[Techtalk] RedHat - Fedora Linux

[Malcolm Tredinnick]

On Thu, 2003-09-25 at 16:04, Julie wrote:
> Caitlyn Martin wrote:
> > On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 12:20:26 -400
> > avarweth at vanadium.sabren.com (Jennifer) wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>This is news to me! I would have chosen a different distro if I'd
> >>known! I can't  believe the price difference for Enterprise!
> > 
> > 
> >>>I think most people here are aware of the fact that RedHat Linux
> >>>will no longer release any distro after RedHat Linux 9, except
> >>>RedHat Enterprise Linux...
> > 
> > 
> > My understanding was that they would no longer offer support on any
> > product except the Enterprise Server, but that Red Hat 10 would be
> > available for download and retail sale.  Did that change?
> 
> I hate to be stupid, but what exactly does this mean?  I'm running
> RedHat 9 at the house.  Does this mean I'm going to be forced to
> shell out major bucks after 12/31/03?!?

It depends want you are wanting from your distribution. If you want a
coordinated set of packages that can be installed on your system and you
already do your own support (e.g. you are using it at home), then you
will be able to use Fedora quite happily (go and read some of the stuff
at http://fedora.redhat.com).

If you are wanting commercial support from Red Hat, then you will need
to use their Enterprise System. There may be various third-parties who
will provide commercial support for Fedora-based installations, but
since that is not one of the goals of Fedora, it may not be easy.

If you are wanting something similar to Red Hat's current free-of-charge
distribution and you want commercial support, then you may need to look
at another distributor.

Red Hat are moving more towards a "you get what you pay for" model for
support (something I have no problem with) and are also helping to
coordinate a more community-oriented release (Fedora). Don't overreact
to this -- it's not overtly terrible; in fact, it looks like a good
idea.

Malcolm