[K12OSN] Plans for K12Linux EL6 and Future Fedora

[Warren Togami Jr.]

On 5/8/2011 8:49 AM, Charlie wrote:
> If Terminal Services is not a part of Red Hat's RHEL6 core business
> strategy, there won't be any consideration given LTSP when making
> updates or changes to RHEL6. K12Linux was a major disappointment due to
> this very reason. Without a firm commitment from Red Hat, I don't see
> LTSPv5 on RHEL6 ever being a viable reality.

This is a bit of an overstatement.  I personally made sure that the 
technology in RHEL6 would be capable of supporting legacy LTSP no worse 
than previous versions of Fedora.  RHEL6 contains GNOME 2 which works 
fine with LTSP and remote desktops.  The ONLY major issue is the 32bit 
i686 minimum arch which excludes the vast majority of past LTSP client 
hardware.

NOTE: I no longer work for Red Hat.

>
> In MHO, I would think it would be more wise for Red Hat to seriously
> invest in Terminal Services as much as or more than they have in VDI.
> They could overcome a large part of the limitations of multimedia
> through optimizations made to the remote desktop protocols like SPICE,
> and how buffering and bandwidth are managed and utilized between the
> server and the thin client.

I don't dispute that VDI has significant penetration, but the harsh 
truth is the LTSP approach to Terminal Servers has NEVER made any money 
for anybody.  Ubuntu has tried and failed to sell support contracts for 
LTSP as a business model.  It is a fantasy to believe that the old 
Terminal Server model makes business sense for anyone.

Warren