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Red Hat Network for the Masses
Outland Traveller writes: "A few months ago I sent some feedback to RedHat concerning their then $30/month RHN subscription service. I asked them to consider offering a $5/month low end version more suitable for home users with multiple computers. I'm sure that a plenty of other people offered the same suggestion, but I was still surprised when I opened my email this morning and found that the exact service I asked for is not only being offered, but that fast access to iso images has been added as well, among other improvements. I guess I now have to put my money where my mouth is :) Seriously though, this should be good news for people who download RedHat's .iso images but want to financially support RedHat in a way that makes sense."
hahha, I just went and did a search and found "Current" on freshmeat. Looks like someone already beat me to the idea :)
Havoc Penington, the bane of my Linux desktop.
I don't know what the current costs of bandwidth are for RedHat
I know how much they are paying because I work for the company that hosts their FTP servers. Trust me...they sit upon dual OC-48 feeds, right on the backbone which means low latency. I don't know what kind of bandwidth they commit to each month but I do know our company loves them. But that kind of access costs. You folks should appreciate the free downloads and help when you can. I have always bought my Red Hat CD.
Myxx
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Twisted Little Gnome - The Podcasting Network http://www.twistedlittlegnome.com
Not that I think that Debian can't be a better distribution in some ways, but have you looked at APT for RPM?
Read the site.
But for the lazy, the $30 is really targeted at Enterprise customers. It offers support for things like multiple admins, grouping systems to perform updates on a group, etc... It's suited for running more than 4 or 5 machines in your apartment. Think hundreds, or even thousands, in the workplace.
I`m using Ximian Red Carpet for almost half a year now, and I`m wondering what`s the difference between these. Seems to me that all the advantages (fast servers, package control,...) are also available in Red Carpet, for free. PLUS when you use RC, you don`t only have the RedHat Channel, there`s also Ximian Gnome`s own channel, Staroffice, Loki Games, Codeweavers, ... I`d like to support RedHat in some way, but there must be something I can`t get elsewhere.
$5/month x 12 months/year = $60/year
are you aware that you can user their service up2date for _free_ for one computer? this isnt something they advertise, but it's there. if you have multiple computers the $5/month is better for you.
-- john
It would be nice if the debian crew came up with a release branch somwhere in between stable and unstable. Something that was a little more up to date than stable and a little less bleeding edge than unstable.
Oh wait, THEY ALREADY HAVE. It's called testing and if you had read any debian news within the past year you would know about it.
- Toby
But testing does still break periodically. Testing is - well - relatively untested.
Debian is a great distribution and definitely has its niches, but it seems fair to ensure that people don't think the testing version is comparable to what RedHat is offering. RedHat releases undergo a good amount of testing. With Debian testing, you're the one doing the testing.
If you can't afford some down time now and then, or if you aren't comfortable doing a bit of command line work when your X server suddenly doesn't come up after an upgrade, you need to steer clear. Stick with ancient Debian 2.2, which may be the most stable release on the planet, or look elsewhere if you need the newer whiz bang stuff without giving up a ton of stability.
what's the difference between this kind of subscription and Microsoft's ?
If you don't pay Red Hat, you can still use the software you have, and you can get new software off rpmfind. If you don't pay Microsoft, on the other hand, you lose your right to use the software because under a rental agreement, you are not the owner of a copy, and in the United States, 17 USC 117 states that the owner of a copy can dictate terms of use.
Will I retire or break 10K?
> 1) RHN would NOT store my machine configuration on their servers. I see no reason this can't be stored on my machine.
This is _optional_. You don't have to do this.