Amazon Linux 2 Reviews & Product Details

Amazon Linux 2 comes with pre-installed packages and AWS integration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I dislike most is that the software repositories can sometimes feel a bit dated. Even though the stability is excellent, getting the latest versions of certain runtimes often means relying on the 'extras' library or doing manual configuration, which adds extra complexity to automation scripts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What i like most about Amazon Linux 2 is that it is stable and works well for server and development use. It runs smoothly and integrates nicely with AWS service, which makes deployment easier. Overall, it feels reliable for daily work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One thing I do not like is that it can be a bit difficult for beginners, especially if you are not used to Linux. Sometimes setting things up takes extra time, and documentation can feel limited for some use cases. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux is lightweight, secure, and optimized for AWS out of the box. No more tweaking generic distros—everything just works. Updates come fast, and the integration with Systems Manager and CloudWatch is seamless. We cut our deployment times in half. If you run on EC2, this is the only choice. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux prioritizes stability over currency, which means you’ll spend hours fighting ancient versions of Python, Node, or Git. Even with amazon-linux-extras, you often get minor releases that are years behind. For modern development, I end up installing everything from source or switching to Fedora / Ubuntu. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We develop applications for transportation and buses control, with a lot of connected devices such as bus validators. We also have CRM users running reports. AWS Linux 2 is a great OS to work with. I have used on some deployments with great success. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I don't specifically dislike any particular feature. It's just that we are familiar with Ubuntu Server and that's the only reason we sometimes prefer Ubuntu instead of AWS Linux 2. We are not detractors of AWS Linux 2. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like best about Amazon Linux 2 is its stability, security updates, and smooth integration with cloud environments like AWS.

It provides reliable performance, easy package management, and strong support for hosting applications and server workloads efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One downside of Amazon Linux 2 is that some newer software packages and development tools may not always be available in the default repositories.

The learning curve can also be slightly challenging for teams unfamiliar with Linux-based server environments and command-line management. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 has been rock solid for our EC2 workloads. The tight integration with AWS services like CloudWatch agent, SSM, and IAM roles makes provisioning servers really painless. Long-term support and regular security patches give us peace of mind, and the kernel live patching feature has saved us multiple maintenance windows. Performance on Graviton instances is excellent and yum/extras repos make installing the right versions of Python, Docker, and nginx straightforward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The biggest downside is the end-of-life timeline since AL2 standard support ends in June 2025, which pushed us into a migration planning effort to AL2023. Package versions in the default repos can also feel dated compared to upstream distros, so we sometimes need amazon-linux-extras or third-party repos to get newer software. Documentation around extras topics could be clearer, and using it outside of AWS feels awkward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It is the most stable and reliable OS for my AWS cloud architecture. I specifically like how well it is optimized for Graviton processors (Arm64), which gives our team a massive performance boost and significant cost savings compared to traditional x86 instancees Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The default package repositories can sometimes be a bit conservative with software versions. While this helps with stability, i often have to use the amazon-linux-extras library or compile manually if i need the absolute latest version of a specific developer tool. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It was a very solid OS when it was actively maintained. At this point, you should be using AL2023 instead. AL2 had solid package manager support, which made it easier to work with compared with AL2023. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It’s currently deprecated. I also didn’t particularly enjoy using the yum package manager, since it isn’t as familiar to me as apt. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 is a great tool with updated packages. Unlike CentOS, it works very smoothly and feels easy to use, maintain, and manage overall. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main downside of Amazon Linux 2 is that it’s closely tied to AWS, which makes it less suitable for non-AWS environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazon Linux 2 is excellent for applications on AWS EC2. Optimized performance, fast security updates, and full compatibility with the AWS ecosystem. Low overhead, based on CentOS but with better integration. Extended support until 2025 is very valuable. Ideal for containers, microservices, and automation in cloud infrastructure. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Limited documentation compared to Ubuntu/CentOS. Some packages are not in official repositories. Smaller community, less third-party support. Rapid changes between versions can break dependencies. Does not have 10-year support like Enterprise Linux. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.