another feature I found very useful in Amazon Linux is its predictable and well-curated package ecosystem, with stable and tested repositories for AWS environments reducing dependency issues and making system updates safer in production, along with smooth integration with automation and containerized workloads.

While Amazon Linux worked very well overall for us, there could be a few areas for improvement. For instance, the package ecosystem compared to more community-driven distributions like Ubuntu, where some packages can lag slightly behind in terms of versions, occasionally requiring extra effort when newer language runtimes or tools were needed.

I have been working in my field as a manual tester and then moved into automated testing for seven years in total, performing and executing test cases on some freelance platforms.

Amazon Linux is very stable, especially for long-running production workloads on AWS, having been able to run it on production EC2 instances for extended periods with minimal issues.

Amazon Linux scales very well, especially when used in AWS-native environments, working seamlessly with AWS Auto Scaling and load balancing to scale from a small number of instances to dozens or more during traffic spikes without needing OS-level changes.

Amazon Linux customer support is generally good, understanding that support is structured through AWS support plans and official documentation, relying on AWS for issues directly related to Amazon Linux behavior on EC2, with timely and helpful responses for performance, updates, or AWS integration issues.

Positive

We have not used any other solution before Amazon Linux.

Using Amazon Linux delivered ROI in several practical ways, notably eliminating OS licensing costs, saving thousands of dollars per year compared to licensed enterprise Linux options, and reducing operational effort with an estimated 25 to 30% reduction in OS-related operational work due to AWS-native defaults and predictable updates.

The pricing and licensing model of Amazon Linux is one of its biggest advantages, having no additional licensing cost and no per-core and per-instance OS fees, making cost planning straightforward by only paying for the underlying AWS infrastructure.

Before choosing Amazon Linux, I evaluated a few alternatives, specifically considering Ubuntu Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and CentOS.

I would advise that if you are planning to run workloads on AWS, Amazon Linux is a strong and practical choice, best suited for AWS-native, cloud-first architectures where tight integration with AWS services, security, and long-term stability matter. I would rate this product an 8 out of 10.

Amazon Linux is used in projects at my company. A quick specific example of how I use Amazon Linux is in applications, for clients, and in application migrations.

The best features Amazon Linux offers are best practices in AWS, the usability, and the ease of use in AWS.

What makes the usability and switching in AWS stand out for me is the ease of usability, that it already comes with frameworks installed, and the ease of use with SSL. Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization, and I have seen improvements and benefits since using it. I have noticed improvements, even small ones, such as time optimization.

Amazon Linux can be improved with better integrations in applications. There are other improvements I think Amazon Linux needs, but it is mostly working well for me.

I have been using Amazon Linux for five years.

Amazon Linux is stable in my experience.

Amazon Linux's scalability meets my needs as it does not present any problems for me in day-to-day use.

Customer support for Amazon Linux exists, but I have never needed to use it, although I know it is available. I would rate the customer support at a seven on a scale of one to ten.

Positive

I previously used Ubuntu before Amazon Linux, and I decided to switch due to its features.

I have seen a return on investment with Amazon Linux, especially in terms of time saved. For example, the instance is created quickly and comes with some Amazon packages already installed, which has saved me time.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Amazon Linux is that there is no cost, and I am paying only for the AWS instance.

Before choosing Amazon Linux, I evaluated other options, specifically Debian and Windows.

My advice to others looking into using Amazon Linux is that you can use it without regret. I would rate this review at ten out of ten.

My main use case for Amazon Linux is mostly deploying servers using NGINX and application runner, and I use it as a base image in Amazon Linux itself when I write any Docker file.

In my current project, investment.in, I use Amazon Linux as a web server as well.

The best features Amazon Linux offers, in my opinion, are the yum command and the packages that are already included, along with other packages that I can easily install in the Linux environment.

These features help me in my daily work by making automation very easy.

Amazon Linux has positively impacted my organization by increasing productivity since automation is easy and fast, allowing me to set up servers easily, thus productivity increases and efficiency improves as soon as possible while deploying my application using Amazon Linux.

For the improvement of Amazon Linux, I think there should be UI features in the future, as Amazon Linux currently has only terminal capabilities without a UI, and I hope to see documentation updates as soon as possible so when documentation expires, I am updating it and referring to it soon.

When using Amazon Linux, I would prefer if any command goes wrong that an auto-command feature would appear there.

I chose eight out of ten because command line improvement is needed along with UI features, and the second thing is that you can use auto-command line features.

I do not think there are any other improvements Amazon Linux needs right now, maybe something related to security, performance, or compatibility.

My advice for others looking into using Amazon Linux is to make sure the command line is easy and that Amazon Linux has more performance than other Linux environments and is more secure than other Linux environments as well.

I have been using Amazon Linux for more than five years, because I started using Amazon Linux in college.

I have more to add about how I use Amazon Linux; using the command, using shell machines, and using the terminals in Amazon Linux could be a great experience.

I would like to add that Amazon Linux is easy to use with the command line and also user-friendly, with no need to download any third-party updates like RPM packages and then install; I just use the command line only to download directly and install directly.

I purchased Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace.

I think next time with Amazon Linux, whenever a bad command is returned, it could be auto-generated to create the perfect command, and that is something you can implement.

I give this product a rating of eight out of ten.

We primarily use Amazon Linux for the deployment of Amazon machine instances. We also use it for loading up our packages for building Docker images inside it and for many different cases where we usually utilize it.

Recently, we used Amazon Linux to host running web servers using Apache and Nginx, and we were also working on a project for deploying some backend services like Node.js, Python, and Ruby. We hosted some APIs and microservices on these instances. We are using it as the default common operating system for the Amazon EC2 instances, and it helps us in many different ways, especially since our EKS cluster is a self-provisioned cluster, as we are using Amazon Linux instances as the provisioned instances.

