Members of a team already have experience using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

CentOS is a Linux distribution that is based on the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It is a free and open-source community-supported OS that provides an enterprise-level computing platform. CentOS is fully compatible with RHEL and can run the same applications and packages. Therefore, CentOS allows the team members to apply as much of their Red Hat Enterprise Linux knowledge as possible for their hobby project. References:

Linux Essentials Version 1.6 Objectives1, Topic 1.1: Linux Evolution and Popular Operating Systems, Subtopic: Linux Distributions

Linux Essentials Version 1.6 Exam Preparation Guide2, Section 1.1: Linux Evolution and Popular Operating Systems, Page 7

CentOS Website3, About CentOS Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux derivatives - Wikipedia4