What is CentOS Linux?
CentOS Linux is a community-supported distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by Red Hat for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). As such, CentOS Linux aims to be functionally compatible with RHEL. The CentOS Project mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork. CentOS Linux is no-cost and free to redistribute. Each CentOS version is maintained for up to 10 years (by means of security updates — the duration of the support interval by Red Hat has varied over time with respect to Sources released). A new CentOS version is released approximately every 2 years and each CentOS version is periodically updated (roughly every 6 months) to support newer hardware. This results in a secure, low-maintenance, reliable, predictable and reproducible Linux environment.

Source from   https://wiki.centos.org/

 

CentOS Linux

The CentOS Linux distribution is a stable, predictable, manageable and reproducible platform derived from the sources of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). We are now looking to expand on that by creating the resources needed by other communities to come together and be able to build on the CentOS Linux platform. And today we start the process by delivering a clear governance model, increased transparency and access. In the coming weeks we aim to publish our own roadmap that includes variants of the core CentOS Linux.

Since March 2004, CentOS Linux has been a community-supported distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by Red Hat. As such, CentOS Linux aims to be functionally compatible with RHEL. We mainly change packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork. CentOS Linux is no-cost and free to redistribute.

CentOS Linux is developed by a small but growing team of core developers. In turn the core developers are supported by an active user community including system administrators, network administrators, managers, core Linux contributors, and Linux enthusiasts from around the world.

Over the coming year, the CentOS Project will expand its mission to establish CentOS Linux as a leading community platform for emerging open source technologies coming from other projects such as OpenStack. These technologies will be at the center of multiple variations of CentOS, as individual downloads or accessed from a custom installer. Read more about the variants and Special Interest Groups that produce them.

Source  from  https://www.centos.org/about/