[SC.LUG] So, are RedHat ditching the home user market?

[Jason Lucas]

It would appear so - I just got this e-mail from Redhat:


Jason.


Thank you for being a Red Hat Network customer.

This e-mail provides you with important information about the upcoming
discontinuation of Red Hat Linux, and resources to assist you with your
migration to another Red Hat solution.

As previously communicated, Red Hat will discontinue maintenance and
errata support for Red Hat Linux 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 8.0 as of December 
31, 2003. Red Hat will discontinue maintenance and errata support for 
Red Hat Linux 9 as of April 30, 2004. Red Hat does not plan to release 
another product in the Red Hat Linux line.

With the recent announcement of Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.3, you'll
find migrating to Enterprise Linux appealing.  We understand 
that transitioning to another Red Hat solution requires careful planning
and implementation.  We have created a migration plan for Red Hat
Network 
customers to help make the transition as simple and seamless as 
possible. Details:

****************
If you purchase Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS or ES Basic before February
28, 2004, you will receive 50% off the price for two years.[*] (That's
two
years for the price of one.)

****************
In addition, we have created a Red Hat Linux Migration Resource Center
to address your migration planning and other questions, such as:

* What are best practices for implementing the migration to Red Hat
  Enterprise Linux?

* Are there other migration alternatives?

* How do I purchase Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS or ES Basic at the price
  above?

* What if my paid subscription to RHN extends past April 30, 2004?

****************

Find out more about your migration options with product comparisons,
whitepapers and documentation at the Red Hat Linux Migration Resource 
Center:

  http://www.redhat.com/solutions/migration/rhl/rhn


Or read the FAQ written especially for Red Hat Network customers:

  https://rhn.redhat.com/help/rhlmigrationfaq/
 
Sincerely,

Red Hat, Inc.


[*] Limit 10 units. Higher volume purchase inquiries should contact a
    regional Red Hat sales representative. Contact numbers available at
    http://www.redhat.com/solutions/migration/rhl/rhn

--the Red Hat Network Team


On Mon, 2003-11-03 at 17:16, Mike Stuart wrote:
> Here is a question for the group.
> 
> <ramble undertone="rant">
> Are RedHat ditching the home / small business user by dropping the boxed / 
> download redhat distribution?
> 
> I have been a long standing RedHat user, and have found their distros to be 
> the best of the best over the years.  My view of that has changed recently as 
> SuSE have made significant improvements to bring their boxed / download 
> products into my personal number 1 spot.
> 
> It would seem that the fedora project (http://fedora.redhat.com) is their end 
> user linux re-badged but as it is not supported by them officially (only 
> sponsored) I have to question if the end result will be worse.
> 
> I'm interested in hearing other people's view on this because in the small 
> business arena - which is the bread and butter of my company's bottom line - 
> customers may find the costs for the ES products still too much, and 
> potentially would make Windows a lower cost alternative (insert sideshow bob 
> shudder here).  For the small business needing lowest possible cost, the 
> generic distributions have always provided a means to have a quality product 
> for 50 quid or less (or even not at all with a download edition).
> 
> I am currently promoting SuSE for the small business, the Pro edition at least 
> because their own "server" grade products are really quite expensive in the 
> long run (yearly subscriptions for errata / updates).  But again, based on 
> the way RedHat have started moving, I'm wondering how long it will be before 
> SuSE do the same?
> 
> I know that Debian is the trully "free" distro, but it I find it can be slow 
> to adapt despite the fact that it entirely community run (the base distro is 
> still on a 2.2 kernel for example when 2.6 is almost upon us!).  I have also 
> dabbled with Gentoo and found it to be significantly better in the area of 
> being up to date but the compile everything concept although really nice, can 
> be costly in a business arena because of the additional time it consumes - I 
> mean imagine the onsite time difference between simply updating glibc 
> compared to compiling it!
> </ramble>
> 
> Perhaps this may be an interesting subject for the meeting?
> 
> Sorry for the ramblings, perhaps I should have posted this to /. but I'm 
> interested in the thoughts on these subjects from like minded people.
> 
> Also, feel free to tell me "quit with the doom and gloom" if you like :)