On Wed, 2004-02-11 at 08:21, Jay Turner wrote: > On Wed, Feb 11, 2004 at 07:51:49AM -0500, James Drabb wrote: > > First, let me state that I do despise MS, and I am playing devils > > advocate. However, let us look at the cost over 5 years for RHPW and MS > > Windows XP Home. We need to assume that RH will support RHPW for 5 > > years and not drop support like RH 9. > > > > RHPW year 1: $50 > > RHPW year 2: $60 for updates > > RHPW year 3: $60 for updates > > RHPW year 4: $60 for updates > > RHPW year 5: $60 for updates > > ---------------------------- > > $290 over 5 years > > > > MS XP Home year 1: $99 > > MS XP Home year 2: $0 > > MS XP Home year 3: $0 > > MS XP Home year 4: $0 > > MS XP Home year 5: $0 > > --------------------- > > $99 over 5 years > > > > Do you see the price difference? > > The truth is actually somewhere in the middle. Updates to the RHEL product > line are completely free in source form. They are posted on hundreds of > mirror sites around the world and are free for anyone (not just customers > of Red Hat) to download and use/distribute/laugh at . . . whatever someone > feels like doing with them. And since RHPW is a part of the RHEL family, > you will indeed see us supporting the product for 5 years, so your total > cost for RHPW over 5 years should be "$50 + some time to recompile > updates." For a technical user that is an option. It is not an option however, for a typical home/SOHO user. > Saying you are paying $60 for updates isn't the whole story. For $60, you > not only get access to a fact pipe for the updates, but you also get access > to the management features which are part of Red Hat Network. More > information about what is included in the $60/year subscription is > available at http://www.redhat.com/software/rhn/update/. One of the nicest > features is that you can remotely manage the updates on your machine, so > from any net-enabled machine in the world, you can issue updates to your > machine whereever it is. In addition, you can receive email notifications > when updates are released which are necessary on your system, and choose to > have those updates applied automatically. I love the management feature and I use it at work on my RHAS 2.1/3 servers. It is worth the price for servers. I am a big fan of Red Hat and Fedora. I just wish that Red Hat did not abandon the home/SOHO user for the corporate world. > - jkt Jim Drabb -- --------------------------------------------------------- The box said: "Requires Windows 98/2000/NT/XP or better." So, I installed LINUX! --------------------------------------------------------- James Drabb JR Senior Programmer Analyst Davenport, FL USA
