Re: RH questions

[Gary <gary-list-silug@mygirlfriday.info>]

Hello mike808,

Tuesday, September 30, 2003, 8:30:35 PM, you wrote:

m> Um, move to some other freeloader-friendly distribution?

I will have no choice.. not going to pay 4-$700 for Enterprise.

>> RH has gone to servicing and supplying the Enterprise only... 

m> Because that's whose giving them money. What were you expecting?

Just not this soon.  This is not a good sign.

>> Bottom line, RH is changing. Will be we able to D/L the Enterprise
>> edition, etc...

m> Probably not at some point. Xandros and Lindows and Libranet are already
m> on that business model - no free download ISOs. You have to pay to get one.
m> And they bundle in non-GPL stuff (namely the installer and access to their
m> online update repository usually), so you can't just mirror up your own ISO.

Good point...

m> Notably, these distros are based on Debian, so you could just cave and use
m> straight up Debian. But their unique features really do add value for their
m> audiences - which are primarily Windows refugees. But that's not you, so
m> you will likely prefer moving straight to Debian.

Yes, but Debian has a history of not being current with the kernel,
products, etc...

m> Mandrake is another option, or SuSE. I see SuSE moving to consolidate their
m> enterprise business, just as RH is. So that leaves Mandrake.

Mike, I have chosen Suse.  They are just coming out with their v9 in a few
weeks, and they are supporting us with everything that is possibly
available, in terms of servers, what Enterprise would do, for far less $..
I am currently running their 8.2, along with RH on another partition. They
also have a hell of a lot of programs <g> yes, I know I could get them off
the net, but this makes it easier. They also continue to have a 2 year
life support of a version.  Mandrake, while fun to use, I don't know if
they will survive.

m> And if you're after stability, then Debian is *definately* your best bet.

Suse too, I just moved a couple of servers, mail and DNS to FreeBSD, now
we are talking stability... <g>  May have another look at Debian too.. I
enjoyed Progeny when it was out.. Yes, stability, security is paramount
for me.

m> In short, I don't think it's that big a deal that RH is focusing on their
m> bottom line, and leaving the free-downloaders-with-no-ROI out in the cold.

I think it stinks... We made RH the individual ground-swell of people..
OTOH, I can't blame them for wanting to be profitable.

m> The time of it being difficult to build a distribution are over, which
m> mitigates a lot of the value that RH *used* to offer. Such as when it was
m> RH or Slack or Linux-From-Scratch. Those were painful days, and RH made
m> that tremendously easier - to get, install, and use Linux.

Agreed... RPM.. etc...

m> And for that time, paying for it wasn't that bad a deal either. Now,
m> it's a different proposition when there are hundreds of distros, and
m> some might even be tailored to your specific need - Knoppix for the
m> road warrior, SuSE for the mainframe, Xandros/Lindows/Lycoris for the
m> Windows refugee, etc. come to mind. Apologies to all left off the list.
m> See http://www.distrowatch.com/ for more.

You bring up some good points, I guess I just am having difficulty for
feeling "abandoned."  Suse has most definitely expressed they will
continue to support the user, and their Pro version has it all.

m> And RH now wants $100 for their distro. For that price I can get Xandros,
m> *AND* it comes with Crossover Office and Plugin. For less, I can get
m> Mandrake or SuSE or Lycoris or ...

What is your feeling on Xandros?


-- 
Best regards,
 Gary 


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