The first option is your image is a more stripped down/bare bones Linux image while the second includes commonly used packages/tools that are used when creating hosted services (such as AWS command line tools and Ruby).

I have an Amazon Linux 2 AMI (HVM), SSD Volume Type and you can see that extra packages like java and ruby are not installed.

Answer from Padawan on Stack Overflow
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › what's the main difference between amazon linux 1 and amazon linux 2?
r/aws on Reddit: What's the main difference between Amazon Linux 1 and Amazon Linux 2?
January 14, 2023 - Package availability depends on ... a distribution stop getting updates because it's not worth the work. Amazon linux 1 is old and considered end-of-life....
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Amazon Web Services
aws.amazon.com › compute › amazon linux 2 › faqs
Amazon Linux 2 FAQs
2 weeks ago - A Linux kernel tuned for performance on Amazon EC2. A set of core packages including systemd, GCC 7.3, Glibc 2.26, Binutils 2.29.1 that receive Long Term Support (LTS) from AWS.
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Enhanced developer productivity

Amazon Linux 2 is offered as a virtual machine and container image for on-premises development and testing. Developers can speed up their application development by building, testing, and integrating on the same Linux distribution that is used in their production environment.

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aws.amazon.com
aws.amazon.com › products › compute › amazon linux 2
Security-Focused, High-Performance Linux Environment – Amazon ...
Optimized performance

Amazon Linux 2 includes support for the latest Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance capabilities and is tuned for enhanced performance. It includes packages that help ease integration with other AWS services.

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aws.amazon.com
aws.amazon.com › products › compute › amazon linux 2
Security-Focused, High-Performance Linux Environment – Amazon ...
Large partner network

Amazon Linux 2 has a rapidly growing community of AWS Partners that includes independent software vendors (ISVs). You can install and run many popular partner applications.

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aws.amazon.com
aws.amazon.com › products › compute › amazon linux 2
Security-Focused, High-Performance Linux Environment – Amazon ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › amazon linux ami 2018.03.0 or amazon linux 2 ami
r/aws on Reddit: Amazon Linux AMI 2018.03.0 or Amazon Linux 2 AMI
August 15, 2018 -

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I find myself referring to Michael Wittig's blog post on Migrating to Amazon Linux 2 quite often. He briefly talks about: long term support SysVinit (the old) vs. systemd (the new) journald and the changes to the log files starting and stopping services the lack of EPEL and Amazon's replacement some agents and services were renamed, potentially breaking scripts ruby, netcat (nc) and cnf-init don't work out of the box there are no NAT and ECS optimized Amazon Linux 2 images. In general, I feel... if you have a relatively short development cycle and you need to set up your website (or whatever) soon, stick with Amazon Linux 1 aka 2018.03.0 and successive patches. if you have the time to experiment, look for solutions and potentially write your own, start using Amazon Linux 2. As u/cr125rider implies elsewhere in this thread, the switch to systemd (and IMHO, journald) is huge and at the very least will require you to retrain your muscle memory and the way you think about approaching problems. I.e., type X instead of Y. We're using both in my shop and quite frankly, I don't see much of a difference (yet) but speaking from experience, I know it's really painful skipping multiple versions when upgrading the OS. If you ever have to apply security patches to an application and those patches are only available for the most recent OS, you're in for a long weekend either upgrading to each version in succession, or rebuilding the whole instance. To recap: immediate need? Use Amazon Linux 1. Just playing around? Use 2.
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Amazon Linux 2 is based off centos 7.3.1 it has systemd. Amazon Linux is based on the centos 6 series
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Amazon Web Services
aws.amazon.com › products › compute › amazon linux 2
Security-Focused, High-Performance Linux Environment – Amazon Linux 2 – AWS
2 weeks ago - Amazon Linux 2 is a Linux operating system from AWS. It provides a security-focused, stable, and high-performance execution environment to develop and run cloud applications. Amazon Linux 2 is provided at no additional charge.
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Medium
cmakkaya.medium.com › amazon-linux-2-vs-amazon-linux-2023-10-key-differences-we-need-to-know-to-avoid-errors-9d0aa4b2bd0d
Amazon Linux 2 vs Amazon Linux 2023 (10 key differences we need to know to avoid errors.) | by Cumhur M. Akkaya | Medium
September 1, 2024 - Amazon Linux 2 vs Amazon Linux 2023 (10 key differences we need to know to avoid errors.) Important announcement for AWS cloud users: If the commands you used in the User Data or …
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A Cloud Guru
acloud.guru › forums › aws-csa-pro-2019 › discussion › -LYz169GHrjJ4kg2IytX › Advantages of "Amazon Linux 2" over other flavours of Linux
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Ntegral
ntegral.com › home › insights › amazon linux 2023 vs. amazon linux 2
Amazon Linux 2023 vs. 2: Which is Right for You? | Ntegral
October 28, 2024 - Both Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023 provide mechanisms for automatic updates, which can help ensure that systems remain secure without requiring constant manual intervention. Regularly checking for updates and applying them promptly can significantly reduce the risk of vulnerabilities. Another best practice is to utilize AWS monitoring and logging services to gain insights into system performance and security.
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AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › aws elastic beanstalk › developer guide › managing elastic beanstalk environments › updating your elastic beanstalk environment's platform version › migrating your elastic beanstalk linux application to amazon linux 2023 or amazon linux 2 › migration from amazon linux ami (al1) to al2 or al2023
Migration from Amazon Linux AMI (AL1) to AL2 or AL2023 - AWS Elastic Beanstalk
It's worthwhile to note that there ... Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023 platforms. Although some areas do have differences: the Instance Metadata Service Version 1 (IMDSv1) option default, support for the pkg-repo instance tool, and some Apache HTTPd configuration. For more information, see Amazon Linux 2023 · The AL2023/AL2 based platform branches aren't guaranteed to be backward compatible with your existing application. It's also important to be aware that even ...
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Amazon Web Services
aws.amazon.com › compute › linux from aws › amazon linux 2023 faqs
Amazon Linux 2023 FAQs
2 weeks ago - Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023) is a general-purpose rpm-based Linux distribution and a successor to Amazon Linux 2. AL2023 simplifies planning for operating system upgrades. Amazon Linux 2023 integrates with AWS services and is designed to be deployed at scale in the cloud.
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AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon linux › user guide › comparing al2 and al2023
Comparing AL2 and AL2023 - Amazon Linux 2023
1 month ago - Learn about key differences between AL2 and AL2023. Find out about lifespan and support, consistency with deterministic upgrades through versioned repositories, and new core packages.
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AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon linux › user guide › al2 on amazon ec2
AL2 on Amazon EC2 - Amazon Linux 2
For --count, the default is 1. If you have a default VPC and a default security group, they are used. aws ec2 run-instances --image-id resolve:ssm:/aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/amzn2-ami-kernel-default-hvm-x86_64-gp2 --instance-type m5.xlarge --key-name MyKeyPair · For more information, see Using public parameters in the AWS Systems Manager User Guide. Amazon Linux 2 ...
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End of Life Date
endoflife.date › amazon-linux
Amazon Linux | endoflife.date
2 weeks ago - User-space Application Binary Interface (ABI) compatibility is guaranteed for specific packages. It only seems to receive critical bug fixes and security patches. AWS announced Amazon Linux 2023 2 as a successor to Amazon Linux 2, which uses ...