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YSA (yet still another)
YSA (yet still another)
Posted Sep 6, 2006 18:02 UTC (Wed) by ofeeley (subscriber, #36105)In reply to: YSA (yet still another) by cpm
Parent article: Really Free Software (Forbes)
You don't think that it's more malign that "not getting it?" The following paragraph is factually incorrect, not just a misunderstanding of a subtle situation:
"Purveyors of supposedly “free” open-source software, Red Hat (nasdaq: RHAT - news - people ) and Novell (nasdaq: NOVL - news - people ), make their money charging support fees for every desktop or server using their software. You can’t get their software at all without paying something for support."
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YSA (yet still another)
Posted Sep 6, 2006 19:05 UTC (Wed) by bfields (subscriber, #19510) [Link]
You don't think that it's more malign that "not getting it?" The following paragraph is factually incorrect, not just a misunderstanding of a subtle situation: "Purveyors of supposedly “free” open-source software, Red Hat (nasdaq: RHAT - news - people ) and Novell (nasdaq: NOVL - news - people ), make their money charging support fees for every desktop or server using their software. You can’t get their software at all without paying something for support."
Yeah. And, equally confusing, they then go on to say that Ubuntu is different in that it just gives the stuff away, and that this makes them a threat to Red Hat and Novell.
The implied argument seems to be that the linux market risks being destroyed by a single player that's cheating (using Shuttleworth's fortune) by giving away stuff that others are selling.
Argh. Would it really be that hard for them to get this stuff right?
Well, maybe there is an argument here
Posted Sep 7, 2006 1:03 UTC (Thu) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link]
Well, Forbes might not be entirely wrong.We're getting a lot of free software because Red Hat and Novell can afford to pay the developers. If Ubuntu succeeds in depressing Red Hat and Novell's revenue, and layoffs follow, Mr. Shuttleworth might not be in a position to hire all the laid-off software developers, rich as he is.
Why would it be?
Posted Sep 7, 2006 6:49 UTC (Thu) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link]
Why would Ubuntu succeed against Red Hat where other excellent distros failed? Gentoo, Debian, even CentOS are reputed and widely merited distributions which are freely available. I don't see why Ubuntu in particular would make a difference.If you buy Red Hat's or Novell's offerings it must be because of support, since their software is available somewhere. Well, Canonical sells support for Ubuntu, and it is not cheap. Free software at its best.