LWCE Bits and Pieces

Well, we've gotten a massive number of submissions with the haps at LWCE. I've distilled some of the good ones below: Chanc_Grokon wrote to us with the press release from Ximian about the monthly charges for Red Carpet, their installer. He also raises the "Why not just use apt-get?" point. A number of people wrote pointing out LinuxLookup.com's Day 1 coverage and Day 2 coverage. Of particular interest to Daeslin was Larry Lessig's attack on overly strong intellectual property laws. A number of people, Krismon included, have voiced some disappointment at the excitement of the show - not being there, I make no judgments. Sun has unveiled more details about StarOffice 6. Compaq's CTO also made comments about Linux improving in the enterprise. jrbw sent in Linus' thoughts (dismissive) of .Net/Hailstorm. And KDE has won the "Best Open Source Project" award. Newsforge has also got a round-up and coverage piece. More news as it happens.

Comments

this is just the attitude I expected

[Anonymous Coward]

>Chanc_Grokon wrote to us with the press release >from Ximian about the monthly charges for Red >Carpet, their installer. He also raises the "Why >not just use apt-get?" point.

bunch of fucken leeches, completely ignore the benefits of subscribing to a software package and company and describe how you can get it for _FREE_.. as always this kind of attitude will destroy Linux because there is no viable or feasible way to make money from a bunch of leeches, err, i mean Linux users.

I for one will be subscribing to ximian gnome to support their efforts and all the great software they write. I wont be locked in to some sort of twisted masochistic licencing agreement like I might be with Microsoft. Why ? Because even after the subscription runs out, if it does, I still have my software, that software still functions, I have the source for that software and most importantly it wont stop working after 30 days of "Trial use."

So all you Linux users out there taking a free ride: Its free today, it will be free tomorrow, but dont expect great software like ximian has produced if your not willing put up the bucks.

For christs sake, its only two packs of cigarettes a month, or two fucken happy meals at mcdonalds, or 5 quarts of oil.. Get a grip and stop complaining.

Red Carpet vs. apt-get

[SyntheticTruth]

I think it's easy for us geeks to forget why such things as Red Carpet are needed.

I will always argue that apt-get has to be one of the best linux app installers, but a huge part of apt-get is command-line oriented. Red Carpet, although using rpm's, is graphical and is much easier for a gui-oriented linux user to handle. I've used Red Carpet and I like what I see so far, it goes a long way of making linux newbie-friendly. (...and all you CLI die-hards, please just hush. ;)

As long as they price it right, I think a service like Red Carpet would be worth the money, just for ease of use, point-n-click, user-friendliness of installing new software and updates -- something that will bring *nix further along, because right now, I see two things holding us back: a really kick-ass office suite (coming along nicely, really) and ease-of-use software installation.

I, for one, am willing to pay money for *good* software and services...

Re:"Why not just use apt-get?"

[GauteL]

And it simply does not provide everything that Red-Carpet does.
Very nice things about Red Carpet:
1. Easy access to different channels.
2. Very nice and professional updating.
3. Automatic cryptographic validation.
4. No hunting for usable mirrors.

apt-get is not the beginning or end of everything. It is a very nice tool, but for Joe Average, Red Carpet is quite simply amazing, and it'll get even better with more 3rd-party channels, and easy access to commercial applications.
Btw. Red Carpet is also available for Debian.

The rule is: don't use it if you don't need it or want it.

Ximian

[RyanMuldoon]

I hope that people actually take time to read Ximian's press releases before passing judgement. But that is probably asking too much. Ximian is offering (in 45 days) two new Red Carpet-based services, ON TOP OF the current *free* Red Carpet updating service they provide as a gift to the community. First is Red Carpet Express, which is basically guaranteed fast access to software updates. A lot of people (including myself) requested something like this. I am happy that they are offering it. The second service is especially cool. The CorporateConnect idea is great. Basically, companies can tailor exactly what software (and in what channels) is offered, and which users can access that software. And it can push updates automatically in the corporate LAN. That is an incredibly useful tool. Ximian is being smart, and focusing on the Corporate desktop (and those customers) rather than end-users. Creating tools and services like these that really add value to a company's IT infrastructure is what is going to make Ximian succeed. End-user oriented business models can come later. Ximian is going to continue to create great software, and develop really useful services that are worth the money.

Clearing up some confusion

[vukicevic]

Unfortunately, the press release about Red Carpet Express and Red Carpet Corporate Connect erroneously left an important bit of information. Red Carpet will remain free. Red Carpet Express is an optional service which gives you guaranteed access to the latest updates, even if the main public Red Carpet server is congested. Red Carpet Corporate Connect offers additional features to corporate workgroup users.

The conspiracy theorists will no doubt continue to accuse us of "selling out" at every step of the way; I'm too busy working on adding additional features to Red Carpet to get upset at this point. I hope that anyone with questions regarding Red Carpet or other Ximian products/services will at least contact Ximian directly.