The company’s permanently free security platform for up to 25 machines is now available to organizations running Debian and Ubuntu, as well as AlmaLinux.
Back in July I told you about a special offer that FOSS Force Platinum Sponsor Codenotary had extended to AlmaLinux users, which gave users unrestricted access — with no expiration date — to its AI-powered security platform for up to 25 machines running AlmaLinux.
This was a good deal, as I figured out when I looked at the company’s pricing, which could amount to savings of thousands of dollars. I also liked the lack of an expiration date, which took the promotion out of the “try it for a week while we put pressure on you to sign up for a paid contract” category. Those initial 25 machines keep their coverage indefinitely. There’s only a money discussion if you have more than 25 machines and you’d like for them to have Codenotary’s security protection too.
It looks like I wasn’t the only one who liked it. More than 12,000 AlmaLinux instances registered for the program after the initial offer. That’s been good for AlmaLinux users. It’s evidently also been good for Codenotary, because they’ve expanded the program to cover Debian and Ubuntu.
It’s the same deal: organizations running either Linux distribution can now have access to the complete Codenotary security platform for up to 25 Linux machines at no cost, no feature restrictions, and no expiration date. Don’t worry AlmaLinux users, you’re still included. It’s just that now to more distros have been invited to the party.
“The AlmaLinux campaign demonstrated that removing the commercial barrier can dramatically accelerate the adoption of better Linux security,” Dennis Zimmer, Codenotary co-founder and chief technology officer, said in a statement. “We want Debian and Ubuntu users to have exactly the same opportunity. Install it, secure your systems and use it for as long as you need. With AlmaLinux, Debian and Ubuntu, we now cover the most important Linux distributions.”
This is a whaddaya got to lose proposition for enterprises. If you’re running Debian and/or Ubuntu, either on-prem or in the cloud, you get to hook up 25 of your machines to Codenotary’s platform so you can take a long, hard look and see how you like it. If you don’t like it and think it falls short for any reason, you’re out nothing but the time it cost to check it out. If you do like it and want to expand its use to more of your machines, you can give Codenotary a call and see if you can work something out.
Even if you can’t come to terms, you still have Codenotary’s technology protecting 25 of your machines for free. And if you find that you don’t like the platform? Well, now you know for sure, and it didn’t cost you anything to find out. What’s wrong with that?
The way I see it, Codenotary is likely figuring that you’re going to like the platform, which is why they’re letting you run it for free to find out. They’re also probably really wanting that free giveaway of their worldclass security platform to turn into cash to keep the servers running, which means you’ll get a good deal.
What Do I Get for Free?
If you’re like most people, the one thing you want most of all when it comes to IT security is peace of mind. You want to be able to go to bed at night knowing that when the bad guys try to get into your system — which you know they’re doing all the time — that they’ll be blocked at every turn, and that they’ll be discovered picking at the locks so you can double down on your efforts to keep them out.
As your partner in security, the Codenotary security platform provides:
- Continuous Linux security and vulnerability monitoring
- Patch management
- CIS Benchmark compliance monitoring to continuously assess systems against recognized security benchmarks
- Audit history to maintain a verifiable record of activity
- Autonomous security capabilities to help identify and respond to security issues
- Monitoring of AI agents in real-time, detection of anomalous behavior, identifying potential data leakage, enforcing runtime guardrails, and control of AI-driven actions before they become security incidents
Another thing to keep in mind is that Codenotary focuses on smaller organizations. Although I’m certain they’re not going to turn down a Fortune 50 company, the company’s stated goal is to make “enterprise-grade Linux security accessible to smaller organizations, individual teams, and administrators while providing a straightforward path to larger deployments when their infrastructure grows.”
Remember, whenever things go according to plan, today’s SMB is tomorrow’s Fortune something-or-another company, and Codenotary will be happy to grow right alongside of you.
Wanna sign up — or at least check it out? The free Codenotary Linux security program for Debian and Ubuntu is available immediately, joining the existing program for AlmaLinux users.
Meanwhile, I’m going to open an account on Kalshi to see if they’ll let me place a bet on what distro Codenotary will add next.
Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux
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