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Enterprise Linux
Enterprise Linux
Posted Dec 30, 2003 20:28 UTC (Tue) by error27 (subscriber, #8346)Parent article: LWN's Obviously Incorrect 2004 Predictions
There are two seperate issues here. People are worried about RedHat discontinuing the boxsets (Whitebox Linux) and people want a free version of Linux for the enterprise (UserLinux).
Personally, I think Fedora has a lot of potential. I've said for a while that Debian's development process was better than RedHat's because it was more open and the community was more involved. I worry about how it has been presented as a "test bed" distro. I would prefer a distro with stable releases and some level of bug fixing and support.
Whitebox Linux might be a good idea. There have been times when it would have been nice to ship modified RedHat CD's to customers but it wasn't legal because of RedHat's trademark rules. On the other hand it seems a bit nasty to take RedHat's work so blatantly.
UserLinux might end up promoting Debian, which is good. I don't think it will compete seriously with RedHat though.
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Enterprise Linux
Posted Jan 8, 2004 14:55 UTC (Thu) by ewan (subscriber, #5533) [Link]
Whitebox Linux might be a good idea. [...] On the other hand it seems a bit nasty to take RedHat's work so blatantly.The Whitebox approach isn't nasty at all - it's exactly what RedHat wanted. Their position has always been that they want their work to be Free, but had had enough of attracting flack/support requests from people who thought RedHat owed them something just because their name was on the download edition. Hence they use 'Fedora' rather than 'RedHat Personal Edition'; Whitebox is just the same principle.
Redhat
Posted Jan 8, 2004 15:05 UTC (Thu) by haraldt (guest, #961) [Link]
The problem with Redhat is, it might end up where Microsoft is now. The same place as IBM was some time ago, or where Oracle is, or.. whatever. It's nothing unique.
The point with a business is to make money. Being nice with others is a consequence of that, but to a limit.
With the effects of brand naming etcetera, such businesses often get strong enough to be a source of oppression, rather than help. That's an effect of typical north american thinking, of the merchant, but it's not the only possible.
If you see things from the perspective of an artisan, or of a self-driven worker, it pays most not to subject yourself to some large power (who frankly doesn't have much interest in you as an individual). It pays most to cooperate with others. Most of us are in this position, and it's why free software is created. Large companies work fine if you like to give away your powers, but we're generally here because we don't.
And if we see things that way, we enjoy to see powers balance with each others, not to see one of them take over. No matter how good they might seem at the moment.