On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 15:29:26 -0700 (MST)
"Derek Neighbors" <derek@gnue.org> wrote:

> Thomas Cameron said:
> >
> >> I can buy that to a degree.  However, I would have a real problem if I
> >> went to go buy that 350Z I want from my local Nissan dealer.  Then
> >> find out they tacked on $2800 for "service".
> >
> > Not at all what RH is doing.  You want a free distro built by Red Hat
> > (even supported through Bugzilla, but not with any SLAs), go with
> > Fedora.
> 
> Then I am missing features.  So, if I wanted that 350Z   as a convertible.
>  What you are saying is that I can get the convertible if I will pay the
> $2800 in lockin "service" or I can get the base model and then pay someone
> to turn it into a convertible for me.  At which point I say it's not worth
> the effort to get my choice in service. :)

I haven't the foggiest idea if this if this fits the product described
by your metaphor, but...

If you want the RHEL WS code without the higher priced support,
there's always Red Hat Professional Workstation.  It's a box (retail)
product which may be purchased for about $70.  (Prices range from $70 to
over $100.  The $70 price was from J&R Electronics.)  You get 30 days of
installation support and one year of security and maintenance upgrades
via RHN.

Here's the blurb from http://www.redhat.com/software/workstation/:

    Red Hat Professional Workstation is designed for the advanced user
    requiring a single Linux desktop deployment with limited support
    and management capabilities.  Customers looking for advanced
    support options and server features or planning on deploying Linux
    on a large scale should look to Red Hat Enterprise Linux for
    additional options.

Kevin