[TriLUG] different versions of 7.2 for sale]

[Paul D. Boyle]

Beth Ellison wrote:
> 
> >Matt Jezorek quoted Beth Ellison writing:
> >This idea of that RedHat isn't focusing on the desktop market is a
> >little schizoid on RedHat's part and smacks of intellectual dishonesty.
> 
> Not sure I get what you mean by "intellectual dishonesty." Care to 
> elaborate?

'Intellectual dishonesty' means different things to different people.
In academic course work, for example, it means plagarism or cheating in
any form.  In a broader context, intellectual *honesty* can be defined as
wanting to know (and, perhaps, convey) the truth above all.  That means
not disregarding facts in order to push a certain view or agenda.
Let the evidence guide one to the conclusion, rather than picking a
conclusion and picking and choosing supporting "evidence".

My comment regarding RedHat was based on observing RedHat's evolution
since 1994 or 1995. My first RedHat install was 3.0.3.  Marc Ewing's
initial vision for RedHat was to develop a distribution around stable
software rather than including code which was the latest and not so
greatest alpha released software.  After RedHat began getting popular
it set its sights on the desktop.  Around that time, they made fvwm2
look and act a lot like Windows95 (which was disgusting, BTW).  Then KDE
project started with it's Qt related licensing issues.  The GNOME project
started in response to KDE and received a lot backing from RedHat (as
RedHat labs or whatever it was called).  The objective was to make Linux
attractive for the desktop.  RedHat distributions in recent released have
become more and more bloated with "desktop" amenities.  It just seemed
to me that RedHat was trying to cater more and more to the desktop crowd.

Now we hear that RedHat is not "focusing" on the desktop market (despite
the effort and support they have put into developing a Linux desktop), but
concentrating on the server market.  I called the remark intellectually
dishonest because it is not that RedHat is not focusing on the desktop
market but it is that they are not being successful in penetrating the
Microsoft desktop monopoly.  Naturally, admitting to RedHat shareholders
that RedHat failing at their effort to grow market share the desktop
market won't play well, so they lie and they say, "well, we're not really
focusing on that market anyway; it's the server market we are after."
Their words and their actions are not congruous.

Anyway, I hope that sufficently elaborates what I meant by 'intellectual
dishonesty'.

Paul

-- 
Paul D. Boyle			    |	boyle at laue.chem.ncsu.edu
Director, X-ray Structural Facility |	phone: (919) 515-7362
Department of Chemistry - Box 8204  |	FAX:   (919) 515-5079
North Carolina State University     | 
Raleigh, NC, 27695-8204
http://laue.chem.ncsu.edu/web/xray.welcome.html