One of the purposes of Redhat is not to become as big as Microsoft, but rather to hopefully make Microsoft as small as redhat, , it's true.

zLinuxz

lol...

If they got all those bright smarties in there - why does the rpm system suck??

honest question:
why does the rpm system suck?
( I've used it a couple of times and it seems to be very good)

Because you almost always get problems with dependencies and then can go out and hunt for them. It's like for x to work you need a but a doesn't work with whatever you got in there so you need to change b. Now b needs c and c doesn't work with x. Other than that it's beautiful.
Never had any problems with deb's. If something is needed it will be installed.
Strange that a bunch of volunteers can do that and high paid rocket scientists can't. Even worse that they probably could do it and don't so you have to buy or download always the newest version.

yea... actually the dependencies issue is a bummer. both the rpm and compile your own styles raise these issues. if this can be resolved, it'll be one bigger step to user acceptance for linux distros.

All I can say is that the last time I used the RH update agent, it promted me that I needed several files due to dependencies. The dialog asked me to confirm that I wanted to install the files, along with the updates. I said yes, and the install went perfectly.

In fact I just used the update agent again, because I has a message from RH that the Apache fix was available. When I initiated the update, I was also prompted for a new kernel and an update to AbiWord. Again, super smooth and the new kernel shows up in a list in GRUB.

well rh does make a quality distro IMHO, the have a really good arguement for the patents - so they will be able to have a better stance against litigation - something most companies do need to worry about.

That new feature in 7.3...I dunnot how good it really is...sure it tells you when a package in your computer is outdated by telling you that there is a new one in the REdhat network, but what does that also mean?, it means they are accessing your computer and comparing what software version you got with the new software coming out...but how secure is that really?...you know it's like that serial number that they embed into the Intel chips. If your pc is connected to the net, the chip sends a signal over the internet to give info of your computer into Intel's data base...there is a way to disable it in Windows, but I don't know if you can do that in Linux...however this all automated upgrade stuff doesn't terribly convince me of being all that desireable!

zLinuxz

the recurrent arguments of usability vs security
well i think it depends on who you're trying to win the dollar votes from... and i think it's okay. if you're a new user, you'll find it a joy to use. if you're a hardened veteran, you'll know how to manhandle it.