Linux Vendors to Standardize on Single Distribution

Jon James writes "eWeek is reporting that a number of Linux vendors will announce on Thursday that they have agreed to standardize on a single Linux distribution to try and take on Red Hat's dominance in the industry. " The vendors in question are SuSe, Caldera, Conectiva, and Turbolinux. However, as the article also points out - Red Hat has a very well established lead in the corporate market - and Sun's decision to create Yet Another Linux Distribution (Sun Linux! Now With McNealy Vision!) will make the waters even more muddy.

Comments

More RPMs for more things more timely?

[dinotrac]

I've used SuSE for some time, and been happy.
However, many is the time that I wanted a newer version of software than was available from SuSE. An "uber" distribution, compatible with the assorted branded distros catches my interest because it may increase the likelihood of finding new software in rpm form that may actually work on my system.

Worth watching.

Re:More RPMs for more things more timely?

[MrResistor]

Apparently, they've got a non-standard layout that many ./configure scripts choke on.

Actually, it is Red Hat that has a non-standard layout, and I've read a number of complaints about their choices (or, rather, apparent lack thereof), particularly with regards to directory structure.

SuSE, being the wierd Germans that they are, actually follow the two relevant standards very closely. The main one is the LSB (Linux Standards Base), which is supposed to fix the problems you describe. The other one I can't remember the name of right now, but it has to do with directory structure.

The problem you are having, as I understand it, is that you are trying to install rpms targeted at the hideous RH directory structure, as opposed to one that makes sense (and there are a few, remember that Linux builds on Unix traditions).

Sorry if that sounds like a flame to you Red Hat fans out there, but really, for what they charged for a boxed version, you'd think they could put some thought into organizing their files better than just mashing them all into one directory.

It's not the quality of the ditribution

[NicolaiBSD]

RedHat's success with businesses is not that their distribution is better than others; - although it's a fine distribution tailored for businesses - it's that they give manager's what they want - support contracts, courses and certificates for employees etc.
Businesses don't like to take risks, they want to see a shiny reliable company selling them a reliable product, instead of "some freeware distribution written by no good hippies in their spare time". RedHat gives them the comfort of that illusion.

hmm

[HeUnique]

There are few details that I don't see being resolved yet..

All those companies mentioned don't give free ISO's just like RedHat (and Debian for that matter, as well as Mandrake) which kind of makes sense - a customer who downloads and uses the downloaded ISO's is one less customer who would like to pay for the distribution (not all of them - but most of them)..

I can understand RedHat point - they don't give a shit about people using Linux on the desktop - their eyes are focused only on the enterprise - thats why you won't see RedHat Advanced server available for free download, and you'll need to pay $800 for it (with the bare 30 days support - installation support) so how they're going to compete with RedHat??

This reminds me the LPI exams (which everyone but RedHat stands behind it) VS. RHCE training/exam - how many people here passed the LPI? how many passed the RHCE? somehow I got the feeling that RHCE is WAY more preffered then LPI..

Re:hmm

[Ed Avis]

It's curious that this announcement comes from the three most closed and proprietary (relatively speaking) Linux vendors. Caldera has always been a semi-proprietary distribution, with per-seat licensing and other unpleasantness, and both SuSE and TurboLinux keep some of their own software (such as SuSE's YaST installer) non-free. Say what you like about Red Hat, at least they release all of their code as free software (AFAIK). Yes of course the companies need to make money blah blah blah, I just think it is odd that it should be these three all coming together.

Conectiva appears to be the odd one out; they're a fully free distribution as far as I know.

It's possible that this deal will mean the end of SuSE's and Caldera's and TurboLinux's proprietary installers, since none of the four companies will want the others to get control over the distribution.

Debian perfect as a standard.

[reaper20]

Linux Magazine has an article on why Debian would fill in a good role as 'arbitrator' amongst the distributions and why HP chose to use Debian as their standard distro.

A distro free from vendor squabbling and influence, that's exactly what the Linux 'standard' should be. Now all we need to do is get some LSB action going.

Why are they bothering to come up with a single uber-distro when Debian provides a solid foundation for this kind of work? If I were a Linux distributor, and was starting to realize that I can make money selling services and a name, why would I waste all this money making up yet another installer - hell, I'd hire 10 guys, slap a commercial release on top of Debian every 6 months, and let the community do the heavy lifting - all the while earning open source karma for supporting Debian.

Needed, but Redhat still meets more business needs

[mgkimsal2]

I read about this last night, and had mixed feelings. It's certainly overdue in the market - there definitely needs to be simpler 'cross-distribution' compatibility for installing packages. Yes compiling from source is generally compatible, but not everyone wants to do that, nor should they have to. It's a waste of someone's time to do that in many cases.

I think it may be too little, too late, however. This should have been done over a year ago, and there still seems to be too little information on the specifics of the deal(s). Figure it'll take *months* before this has any impact on the installed base out there, it'll be a miracle if this actually 'saves' any of these distros from further marginalization.

