Chris Gehlker said:
> On Feb 4, 2004, at 9:02 AM, Derek Neighbors wrote:
>
>> To be clear I am not saying the RHEL product is bad.  Therefore, I
>> don't
>> see the need for someone else to repackage it.  I think the binding of
>> support to the license is less than desirable.
>
> You seem to be missing the point that the mere fact that others have
> the *ability* to repackage RHEL means that the binding of support to
> the license is very weak, simple branding as opposed to lock-in.

You appear to be missing the fact (as I am lead to believe) that there are
part of RHEL that are not available for others to "repackage".

>> For example this is why UserLinux is starting.  They basically want to
>> have a more updated version of Debian (but will put all their stuff
>> back
>> into Debian) and not have licensing issue.
>
> I think what UserLinux is trying to do is very similar to what Red Hat
> already does. They are trying to establish a brand with 'authorized
> service.' In the case of UserLinux the service is provided by
> independent contractors but  they are still authorized by the UserLinux
> distributor and use their brand. In short, it's simply a franchise
> version of the Red Hat model. Bruce Parens said as much on /..

The major difference is UserLinux is not a for profit company.  They have
no particular financial motivator to do things.  They are leaving it to
the "contractors" to do the work.  This is a large distinction, because it
is forcing those contractors to truly compete on a level ground.  The
operating system is the same for everyone a true commodity.

I will not clutter the list with the discussion any longer.  We can agree
to disagree and that's okay.  I know the primary issue here is one of
capitalist mindset that says if a company can have a "monopoly" in some
fashion their employees will starve.  This is pitted against a socialist
like concept that says money can exchange hand without greed being a
factor.  We have come to a point that I think it's a matter of "where do
you draw the line".  Politically I draw the line one place, you and others
another.

-Derek
-Derek