Can I install RedHat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 as a 'desktop' ?

Here's my situation. I'm going to be installing ES4 on a few servers soon. I have the ES4 product (legally purchased) sitting here unopened. I've only had marginal experience on RH Advanced server products but I use Fedora C3 as a desktop.

I would like to have ES4 installed on my PC so I can become familiar with it.

Is this feasible? I understand I would not have any support from RedHat for the desktop. And I am aware of others such as CentOS, but why d/l that when the RH is in hand?

Anyone out there using ES 4 as a 'desktop'?

what kind of support do you expect from red hat that you don't think you would get by running it on a desktop?

i run it on my workstation at work (well, actually i use as4, but who's counting?).

Maybe I had better clarify my situation

I have 2 licensed copies of RH ES 4. These will be loaded onto 2 separate servers. The support license is for the 2 servers.

What I want to do is load ES 4 onto my PC before I load it onto the servers so that I can become familiar with the install procedure, etc. I do not expect any support from RedHat concerning issues I have on the PC, but I wanted to hear if there were any issues using it on just a PC.

Also, I was curious as to the suitability of using it for daily desktop use (at work where games and multimedia support is not an issue.)

as far as i can tell, they don't care what you install something on. possibly if it is the cause of the problem you call for (i.e. incompatible hardware) they would care. at least that's the way our licensing seems to work ... i don't call and say "server xyz is having a problem," i call and say "i'm having a problem with satellite" or whatever product.

if you plan to run the desktop after you have the two servers installed, you will have to disable updates on the desktop to free up the two entitlements for the servers. if you plan to turn off the desktop at that point, obviously this will not be of issue.


finally, rhel workstation is pretty much the same thing as rhel servers. both run just fine on desktops. there are no magical chips that flag the install saying "this is a server" or "this is a desktop." like i said before, i use advanced server on my desktop at work. it works just fine.

Thanks for the replies, j You've answered my concerns. And I didn't think about disabling the update process.