RE: looking for comments/reactions to the fedora project

From: Wade Chandler (wchandler_at_redesetgrow.com)
Date: 11/10/03

  • Next message: John Doesovich: "Re: UCE Complaint (redhat-list digest, Vol 1 #8478 - 2 msgs)" 
    To: <redhat-list@redhat.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 17:45:38 -0500

    This information was found in a single click from the Fedora web site.

    http://fedora.redhat.com/download/updates.html

    Notice what is considered a "Fedora Update", a "Proposed Fedora Update",
    and a "Development Package". Fedora updates are available by using
    up2date. Anyways, I think people are getting freaked out for no reason
    when they are getting the same deal they got for 60 for free if they
    were using RH8 or 9.

    I feel looking to Debian, SlackWare, or any other distrobution or *BSDs
    without any type of financial backing like Red Hat or SuSE will lead to
    dissapointment considering the very point of the debate in the first
    place. These guys are maxed out on their resources as it is. They just
    aren't going to be able to compete in certain areas because they only
    have developer interest to keep the ball rolling. I say that but also
    add that the ball is rolling, but there is no corporate incentive to
    help guide it along as you'll find in a Red Hat or SuSE. These
    influences push things like auto updates or compatibility with software
    and hardware vendors.

    One can truly compare Fedora to Debian or Slackware if they also include
    the corporate interest as a factor. This is the only way. Fedora will
    be guided in a more corporate direction than a Debian or Slackware.
    That is just a simple fact. We have to include corporate interest and
    what that means in any logical discussion. As far as automatic updates
    go I believe the above link should shed a little lite on the topic.

    As far as whether or not the distro will be available for a said time
    period and remain consistent. I believe the Fedora project will level
    the stability. RH shifted gears trying to make this model and that
    model fit their needs. Now they have decided to go more open and allow
    some free lance developers take part in the burden. This is surely good
    for them, and if Red Hat at some point did decide to pull out of the
    Fedora project then you may have a new Red Hat clone distro called
    Fedora with no Red Hat. But, the project being the project it is will
    probably continue to follow it's current direction, and would probably
    copy Red Hat utilities to keep consistent with the way it has been
    operating. This one is of course just an assumption, but fairs well
    against the open source methodology that these types of projects tend to
    follow: "If someone bails out, somebody else will pick up the slack.".

    Anyways, this is how I see the Fedora project being positive. I don't
    see Red Hat backing out of it, because this is where they'll take new
    directions for future projects and ideas. Every company has something
    like this going whether it's open source or not. A seeding ground to
    try out new approaches. We get, development, software, and auto updates
    free. Compare that against any other distro which you aren't shelling
    out the green to get.

    Wade

    -----Original Message-----
    From: redhat-list-admin@redhat.com [mailto:redhat-list-admin@redhat.com]
    On Behalf Of Jason Dixon
    Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 4:31 PM
    To: Red Hat Mailing List
    Subject: Re: looking for comments/reactions to the fedora project

    On Mon, 2003-11-10 at 16:18, Benjamin J. Weiss wrote:
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: "Jason Dixon" <jason@dixongroup.net>
    > > I'm currently evaluating Debian and FreeBSD versus RH Pro
    > > Workstation for SOHO server use. I've always enjoyed Red Hat's
    > > products, but they have a way to go to convince me that they're
    > > interested in keeping the SOHO/small business customer. At least
    > > with community projects like Debian/*BSD, I don't have to worry that

    > > their focus will change in the next 12-18 due to shareholder
    > > pressures.
    >
    > Jason,
    >
    > I'd be very interested in what you come up with on this. Would you
    > please post your results when you finish?

    Well, my thoughts so far:

    - Debian based distributions, while fun to tinker with, are not a good
    server solution (IMO). The apt-get package manager, while enjoyable,
    also is apt (excuse the pun) to get out of hand at times. And
    Debian/Libranet's strength (tons of software) is also its weakness in
    the server room... too much choice. It's nice having a distro that's
    been "professionally" pared down for non-hobbyist/non-desktop usage.

    - FreeBSD. I'm a big proponent of all things *BSD, but this also falls
    short in terms of patch management. While it's not a big deal for your
    average SysAdmin to patch from source, it's not an enviable task to
    automate. And "build world" is not something your average server farm
    is going to place faith in.

    - RHPW. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of this to play with. While
    I appreciate Ed Wilt's rpm package listing, I note that some of it
    includes post-install stuff (mysql, for example), so it's hard for me to
    get a real glimpse of what RH is offering with this product. I still
    think RH is head-and-shoulders above the competitors for non-hobbyist
    offerings, it's just going to take some time to get used to their
    changes.

    At this time, RHPW or RHWS is still in the lead for server
    installations. The only thing holding me back from making a formal
    recommendation to my existing "community"-based clients is RH's
    indecisions regarding the future of RHPW.

    *** Please note, the opinions given above are just that... my opinions.
    I'm not an expert with Debian, so please withhold flames. 

    -- 
Jason Dixon, RHCE
DixonGroup Consulting
http://www.dixongroup.net
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  • Next message: John Doesovich: "Re: UCE Complaint (redhat-list digest, Vol 1 #8478 - 2 msgs)"

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