CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor. It is a community-supported, free and open source operating system based on Redhat Enterprise Linux. CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendors redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork.) CentOS is free.
RedHat Enterprise Linux is available only through a paid subscription service that provides access to software updates and varying levels of technical support. The product is largely composed of software packages distributed under open source licenses, and the source code for those packages is made public by Red Hat.
CentOS developers use Red Hat's source code to create a final product very similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat's branding and logos are changed because Red Hat does not allow them to be redistributed. CentOS is available free of charge. Technical support is primarily provided by the community via official mailing lists, web forums, and chat rooms. The project is not affiliated with Red Hat and thus receives no financial or logistical support from the company; instead, the CentOS Project relies on donations from users and organizational sponsors.
CentOS Official Site - http://www.centos.org/
CentOS Wiki - http://wiki.centos.org/
CentOS mailing lists - http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/
CentOS online Books - http://www.linux-books.us/centos.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CentOS
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=centos
