[lug] RH 7.2 in stores - and bloody EXPENSIVE!

B O'Fallon bof at pcisys.net
Mon Oct 22 06:37:06 MDT 2001


Nate Duehr wrote:

> Saw RH 7.2 in CompUSA at Park Meadows this weekend.  Personal version
> $70, Professional $200 (!!!).
>
> SuSE sitting right next to it was Personal $30, Professional $70.
>
> RH isn't getting money from me this go-around, it would seem.  Yikes,
> ugly price jump and for NOT much value compared to SuSE or Mandrake
> boxed-sets.
>

RH 7.1 was available in three versions (I don't remember the exact names):
Workstation ($40), Deluxe/Professional ($80), and Server ($180). From
their less than informative web page (which is really lousy compared to
the information RH gave out on 7.1), it looks like in 7.2 they combined
Workstation and Deluxe at $60, leaving some features out. Server is still
about the same, but is now $200.

I reckon most people who bought the $80 7.1 version will be able to get by
with the $60 7.2 version: it seems to have about the same features but not
all the extra stuff on CD's that I, at least, never used.

But another change for the worse is that, previously, the complete set of
softcover manuals was available for purchase. This time, it doesn't look
like they're being sold.

There is also a big change in their support. Previously, the updating
system of RH Network allowed a registered user to use the service for one
machine indefinitely, with additional systems costing $20 per month. If
I read their advertising correctly, with 7.2, this has been reduced to one
month, and then it costs $20/month.

Thus it looks Red Hat's gotten really greedy, and are well on they way to
being as money-grubbing as a certain other software manufacturer on the
West coast: I suppose that those stock losses have to be made up some way.

And Nate is right: what you get for what you spend is no bargain at all,
compared to SuSE or Mandrake.  So it looks like it's time to subscribe to
KRUD (unsolicited endorsement) .....

BOF




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