Fermilab already had a Linux distribution known as Fermi Linux, a long-term support release based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. CERN was creating their next version of Cern Linux, also based on RHEL. CERN contacted Fermilab about doing a collaborative release. Connie Sieh was the main developer and driver behind the first prototypes and initial release.[1] The first official release of Scientific Linux was version 3.0.1, released on May 10, 2004.
In 2015, CERN switched away from Scientific Linux to CentOS.[3][need quotation to verify]
Scientific Linux is now maintained by a cooperative of science labs and universities. Fermilab is its primary sponsor