Fedora Philosophy - (Was F8 ETA?)

[Paul Lemmons]

-------- Original Message  --------
Subject: F8 ETA?
From: John Summerfield <debian at herakles.homelinux.org>
To: For users of Fedora <fedora-list at redhat.com>
Date: 10/31/2007 07:38 PM

> Paul Lemmons wrote:
>> -------- Original Message  --------
>> Subject: F8 ETA?
>> From: Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
>> To: For users of Fedora <fedora-list at redhat.com>
>> Date: 10/30/2007 03:16 PM
>>  > <snip>
>>> I wish fedoralegacy hadn't gone from support forever to no support, 
>>> two years is often enough to update production machines! I really 
>>> like FC better than Ubuntu, and RHEL/WhiteBox/CentOS are just a 
>>> little too slow to offer features.
>>
>> Agreed, many production servers have a long upgrade requirement. Lets 
>> define "production server" though. In particular, it is a *server* not 
>> a *workstation*. It chugs along every day doing what it did the day 
>> before. Not much excitement or need for new features for the poor 
>> lonely server. It is happiest in a stable, working, static environment.
>>
> 
> 
> You need to define "production" too. A software developer might have a 
> different view from that of a provider of online financial services. The 
> former might thin Fedora 8 the ideal server offering for its production 
> work, simply because it needs the latest features to develop and test 
> against. Someone targeting RHEL6 should be using F8, if not today, then 
> certainly tomorrow.
> 

I think I did...

What you describe is a production *workstation* for developers. Not a 
production *server*. Developers have clearly different needs that 
include a more current and possibly less stable environment. I would 
also say that the developer's workstation would have a short update 
period so that it could stay current. My workstation fits that category.

I know I am stepping on toes here but I get a little frustrated 
sometimes. There are literally dozens of distributions out there. Each 
is differentiated from the other by philosophy not technology. The 
technological differences are only there because of the philosophical 
differences. Each distribution tries to meet some specific need. I have 
some preferences based on how closely those philosophically choices 
align with my goals.

The Fedora project does not pretend to be *production server* centric. 
It does not even pretend to be *production server* friendly. The 
personality of the Fedora project is fast paced, (b)leading edge, 
leaving the past behind quickly. It is a great proving ground or test 
bed for current technologies. It is fun. It will never have the 
stability or extended support that a server class distribution does.

To expect differently is like expecting Microsoft to adopt the FOSS 
philosophy because you want them to. I choose not to use Microsoft 
because their chosen paradigm does not align with what I want. The same 
applies to Gentoo and Debian. I choose Fedora because it does. I also 
choose CentOS and RHES and apply each distribution to the need it is 
best suited for.

If Fedora does not match what you are looking for in a distribution, 
there are lots of choices out there. Choose the one that does.
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