Is it me or is Red Hat slowly becoming another Microsoft?

We recently sent some folks from my company to their RHCE class (at $2500 a pop) and found out that the certifications only last for 2 major version numbers (ie: RH 6.0 to RH 8.0). Some folks got certified for 8.0, but guess what - the latest beta (Pheobe) is actually going to be 9.0 when it's released in a couple of weeks!

They are skipping versions 8.1, 8.2, etc. So the certifications for anyone who recently got it for 7.2 or 8.0 better be ready to put some more $$$ up just to re-take that stupid test in about a year or so.

What the heck is going on here??

Plus the fact that they are trying to push Advanced Server on folks is not good either, as that costs money? What are their business folks thinking, as by doing this, they are going to alienate the Linux community, because if we want to pay big bucks for an OS, then we might as well pay for Microsoft junk?

Any opinions on this?

didnt they also just make the security updates via rhn a a paid service? i agree, redhat is getting really really lame. i'll never go back.

Redhat is now a public company, they have a responsibility to make money for the shareholders, its simple, as long as they don't violate the gnu, the OS is still free.

Redhat is a for profit company and provides product for the server industry that has support like no other linux product. Their servers for download and updates are fast and reliable like no other. Also their distros support a range of hardware and notify for updates and security flaws etc like no other. All this costs money. I suppose they have to make it somehow. Unlike cheap distros that don't support this nic or that monitor, Redhat really does support a lot of hardware out of the box and their programmars have to get paid somehow. It is not all donated code.

I have six linux boxes and the only distro that will support all the variety of hardware I have on all of them on the first install, connect to the cable modem, run my printers etc, is Redhat. I have tried Gentoo, Slack, Mandrake, Thiz, Libranet, Debian, etc, without exception, Redhat installs and runs when others have hardware, video, x problems that need to be fixed for hardware.

Maybe one of you should try running a large company using the profits from offering everything for free. It can't be done. Not in our world, seeing as the profits are in the negatives. To me you just sound like a bunch of freeloaders. I mean at least they still offer their standard O/S for free. And at that the standard RedHat Distro is better than most premium distros. Honestly, there is no way that RedHat can be making a lot of money of of this. First of all, most people will just D/L the standard ISOs from the ftp server... that there costs RedHat. NOT you. Trust me. It's not exactly cheap to host a high bandwidth FTP site. Plus they still allow RHN Up2Date free service which also adds to their overhead costs. If you want RH to drop their prices then start buying their O/S don't just D/L it from their site. They have to pick up revenue somewhere and since most everybody is unwilling to buy the O/S from them, they have to jack prices up for their other services. Furthermore, if you have a beef with how RH is running their operation then gripe to them about it. Not us.

A corporation is a corporation is a corporation. Once a company goes IPO, they have the same priority as any other corporation, which is to make money for their shareholders. Otherwise, the shareholders will get rid of the company heads and find people who have priorities more to their liking.

I know that there are rare exceptions, but this is the rule. Red Hat has done as well as it has precisely by being run exactly like other corporations, as opposed to something like the Debian project which will never be competitive with Red Hat (unless they sell out too, which seems very unlikely).

Not that I'm a fan of the Microsoft garbage, but Red Hat is being hypocritical then, if they take cheap-shots at insulting the folks from Redmond, if they themselves are doing the same thing - charging an arm and a leg for software and training courses and then the training certifications are obsolete after a few months. Sounds just like the MCSE crap that no one cares about anymore, but yet million$ were poured down the drain (by a lot of people) to get them.

BTW, I have taken my complaints to Red Hat. Spoken to some of the employees who TOTALLY agree with me that they do not like the direction that the "suits" at Red Hat are heading towards - as they are just going to alienate people and nasty flame wars could begin very soon.

Red Hat is a public company, I understand that, with millions pouring in from companies like IBM who invest in them, and they have a lot of cash in the bank, but to start doing the stuff that I complained about in my initial post (ie: skipping RH versions and making expensive certifications obsolete in a matter of months) - deserve some negative press IMO.

