[TriLUG] Red Hat's new errata support policy of "consumer" OSes

[Jon Carnes]

I actually see this as a good move on Red Hat's part, and I don't
anticipate anyone suffering greatly from RH consolidating its focus.

This does open up a new market for other support services.  Folks can
run their own Current server and allow accounts based on a yearly
support contract to customers.  Then the support company maintains the
older distributions similar to what VA-Linux used to do for its
customers (for free).

I thought VA-Linux did a spectacular job of maintaining the RH releases
- much better than RH did.  Mainly because their focus was well honed
and matched my needs exactly.

Gather a staff of 6 folks, setup a nice internet connection, install a
Current server, and you are in business!  The nice thing about this
business model is that it mirrors software development.  You write the
code/patches once, and resell them over and over again to all your
clients.

Chris, if you are worried about your Linux desktops, don't.  There is
already a local company that supports Linux on the desktop and offers
long-term maintenance... and if there isn't one up there, then I forsee
a new opportunity in your future!

Take care - Jon Carnes

On Tue, 2003-01-28 at 20:33, Chris Hedemark wrote:
> 
> On Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 01:22 PM, Mike Broome wrote:
> 
> > Here's an interesting article from The Register with commentary on Red
> > Hat's new position of supporting "consumer" OS releases for only 12
> > months.
> 
> Without going into detail, it has definitely gotten my attention (RH 
> enterprise entitlement customer).  I definitely plan on bringing it up 
> with my account manager.
> 
> I'm personally not happy with the idea that we're forced into using 
> RHAS if we don't want to have to do a major upgrade every year.  If I'm 
> reading this policy correctly, it would preclude me from deploying Red 
> Hat on desktops due to the rapid life cycle of their consumer releases 
> (and I'm not going to pay the $$$ for RHAS on the desktop).
> 
> No, I don't expect RH to support their products forever, but for 
> enterprise entitlement customers a few years wouldn't hurt.
> 
> Chris Hedemark .. Prospect Park, PA .. http://yonderway.com
> Homeland Security begins at home; support your Second Amendment.
> 
> 
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