how bleeding edge will the next fedora release be?

[Matthew Saltzman]

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003, William Hooper wrote:

>
> Preston Crawford  said:
> > On Wed, 2003-12-10 at 15:33, William Hooper wrote:
> >> Preston Crawford  said:
> >> >
> >> > What's the middle step up, though? I see there's a pro desktop or
> >> > something or rather at my local Best Buy, but it doesn't seem to
> >> include
> >> > server utils
> >>
> >> This has already been disproved, but you seem to like repeating it.
> >
> > On the box (I was in Best Buy looking at this the other day) it says
> > specifically the server utils or something to that effect aren't
> > supported. Just because I can download an RPM somewhere doesn't mean
> > it's supported. Fedora comes with MySQL and Apache and rudimentary
> > utilities to start them up (and in the case of Apache manage them).
>
> Sigh, again Apache is included.  Think beyond the box.
>
> MySQL you can download from Red Hat, not some "RPM somewhere".

MySQL client's in the box.  MySQL server is in the RHEL Extras channel at
RHN.

>From an informative Q&A at http://www.redhat.com/advice/ask.html:

Q: Can I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS as a server?

A: Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS is the corporate desktop and technical
   workstation solution, and is not certified to run third party ISV server
   applications.

   Network infrastructure services such as Backup, Directory, Authentication,
   DNS, and DHCP, and advanced firewalling with iptables are provided and
   supported only as part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES or AS.

   Capabilities are included with WS to assist in the sharing of local data
   and resources with other machines on a network:

    * File Serving through NFS and Samba
    * Print serving with CUPS
    * Firewall for protection of local resources

   Additional server technologies which are included in WS:

    * Apache for the development and testing of web servers
    * Mail serving (Sendmail/Postfix) for local sending and delivery of
      email.

Other good answers about some of these common questions are there too.

> [...]

> > If they want my money they're going
> > to have to offer me a better deal than a $100 a year Red Hat tax.
>
> If you aren't willing to pay it, then you aren't in their market.  Use
> Fedora and quit complaining about how much RHEL costs.
>
> > At
> > least with Microsoft the tax man only comes calling every 5 years when
> > the EOL a product.
>
> Trolling won't help.

The term "Microsoft Tax" refers only to the premium you pay when you buy a
new computer with MS Windows installed and there is no option from the
vendor to remove Windows and save the premium.  Of course, it's not really
a "tax"; it has certain features in common with one (can't be avoided) but
others not (it's not used to advance the common good).

If you buy a boxed set (Windows or Linux) in a store, it's not a "tax",
it's the "purchase price".  If you buy a service subscription, it's the
"purchase price".  If you buy RHPW in the store for $100, it includes a
one-year subscription to the RHN channel for RHEW (a $179 value 8^)) as
well as media and manuals.  It's just not renewable (at least not at the
moment).

>
> > I really like Fedora and I support Red Hat and its decision fully, but I
> > won't use their software if Fedora becomes beta testing playground and
> > there isn't any step between that and a $100 a year tax. Sorry.

If you are in academia, there is now a very attractive $25/year (RHEW) or
$50/year (RHAS) subscription option.

>
> You need to grasp the concept between a beta and a release.  The community
> needs to test the FC beta's so that the release is a better distro.  If
> you want a commercially tested and supported distro you need to pay
> someone else to do this testing.
>
> Calling it "a tax" is also trolling.  As Progeny has shown, no one forces
> you to go to Red Hat for updates.  If you don't want Red Hat's support,
> don't buy it.  But you need to stop complaining about wanting support like
> it for free.
>
>

-- 
		Matthew Saltzman

Clemson University Math Sciences
mjs AT clemson DOT edu
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs