On Wed, Apr 02, 2003 at 10:26:27AM -0800, Cliff Wells wrote: > The things you see in the RH kernel are typically backports of features > from the development kernel. Yes, it does make the RH kernel different, > but not terribly special. Obviously, RH has developers (Alan Cox comes > to mind), but they typically don't just develop for RH. They develop > for the entire community. RH doesn't fork code.
Fact is, they're not using the straight tarballs. Which means extra work in Q&A, if they're doing their jobs properly. That is definitely more than the "just distributing" you were hinting at. As I said, basically all SRPMs from RH I've seen so far contain RH-patches. Those patches need to be developped, tested and maintained. That's more than just packaging. [...] > Bluecurve is a theme+engine. You can get it for other distros as well. As well as patches to QT and/or KDE, if I'm to believe the discussions where KDE developers were involved. Admittedly, I haven't checked - I don't use KDE, nor GNOME. [...] > > RH has been quite good at this in the past, but mostly in the later > > releases of a cycle. But such Q&A takes time. Therefore, it remains to > > be seen if they can deliver the quality we've become used to in the > > x.y releases (I've used 4.2 -> 5.2 -> 6.2 -> 7.3 - all of the were > > good releases, some even excellent at the time). The fact that RH is > > keeping quiet about their intentions in this regard doesn't help, > > either - and it certainly doesn't help *them*, as they might > > potentially loose customers. > > I'll agree it remains to be seen (but then what doesn't?). However, I > still stand by my argument that the difference between x.0 with all > updates and x.1 is minimal. Speculation about losing customers is just > that: speculation. But based on actual statements. Almost all discussions I've seen were a) pointing into "probably less stable" direction and b) littered with "I'm going to switch" statements. IMO, it would make business sense for RH to counter this - *if* they can. [...] > > Right. So I have to pay for a product to which I *have* to apply tons > > of updates to get it to the point of quality I expected from it in the > > first place? I don't think so. I'm willing to spend money on x.y > > releases, which has all patches applied and tested - but not on a "x.0" > > which I have to patch myself. > > Er, you don't patch your systems? And what was your IP address? > <wink>. Here's a clue: *no* system has all the patches applied and > tested until it becomes obsolete. There are *always* new patches needed > to address bugs and security holes. The only reason someone's RH 6.2 > system no longer gets patched is because no one is making the patches. Of course. But tell me: At the release date of RH 7.3, which would have been more efficient and worth the price: Buying a RH7.[012] set and downloading about an extra CD full of patches or buying the RH7.3 set? So far, I stayed with the traditionally well built x.2/x.3 releases and ran into next to no problems - definitely less than what was to be seen in discussions about the corresponding x.0 versions. Those, I would have had to patch more often. Yup, I'm basically letting others do the beta testing on the x.0 versions. I in turn put up with getting new features later, as well as with dwindling mailing list support. There are trade-offs either way. I prefer stepping from "stable+maintained" to the next "stable+maintained". With RH, this meant following the x.2 releases in the past, not the x.0's. > Then don't pay for it. As far as work, I don't see using RHN or apt as > especially taxing. Anyone who finds typing 'apt-get upgrade' or > clicking the little red exclamation point to be work probably costs RH > more in support than they make from them. wget works just fine, thanks... ;-) I don't like automated updates, sorry. As far as the paying goes: There's a reason I actually wanted to pay, which is to support RH - after all, I've been using their distro for six years now. That reason is dwindling fast. It's as simple as that. Cheerio, Thomas -- ==> RH List Archive: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=redhat-list&r=1&w=2 <== ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thomas Ribbrock http://www.ribbrock.org "You have to live on the edge of reality - to make your dreams come true!" -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