The positive impact of Amazon Linux on my organization is significant, as it has improved organizational security by closing known vulnerabilities quickly, reducing the risk of hacking and malware, resulting in fewer security incidents and lower breach risk. Financially, Amazon Linux is cost-effective and prevents costly data breaches and downtimes, saving considerable money and protecting the company's revenue. It also simplifies compliance and audits such as HIPAA, making it easy for us to get audit approvals while ensuring the organization stays legally compliant and increases system stability by fixing bugs and kernel issues.

The best features that Amazon Linux offers, based on my day-to-day activities, are that it is optimized for AWS. It is tuned for EC2 instances, has fast boot times, and works seamlessly with AWS services including EC2, EBS, S3, and IAM. It is also free with no licensing cost, does not require a subscription, and is included in AWS usage, making it cost-effective. Amazon Linux 2 offers five years of support, includes a lot of security patches, and has secure defaults. I find it valuable that even the kernel is optimized for efficient memory and CPU management.

In my day-to-day work, the features of Amazon Linux help significantly, especially with system stability and performance. Additionally, the pre-built AMI images in Amazon Linux are easy to create, and creating custom AMIs is straightforward. It is also developer-friendly and cloud DevOps-friendly. The package management is stable, using YUM and AWS-maintained repositories. Security features assist us as a company since security teams detect vulnerabilities, and security issues reported show common vulnerability exposures, providing reports almost through using Trivy while utilizing the EC2 instance. AWS can analyze those vulnerabilities, implement fixes, and test to ensure the systems remain stable.

Speaking of challenges I faced with Amazon Linux, some other use cases I used it for include building containers that I take and store in my Amazon ECR, and the main challenge I usually faced was vendor lock-in, as the design is mainly for AWS. It has limited optimization and support outside AWS, and for us to migrate loads to another cloud, it requires many changes. The community support is also limited because it is smaller compared to Ubuntu or Debian, and there are fewer third-party tutorials and troubleshooting guides for Amazon Linux, so we must heavily rely on AWS documentation. It is still a great tool but has a learning curve and cannot really be compared to other Linux distributions.

Although I am a DevOps engineer and do not have specific metrics readily available, I am aware that patch deployment time is notably efficient, as critical patches are usually applied within less than 48 hours from release. For unpatched common vulnerability exposures, the instances of these were near zero for high or critical CVEs. This assures efficiency and reveals that we did not experience many security incidents due to unpatched systems, although I do not have specific figures for that.

Personally, from my own experience with Amazon Linux, I can suggest improving the patch compliance rate by automating patching using the systems manager patch, scheduling automatic patch windows, and enforcing patch baselines to achieve higher compliance and fewer missed systems. Standardizing operating system images by using golden AMIs with the latest images could also help, as new systems are built by default while removing unused software would be beneficial.

Further improvements needed for Amazon Linux include ensuring compatibility beyond AWS, which would be very useful, as well as enhancing GUI support since it is primarily focused on server workloads. A better graphical user interface based on admin tools would be great, and providing more frequent runtime updates for languages such as Python, Node.js, and Java, which currently lag behind in their latest releases, would also be beneficial. Additionally, improving monitoring and reporting features while integrating patch and security dashboards would be useful.

I have been using Amazon Linux for a year now.

Amazon Linux is really stable. As I highlighted, it has higher reliability and fewer crashes and issues, as well as a better security posture with less risk of security breaches.

Amazon Linux handles scalability well for my needs. Especially when integrated with autoscaling groups on ECS and EKS, it scales effectively, with minimal problems from my experience. Even the cooling down process after scaling out or scaling down does not cause many headaches, and you only pay for what you use, which makes it great.

For customer support, we are on a support plan maintained by AWS. The team I am working with mainly uses the developer plan, while those in production often use the enterprise plan for dedicated support and architectural help. The support primarily covers installation issues, operating system problems, and networking, and while they provide helpful resources such as GitHub links and blogs for general issues, we often conduct our own research, as our company has experts working with Linux in the infrastructure.

Negative

I have been using Amazon Linux ever since I joined the company; therefore, I have not used a different solution.

Amazon Linux is best suited for EC2 workloads, ECS, EKS containers, and AWS-native applications. You can use it for production workloads because it is stable and secure, and without license fees, you can expect lower costs compared to Red Hat Linux and Windows, providing a great return on investment for cloud-native workloads. If your application requires very new software versions, you may need additional repositories or manual installations, such as Docker containers using custom images. The ability to patch regularly, apply patches on time, and utilize the patch manager is a key advantage. Amazon Linux offers many use cases and is recommended for microservices, making it great for security purposes by using IAM roles and security groups properly while integrating with CloudWatch for monitoring.

Compared to Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, Amazon Linux has worse support, which often leads us to rely heavily on documentation. Additionally, there are fewer third-party tutorials available for Amazon Linux. Furthermore, it still needs improved package availability, as some newer software versions are missing. Amazon Linux has smaller repositories than Ubuntu, so providing more up-to-date packages and expanding official repositories would help. Easier version upgrades and stronger multi-cloud support beyond AWS, reducing vendor lock-in, would enhance its overall effectiveness.

We usually purchase Amazon Linux through the AWS Marketplace.

Since I joined the company, they have been using Amazon Linux, and I would not know what specific options were previously evaluated. However, Amazon Linux was chosen for its faster deployment times, which means less configuration time for the operating systems and quicker time to market. It has lower maintenance costs, requires less admin workload, offers automated patching, and is highly reliable with fewer crashes and issues.

I rate Amazon Linux at seven out of ten on an overall scale.