Quote:
Originally posted by RHLinuxGUY
Thats not entirely true. They have to give out a copy of their Linux, or they are breaking the rules of what linux is about. the only difference of getting linux free over the internet (burnt copy, lan, or other means) is that u wont get as much help from the company and u wont get as much software that is included with the BOUGHT version.
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There wasn't much help from RH anyway if you d/l'ed the free version. Those of us who used it in it's "free" incarnation are used to fending for ourselves for support. After all, isn't that the idea? (Yes, there's an argument for appealing to the masses, but that's another debate)
If people hate this idea so much, there are plenty of other distros out there (as was pointed out in other posts). Freedom of choice is the pillar of the open source community and this hasn't changed it. Will it put some people off? Yep. Will the bottom fall out for RH? Maybe. The good part is that this model of OS development and distribution lends itself to flexibility. Heck, if you are scared about sticking w/ RH because of some perceived shortfall, go to a different distro. Apache, Postfix, sendmail, MySQL or any other app can run on most of them anyway. The "meat" is in the apps, not the OS. The distros are all based on the same basic kernel. (Oversimplification here, but I thing y'all get my drift)
I wouldn't get too nervous about a name change and some philisophical/business decisions that Red Hat (the company) made on this one. Some may disagree, but I just can't get all "doom and gloom" over this.
Improvise, adapt and overcome.