[CLUE-Talk] RedHat - friend or enemy?

[Jeff Cann]

On Sunday 07 September 2003 12:28 am, Gary Threlkeld wrote:
> What's everyone's opinion?... The comments in this last article I
> posted got me to thinking...
>
> http://eletters.eweek.com/zd/cts?d=79-188-1-5-64262-24295-1
>
> Is RedHat positioning to become the Microsoft of the Linux world
> or are they truely serving as one of the "point" organizations
> leading the charge for acceptance of Linux and the champion
> of those fighting SCO?

I've been curious about comparisions between Microsoft and Red Hat even before 
I moved to Red Hat earlier this year (previously:  2 years Mandrake; 6 years 
Slackware).  I just don't see the connection, especially since Linux is not 
proprietary.  So, it is far easier to switch among Linux distributions than 
to move off one of the Microsoft platforms.

I personally think Red Hat is trying to make money, just like Microsoft.  They 
are the 'dominant' Linux VAR in the US, but not Europe (SuSE) or Asia (was 
TurboLinux, not sure lately).

The MSFT bogeyman has so ingrained itself into the IT media, that they draw 
comparisions to any company that has market share.  Is Apache the next 
Microsoft?  They have 65% of the market.  Won't they abuse their 'dominant' 
position?  It's not news, just a way to get us to pump up page views on the 
IT media web sites, IMHO.

Later,
Jeff