BTW, did you guys know that Red Hat is going to officially end support of 8.0 at the end of this year? Force another upgrade on us? What the heck?

My company is stuck running RH 7.1/7.2 and we just can't upgrade because some company is going nuts just to get another release out the doors....

Either take that route or plop some money down and get Advanced Server, but in a down market like we're in, who the heck wants to pay that kind of money when Linux was supposed to be a cheaper solution?

Anyway, I think my post has some valid complaints that cannot be ignored.

For a very good article on RedHat "becoming like Microsoft" try http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1890&page=8

It points out very simply that if RedHat decided to start making horrible projects then others could use the source code under the GNU liscense and make their own improvements.

"My company is stuck running RH 7.1/7.2 and we just can't upgrade because some company is going nuts just to get another release out the doors...."

Why can't you upgrade, its free isn't it??

redhat provides updates for free os for free except advanced server in my opininon they are doing a good job mandrake sells their products too they give nomal version for free what they sell is coparate version in my opininon nothing is wrong with it as someone mentioned redhat supports lots of hardware and stuff out of the box i never paid them for os i have been using since 6.2 and for the certificate part between 6.2 and 8.0 the only diffrence is versions of the programs included in the dist. you can use them with same commands and tool they added some new things in 8.0 but they saved the oldones like sndconfig

Well for the ordinary user, we can blow away Red Hat and reinstall it at will. But when you work for a government agency or financial firm, you just can't do it. If you've installed 7.1, you're stuck on it because your business is based on that version. If you have applications compiled against it that are production quality and run your business, you just don't upgrade for the heck of it. The issue is they're dropping support for 8.0 so quickly that's it a little frustrating.

Listen, I make a living out of Red Hat Linux, so I don't hate them or anything. I actually like them, and am friends with their employees.

I just wanted to state a fact that things may not be so rosy going forward in Linux-land.

I thought if you were to install a newer version that you had an option to "Upgrade" in the install menu. I am a Linux Newbie, been using it for about 3 years, but only on the desktop, truth be told I would like to invest in Redhat, but am concerned they can be profitable, I think as Linux grows they should as well,

When you say they are dropping support for 8.0 so quickly, what do you mean? That they are dropping free Up2date service for security and bug fixs?

I used to own a bunch of shares in Red Hat and I believe they will be profitable going forward, especially as folks are dumping Sun Enterprise servers for the cheaper Intel platform boxes. Advanced Server costs $$$ so, I think with big companies using that as a cluster solution, you'll see them in the black. If you check their books out, they have millions in cash and are debt free. If you have some cash lying around, actually it wouldn't be a bad investment, as IMO they are slowly going the path of Microsoft, albeit they share most of the source code unlike our "friends" from Redmond.

They are going to officially drop their support for 8.0 at the end of the year, but that doesn't mean that you can't download it from them (just like you can still download 7.x I believe from them). But they will expect everyone to upgrade to 9.0 (or whatever), and my argument was - that as a person who has to support this OS, it's kind of hard to ask us to upgrade every few months, or else we lose officially support. If you think it about it, that's a valid complaint.

I am not sure about the up2date stuff and the RH network, but they do charge like $60 a server if you want to register for the basic service. My gut feeling tells me that they will get rid of the demo (free) RHN service in the next year.

I was not trying to trash Red Hat this thread, but if you spent $2500 out of your own pocket (like I did) for their training class and a shot at the certification (RHCE), and that certification is completely worthless within 1.5-2 years, you would understand my frustration.

Perhaps if you want to apply these security updates via up2date. My free access via up2date expired last month but I still get emails about security-related patches. I can download those from the website onto a central repository on my network and apply them from there. What's the big deal? Security updates are still available. And without a fee.

Even if Red Hat is going in the way of M$, it will never be Windows. Its always going to be Linux, and thats good enough for me.