On Tue, 2004-02-03 at 23:26, James Drabb wrote: > He does have some good points. Linux is starting to cost MORE then a MS > solution. What Free version of Linux can I use that is supported by > vendors? I don't need paid support. Basically, I have to spend $1,000s > on RHEL or SuSE EL. I do like FC and have been using it at home since > the beginning of Fedora. However, IMO, it is not stable enough for a > production system since it is constantly being developed. That's why there are three RHEL clones in existence at this point (WhiteBox Linux <http://www.whiteboxlinux.org>, Tao Linux <http://taolinux.org> & CentOS-3 <http://caosity.org/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=62&op=page&SubMenu=>) which are exceedingly able to take the place of RHEL. > Also, I don't know why RH gets their "Enterprise" versions certified > and not Fedora. Doesn't RH have total control over FC? No, not really. They have a majority stake in the project but it's not actually part of RH. It really is much closer to Debian. > IMO, the best and most fair thing for RH to do would be to have a > "base Red Hat Linux" that gets certified and then have different > versions based on that. There would be the certified and > free/community supported Fedora. Red Hat does not offer any updates > or services for this version. Then there could be the paid versions > that have updates and different levels of support up to Enterprise > grade 24x7 support. I don't see any real value in this, either for RH or for the community. > This seems more fair to me since Red Hat is based on tons of software > that they did not develop and RH now has a lot of free Fedora > volunteers doing work for them that they can roll into their > "Enterprise" line. You have to also remember that a vast amount of the work done by RH on RHEL is being rolled back into the Linux community so it's an equal trade. > Most companies can get MS Windows rolled out cheaper then Red Hat/SuSE > Linux and Linux IS FREE! It seems like RH and SuSE are turning Linux > into an OS that is no longer a cost effective alternative to MS and now > only a cost effective alternative to expensive Unix. Contrary to popular belief, Linux is not really competing against MS. It's competing against the commercial/proprietary UNIX variants. The fact that it can compete against MS is a wonderful bonus. If you want to look at alternatives for WinXX in the Linux world then you are looking at Lycoris, Xandros and Lindows (and others). > I know it sounds like I am coming down on Red Hat, though I do want to > state that I have used RH Linux for a long time now and find it the best > Linux distro to use. I just am not happy how RH dumped the home user > and the small business user. It really must be me, I guess. I seem to be the only one who doesn't see this whole thing as RH "dumping" the home or small business user. I guess I've been at this to long or something. > Even on the RH web site, they make Fedora sound like a toy to tinker > with compared to Red Hat "Enterprise" Linux. > > http://www.redhat.com/solutions/migration/rhl/ > Red Hat Enterprise Linux > "If you require a reliable, secure, high-performance platform designed > for today's business environment, then the next step is to choose the > Red Hat Enterprise Linux version for your specific workloads and usage." > > The Fedora Project > "If your interest in Red Hat Linux is to interact with the Linux > community and contribute to the development of a general purpose > operating system from free software, then the Fedora Project is for > you." This reads, to me, that Fedora is a Linux distro in the older/community sense and RHEL is a new concept developed for the high-end customer needs. I see no hint of Fedora being a toy. > Now What IT manager is going to ever choose to use Fedora. What small > business is ever going to choose to use Fedora with statements like the > above. To me it sounds like RHEL is secure and stable while Fedora is > not. If any small business were to look at the entirety of the OS world from the above perspective then no one would be running any version of MS Windows. Facts have never been a significant issue in the OS world before Linux. > Also, RH no longer has a Linux available that is cost effective compared > to MS. You can get MS Windows XP home for $99, while Red Hat > Professional Workstation is around $110. MS Windows XP Pro is cheaper > then RHEL WS. This pricing point is actually hurting Linux. More > home-users, IT manager, etc are familiar with MS then with Linux. If > they look at trying a switch to Linux and see that it now COSTS MORE, > most will not make the switch. I have bee hearing this ever since RH announced the refocusing of their business. It's always the same song. The problem with the above line of thought is that it isn't actually happening in the trenches. The only people who seem to think that RH's move is hurting Linux are a handful of individuals and Free Software community members. The companies, be that small, large or "Enterprise", all see the move as a boon for Linux and their businesses. Let me give you a real world example of this. I work at a US Army Instillation that has many hundreds of servers running Solaris, RH Linux and MS Win2K. The primary vendors are Dell for the Win stuff and Sun for the SPARC/Solaris stuff. The Linux boxes are systems that we, the engineers, have "appropriated" for our use. With the move that RH has made we can now have complete, top-to-bottom support for the two architectures (SPARC and x86) from two companies (Dell & Sun). We'll have two phone numbers that will now cover every bit of HW and OS used at the place. If there's something we need worked on with the RHEL boxes that the Dell people can't handle they will be the ones to go to RH and have them work it. We, as a customer, will get the support of RH and Dell bundled together. With the way our systems are purchased and configured, the RHEL boxes are no more expensive than the WinXX boxes. And a whole hell of a lot cheaper than the Suns. But this is all old hash that's been cooked more than enough already. -- Akebono vs Godzilla! Coming soon to a theater near you.
