Scientific Linux is an open-source GNU/Linux distribution derived from the freely distributed sources of Red Hat’s RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) operating system, put together by Fermilab, CERN, and several other scientific laboratories and universities from around the world. Scientific Linux 6.9 is the latest stable update to the 6.x series, but also the last, as Red Hat recently announced that they wouldn’t support their Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x branch anymore with security patches and software updates, meaning that both Scientific Linux 6.9 and RHEL 6.9 are the last in their series.