CentOS 8 yum alias: Will the symlink to dnf be removed in future releases?

Background

CentOS 8 replaces the legacy yum binary with dnf, retaining a yum symlink for backward compatibility. The symlink masks underlying differences in dependency resolution, exit codes, and option handling (e.g., --setopt). Scripts that rely on exact yum output or exit status may fail silently when dnf is invoked through the alias.

Unresolved Decision

The CentOS maintainers have not yet decided whether the yum alias will be permanently deprecated in the next major release. This uncertainty forces administrators to weigh the cost of early migration against the risk of future incompatibility.

Key Questions

• Will the yum alias be removed in CentOS 9 or later, and if so, what is the projected timeline?
• What migration strategy is recommended for scripts that use --setopt or depend on yum’s exit codes?
• How will output formatting and dependency‑resolution behavior differ when scripts invoke dnf directly versus through the yum alias?