For this weeks meeting agenda...

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Mon, 2005-09-12 at 08:51 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> Its not tunnel vision.

>From the answers I've seen, it is -- it damn is.

> RHEL features and bugfixes are driven by the customer requests and
> support calls in a very real sense

Because Red Hat is getting web servers and Oracle servers (raw slices)
and grid computing sales.  Red Hat is now _losing_ multi-TB file server
sales because they can_not_ deliver on it with just Ext3 -- especially
given its lack of user-space filesystem support.

Sun is eating that up.  I guess Red Hat has decided it is not worth
doing?  Or is it because the Fedora developments, including those by its
own developers who obliviously think "Ext3 doesn't do anything XFS
does."

That's marketing -- however you slice it -- and a major issue.

> and not rants in a mailing list

This isn't a "rant."  This is me, a system integrator at Fortune 100
companies over the last 4 years, telling you not only what I have
experienced, but what others have experienced.  We cannot offer Fedora
Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux solutions -- and it starts with Fedora
developments.

The fact that you're taking it as a "rant" instead of -- "hmmm, maybe
there is a 4-year 'suggestion' this guy is trying to make" -- goes to
the heart of the matter.  I'm not the only "ranting lunatic" out there
having to "move back" to Solaris for solutions.  

> especially not ones in Fedora marketing list.

I honestly don't know where else to turn.  And when I read the rather
"say nothing" portion that just feeds the ReiserFS and JFS proponents
their "Red Hat is unfairly biased towards Ext3" non-sense, I have to
agree with them from the XFS mis-conceptions presented.

> If you want Red Hat to listen in relationship to RHEL, try 
> http://redhat.com/support.

Been there -- a good 4 years.

> For Fedora, here is how you contribute. Note that the amount of 
> oppurtunities  is much more than RHEL

Yes, I know.

> * File bug reports
> * File feature requests with good rationale. I would like to have more 
> than 8 TB filesystems for such and such scenarios might be better than 
> "I want XFS"

You didn't hear a word I said.  That is so sad.

> * Write code and send in patches

I'll get farther with SGI than I will Red Hat.  I'm asking -- at the
Fedora level -- to try to get Red Hat involved.  I've been trying
various avenues for 4 years now to no avail.

And it's only getting more pertinent as Solaris is now on Opteron.

> * Write documentation

Way, way -- WAY AHEAD -- of you there.

> * Translate UI and docs
> * Package in Fedora Extras

I'm actually looking to submit several Fedora Extras packages.

> * Art work, themes and sound themes
> * Advocate

I'm well known as a "Red Hat apologist" (even though I hate the title).
So I find it humorous that you would suggest that to me.  ;->

> * Last but not the least, use it

Considering I've been integrating Fedora Core in companies as large as
one major Fortune 20 company in just the last 2 years, and several other
Fortune 100 companies as well -- again, WAY AHEAD OF YOU THERE.

> There might be a few I have missed

Again, I'm not some "I want filesystem X" puke.
But I know you'll feel free to take my comments as such.


-- 
Bryan J. Smith     b.j.smith at ieee.org     http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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