[lug] a rather different view of the rh thing (a bit about sooze also)

[bill ehlert]

Red Hat's exit from the desktop is disheartening
to some Linux partisans but makes perfect sense
for the company. In the end, Red Hat has to put
its shareholders' interests above the idealistic
dream of displacing Windows on the desktops of
non-corporate users. This speaks well of Red
Hat's management; it's focusing on the bottom
line and allocating scarce resources to areas
that will bring the highest possible return for
the company.

No doubt the Linux purists will be on the march,
decrying Red Hat's decision as either "blasphemy"
or a "betrayal" of the open source movement.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The
Linux world needs a strong Red Hat and should
support Red Hat's moves toward increasing
profitability and financial strength. There are
plenty of other distros that can cover the
desktop for home users, there really isn't much
of a need for Red Hat to be in that space.

The bottom line here is that we'll all be better
off if Red Hat succeeds over the long haul. And
it, like any other business, must do whatever it
takes to achieve and grow. Hats off to Red Hat's
management, they're getting it done.

I have to confess that I sort of tuned out Novell
a while back as bound for the same fate as some
of Microsoft's other foes—the graveyard. With the
purchase of SuSE (and Ximian before it), however,
it seems as though Novell is remaking itself in
the image of Linux services.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1372650,00.asp






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