[Sussex] Access to RHEL updates without subscription

[Jon Fautley]

On Monday 30 May 2005 01:14, Paul Tansom wrote:
> Since this LUG list seems to be more Red Hat friendly that others I'm on
> it seems to be the most productive to ask this question on :)

:)

I'm sure you guessed that I was going to pipe up :)

> Is it possible to access RHEL WS 3 updates without a subscription. Don't
> get me wrong here, I'm not looking to circumvent licensing and access to
> the update resources that require payment, but I am beginning to see a
> major draw back with their model compared to Windows (I can almost hear
> the gasps at this point!). I need to access updates that were available
> when the subscription was valid, but weren't downloaded or installed.

Whatever the reason, it is not possible to access any form of binary update 
packages without a subscription to the Red Hat Network w/Update entitlements.

> This appears to indicate that without a subscription to the RH network a
> copy of RH is worthless since you can't keep it secure, or more
> specifically in this case, change hardware.
>> [stuff about TCO snipped]

You are able to change hardware, as all the modules for supported hardware 
will be installed on the system. The problem comes when you need to compile 
3rd party drivers, which is not supported by Red Hat, and doing so could 
potentially invalidate your support agreement with Red Hat, Inc. (although 
it's not really an issue in this case ;) )

>
> Anyway, putting down RH wasn't the aim here (it just sort of happens
> unfortunately). What I need to do is keep this machine running, and
> without the updates, just access to the software that was available when
> the subscription was still valid.

Red Hat have a very different model to the likes of Microsoft and other F/OSS 
Operating Systems. If you're after a system without support, then you should 
look at using Fedora. When you purchase a RHEL subscription, you're NOT 
purchasing the software, or a license to use the software, you're purchasing 
a support agreement. It sounds from your post that you've got a 30-day 
complimentary subscription, which has now expired. Once the subscription has 
expired, then you're no longer entitled to recieve updates, and should remove 
the software from your system(s).

Thanks,

Jon
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