On Feb 2, 2004, at 9:29 AM, Derek Neighbors wrote:

> If they instead make Red Hat Advanced
> Server have a license that requires money but includes the support.  
> Yes
> you can argue they are selling "support".  I would argue they are 
> "locking
> you in" to their support.  Subtle difference perhaps, but I do believe 
> it
> to be real.

Hmm... It seems like I can get the Red Hat products with their 
trademarks removed very cheaply with minimal Googling. Branding is 
important. There have been studies recently showing that auto dealers 
make most of their money from their service departments. Now most 
people know that there are better and cheaper mechanics outside the 
dealers but there are also crooks and incompetent mechanics out there, 
so a lot of people stick with the 'official' service.

It seems to me that one interpretation of Red Hat's actions is that 
they are just trying to set themselves up as the 'factory authorized' 
service provider.