http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4900207/
Red Hat is releasing a product called Red Hat Desktop.
Fedora, apparently, isn't the end of Red Hat "desktop" Linux distros.
What's your opinion?

Sounds like there is going to be an opportunity for some fresh bright minds to get paid for what they excel at. Perhaps good developers who weren't doing as much as they could due to being financially strapped (I can think of one who I personally know - working at a pizza place) will get a chance to do it full time AND eat too.

I think that this is a good thing. Red Hat is pretty good at PR (the are Linux to most new converts) and they seem to give back as much as they take, which is a good thing too. And, hey, it'll spur Novell to give the Suse folks a kick in the butt to get sharp too.

hmmm, what does the "MS" in msnbc stand for? I'm surprised they would have an article like that on their site. It's already been proven that the msn search engine filters out certain linux searches.

I found that surprising, too.
That and the fact that RH seems to be making a comeback prompted me to start this thread.
Also, take a look at this:
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/33642.html

I checked out RedHat Desktop.. this is another ploy aimed at smallbuisness. It seems as though to me.. will be sold with "liscense packs" I see an option to buy 10 or 50... not a single lisence...

Im might not be stating fact.. but this is what i got from red hats website.

It does appear to be aimed at small businesses rather than the home user. It appears that vendors are trying to get Linux onto the desktop in pieces rather than trying to beat MS at it's own game.

This should be a "good thing"(tm)

I was going to say the same thing. I dont think it will sell to the larger corporations but rather the moderate sized ones, maybe small businesses too outside of the mom and pop shops which dont have IT departments and usually have someone contracted to come and troubleshoot. BUT hopefully if its successful you WONT have people exploiting it by offering Linux certified classes all over the planet like they do MSCE training and throwing these outrageous figures at you about how much you'll make. Wack!

Yep - and if RH can convince hardware manufacturers and apps writers that there is a good desktop Linux market out there, they could start the ball rolling and we could end up with Linux on a more even playing field.

I hope.

There is also an article in yesterday's Financial Times, under the heading: Red Hat unveils Linux PC strategy.

Don't know if this link will work:

http://search.ft.com/search/article....T&searchCat=-1

Further to an earlier comment in this thread, if they are only sell 10 and 50 licences, I am presuming that having it on one's laptop (for use at home) will effectively mean that individuals should be able to download updates once again.

Does anyone know if it will allow / include Samba, Apache, development tools etc.?

I agree with all the posts in this thread - and I'd like to add that I think it's gonna work! Smart move by Red Hat!

I also agree that it is a good thing. My opinion on RedHat ditching their free open-source os was a good move for linux all around. The company I work for will only allow the use of RHEW, I think that SuSE might beceome a big player in the enterprise market as well...

But redhat is smart imo, ditching the consumer to tackle the enterprise was a great move. This release aimed at SmallBiz is a good way to show the true power of linux to the little guys too. I am not to pleased with the prices though. I think they should come down some, then it could really hit the small shops.

The thing is, if RH and Novell/SuSE can get the enterprise market loving Linux on the desktop, it will filter back to home users.

I read somewhere that the popularity of MS Office was due to the fact that people wanted their home pc to run the same things their work pcs did - they were comfortable with Office and wanted it for their home use.

If Linux is successful at the workplace, we will find that non-geeks, -techies, etc will start to use it at home - because they know it and feel comfortable with it. And now is the time to do this: we are unlikely to see the cutdown Longhorn for 2 years, the XP SP2 is being delayed and there seems to be nothing between XP and Longhorn. Microsoft have been quoted as saying something like "our biggest enemy is that our customers don't feel the need to upgrade" (and that's not a direct quote, but it was something like that). If Linux can step in between now and mid-2006 - 2007 (because it will take that long before Longhorn is released and widespread) we could see significant home user take up. Even more so now that businesses have stopped seeing Linux as a toy for hobbyists.

RH may have been slated for not focusing on the home user who wants to download for free, but in the long run this will definitely help. And lets face it, we freeloaders weren't helping RH's bank balance, were we? (And I include myself in that last line )

I dont see it Xavier as far as saying there could be a significant home user take up. Look at the average home users. The majority of them use their PC's for email, general browsing, financial data etc. They just wont be willing to switch. And I dont think they will be willing to use an alternative when the rest of the world is still using Windows. Hell there's still many who are using 98 and another percentage just making the switch over to XP. How many home users use 2000? I get about 50 calls a night in tech support and about 60 percent use XP, another 30 percent use 98, and another percent use ME (and I tell them what a mistake that is) and the rest MAC! Those still using 98 and ME now will be making the switch to XP eventually within the next 2 years. So those using XP will stay and another percent will move to Longhorn. Look at the percent of MAC users though....RedHat, Mandrake and Suse will compete in that pool.

Many people install software at home because they have learned it at work and are comfortable with it. Also, it means they can send stuff between home and work and be able to use it. If RH get a good take up in the workplace, I believe we will see a take up in the home market because people will realise it wasn't as hard as they thought and because they want to retain that compatibility.

I would definitely agree with XavierP.
People use at home what software they use at work.
That's why both most corporations and most homes are based on Windows.
If the corporate networks switch to Linux, the home computers will start to change accordingly.