Red Hat

Bill Sconce sconce at in-spec-inc.com
Tue Oct 7 18:34:44 EDT 2003


On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 18:35:15 -0400 (EDT)
bscott at ntisys.com wrote:

> On Mon, 6 Oct 2003, at 10:43am, sconce at in-spec-inc.com wrote:
> >>> Debian...
> >> 
> >> ... near-zero support from major third-party vendors ...
> > 
> > ... whenever "support" and "Debian" occur in the same sentence, "Libranet"
> > should come to mind ...
> 
>   Clarification: I'm not referring to getting support in administering
> Debian.  *We* can do that. 

I thought so.


> I'm referring to how third-party companies (in
> our case, especially system vendors like Dell, Compaq, et. al.) support
> the software. 

I see.

What most of them "support" is Microsoft.  It'll be a little while
longer before they treat Linux as part of their bread and butter.
(And when they do you can expect more fishing for a business model
of the kind which we've been seeing even from Red Hat.)

In the meantime, let's enjoy being pioneers in supporting Free Software. 
(Arrows in the back and all. :)  What I'd like to believe is that
there's a business model coming wherein support for Free Software is
supplied by local talent which clients can  come to trust, and that
Dell, Compaq, et. al are hardware merchants.


> As in providing pre-compiled drivers, kernel support, specs,
> software utilities and diagnostics, engineering level tech support, etc.  
> Most large companies cannot handle the idea of a software platform that
> doesn't have a company like Red Hat promoting it.

Such attitudes are unlikely to be either quick or easy to convert.
(Between us, large companies have sometimes been known to cling to
policies even dumber than this, dumb enough in fact to put them out
of business, still clinging.  Some large companies should probably
be left alone, and maybe should be left with a software platform
with a company like Microsoft promoting it.)
 

>  They also take issue with some of Debian's policies.

Er, sure.  
But wasn't it you who asked the list about Debian...

-Bill



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