Someone else mentioned Redhat feeds into an 'illusion' that businesses want - 'shiny support', etc. It's no illusion. It may cost money, but damn it - if someone in a business needs support for something (driver doesn't work, upgrade broke, whatever) having a *real person* to call who's been trained on that particular distro is invaluable. Yes, it may cost $200. Yes, you 1337 geeks out there could hang around in IRC for a few hours waiting to get an answer. *Businesses* can't afford to do that. Furthermore, they shouldn't have to put up with those channels of support (not reliable enough - quality of support is hit and miss, and they can't afford to wait for the 'hit' all the time). Whether or not they ever need it ('linux is so stable!') the fact that it's there is more than comfort enough to persuade people to go the Redhat route.

Furthermore, the Redhat certification and training and all the other secondary services simply help to bolster their lead in the mindshare of the business market. Maybe it's just that they had more cash to play with after their IPO - if so, they've put it to good use.

LSB is the real key issue

[dpilot]

Something needs to be done, because the Linux community is allowing itself to get slipped into the Microsoft mindset. With the LSB in place, there should be none of this business of "targetting a distribution" or other Microsoft-like lock-in nonsense.

1: The LSB needs to be in place.
2: All major distributions need to adhere to it, and the minor ones should too, for that matter.
3: Education is key, that LSB-compliance is the real crux of the matter, not some specific distribution.
4: Packaged software should state its requirements relative to the LSB. LSB+foolib+barlib, etc. Some distributions may choose to distinguish themselves by including foolib and/or barlib out of the box. The ISV should also have copies/pointers for foolib and barlib on their web site.
5: Distributions are good. More are better, as long as LSB can solve the interoperability and installation problems.

I'm disappointed to see LSB mentioned only once as of my writing this post.

Re:To be honest...

[say]

" Is RedHat really such a good distro for corporate needs, or is it merely that it has a big name so everyone buys it? I always think of RedHat as the distro that's been around forever, even though no one seems to use it (here come the RedHat users to set me straight...) Guess I've been talking to the wrong people."

Well, most die-hard linux hackers do not say they use RedHat (Notable exception: Linus Torvalds). Most have used RedHat, though. Why don't they admit it? Because there is not very much to hack on RedHat. Red Hat's strength is that the stuff they throw in actually works. More or less out of the box.

However, I don't use RedHat today. I used RedHat up to 6.2. Then I started looking at other distributions. At that time, I did not know much about how GNU/Linux _really_ works. I never made my own startup scripts. I did'nt compile programs. Heck, I didn't know where my libraries were or how I inserted a kernel module from the command line!

I started testing different distros. Mandrake. TurboLinux. SuSE. Many others. I tried at least seven or eight distros before I met Slackware. At first, the entire Slackware system seemed awkward. But after a while, I experienced a lot and learnt even more.

Now, I'm most productive on Slackware. Because I know the system so well that doing stuff from scratch is _easier_ and _faster_ than using tools like rpm and linuxconf. (overall, of course, some things are still faster with linuxconf).

RedHat is a distro for those that want a GNU/Linux that works - not for those that want to get a GNU/Linux to work. It is a good distro, but not what I want from a GNU/Linux system.

As a last addition: It is not a funny OS either. Mandrake is. Cute little penguins and round, purple install buttons. Colors and fun. RedHat is grey and red. Only a few, boring games. A corporate-type webpage. RedHat has lost the childishness of linux jokes and internal humour. It has grown up.

Grown-ups are easy to communicate with - but children are much more fun and can be adjusted and tweaked more easily.

Re:Red Hat's dominance in the industry

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree. There seems to be some creepy groupthink going on around here.

capitalism = evil
profitablity = evil
success = evil
North American = evil

therefore...
Red Hat = evil

The fact of the matter is that Red Hat said, early on in this game, that Free software can be the basis for a legitimate business model. With the exception of some technical issues (LSB, gcc, blah, blah, blah), they've put their money where their mouths are. And, they haven't wavered from the "Free" part, either. In addition, they haven't shut the door on free ISOs like SuSE has ("live evalution" CD, anyone?), they don't panhandle like Mandrake (incidentally, I use Mandrake on a couple of boxes but I find their "business model" quite disconcerting -- I'd never recommend them for use in a business environment), and Red Hat isn't proprietary like Caldera, Turbo, or even (please correct me if I'm wrong) SuSE. All they've asked (although it was handled a bit heavy handed, if you ask me) is that businesses redistributing Red Hat disks make it clear that downloaded ISOs are not Red Hat supported. That doesn't seem too much to ask.

Finally, ask yourself this question: If it were SuSE or Mandrake that was the dominant distro, what would be your reaction? If you'd feel the same as you do about Red Hat's dominance, then we're fighting a losing battle. It's unreasonable, counterproductive, and just plain idiotic to punish / censure /sanction those who've succeeded in distributing, promoting, and profiting from Linux.