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Red Hat, IBM Expand Linux Deal

jukal writes "From ZDNet "Red Hat and IBM have expanded a partnership, with Red Hat bringing its top-end version of Linux to all four of IBM's server lines and with IBM's services and software divisions supporting Red Hat's software. "" The NYTimes also has a version of the story, as does the News-Observer.

140 comments

  1. calendar software on linux by raffe · · Score: 1

    [...]Lotus e-mail and calendar software works on Advanced Server[...]This is a very good thing!!

    1. Re:calendar software on linux by Wesley+Felter · · Score: 2

      Hasn't the Notes/Domino server supported Linux for a long time? The problem seems to be that (1) there's no Notes client for Linx, or (2) a lot of people just don't want to use the Notes client.

  2. Quite pleased! by Jeppe+Salvesen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am quite pleased. As more and more open source project become so mature they can be run in a large corporation, the need to run on big iron emerges. This is the kind of deal that will enable Linux to nicely scale further into the corporate everyday life.

    --

    Stop the brainwash

    1. Re:Quite pleased! by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      As more and more open source project become so mature they can be run in a large corporation, the need to run on big iron emerges.

      Advanced Server isn't open source. This deal marks Red Hat's continued transition away from the open source business model.

    2. Re:Quite pleased! by greenrd · · Score: 2
      Advanced Server isn't open source? I thought that Red Hat just weren't offering it for free download. That doesn't mean it's not all open source.

    3. Re:Quite pleased! by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      It contains a bunch of proprietary modules.

    4. Re:Quite pleased! by johnnyb · · Score: 2

      Advanced Server isn't open source. This deal marks Red Hat's continued transition away from the open source business model.

      ***

      Yes it is. I don't see what's so hard about this for people. They just don't provide it freely on their web servers, and most people who have forked out the $800 don't want to just give it away either.

    5. Re:Quite pleased! by johnnyb · · Score: 2

      It contains a bunch of proprietary modules.

      ***

      Like what?

    6. Re:Quite pleased! by Mathetes · · Score: 1

      Pure anti-Red Hat FUD!

      What part of these SRPMS aren't Open Source?

      ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise /2 .1AS/en/os/i386/SRPMS/

      If you read here , most of RHAS is Open Source...and everything Red Hat wrote is GPL'ed.

    7. Re:Quite pleased! by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      The operative word being "most," brother. As your link says, The majority of it is open source. If it has non-open components, then it's neither free software nor open source, even though parts of it are.

    8. Re:Quite pleased! by johnnyb · · Score: 2

      But _none_ of the non-open-source parts are written by RedHat. What this means is simply that Red Hat is an open-source company, but has customers who use non-open-source tools and thus must integrate with those people (i.e. - install those connection libraries, etc.). Almost all distributions do this already, anyway. Did you complain when distros were including Netscape before Mozilla came along?

    9. Re:Quite pleased! by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      Whether the whole thing is written by Red Hat or not is not at issue. The fact is it's not an open source product; it's a product with open source portions.

      As for "complaining," I'm not complaining at all -- I'm pointing out a fact. If anything it's good news for Red Hat, since they've been unprofitable trying to sell what anyone can give away for free. Their new business model may give them hope for a future.

    10. Re:Quite pleased! by johnnyb · · Score: 2

      The fact is it's not an open source product; it's a product with open source portions.

      ***

      Most of which are open-source. If something is 99% open-source and 1% not, I don't call it a product with "open source portions". I call it an open-source product that has a minor set of proprietary portions. To say it only has open source portions is quite misleading - especially since all parts that make it "Red Hat" are open-source.

    11. Re:Quite pleased! by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      Send me eight hundred dollars and I'll tell you. I'm just going on what Red Hat says. Because it's not available for download and the specs online are vague, it's hard to say what is open source in it and what isn't. It's also hard to say whether the non-open-source modules are optional extensions or provide core functionality.

    12. Re:Quite pleased! by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      I will concede the issue that a product might still deserve the label open source even if it contains non-open-source components under certain circumstances. The presence of Netscape 4.x in Red Hat distributions is a good example.

      I think the issue of whether such a product deserves to be called open source or not has nothing to do with who wrote the modules, and not a lot to do with whether the majority of code is open source. I think the questions are whether the non-open parts provide core or optional functionality, and how much they have to do with customer interest in the product.

      Unfortunately, without a list of the modules in Advanced Server and their licenses, it's not possible for anyone who doesn't own the product to determine whether the non-open modules are core or optional, or whether they provide major differentiating features.

    13. Re:Quite pleased! by johnnyb · · Score: 2

      Although I don't own the product, I _believe_ the major differentiating features are:

      1) long-term RedHat support (rather than the "every-6-month-release of regular RedHat)

      2) Asynchronous I/O as a supported part of the kernel

      3) Clustering as a supported part of the kernel

      4) Patches to the kernel to provide extra scalability

      And all of these are open-source (except #1, which is a business model). There could be other things, but I think these are the biggies.

  3. Arf... by Lolaine · · Score: 1

    Id love to run linux on these IBM Monsters ...

    as someone said,I dont trust a computer that I can lift ... and now it can run linux! ... perfect!!!

    --
    ------- The last Sig. got fired.
    1. Re:Arf... by kuiken · · Score: 1

      http://www.suse.com/us/business/products/sles/sles _s390/index.html

      You can for a while now

      --

      42
  4. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    bull... Red Hat is NOT the Microsoft of the Linux world, and it is this divisive, self-defeatist attitude that only serves to besmirch all Linux users...

    Red Hat gives a lot back to the Linux community, bonehead...

    why aren't you criticizing SuSE for not distributing free .iso images, or other distributors who don't release source?

  5. Neat and everything, but by forged · · Score: 1
    Will this deal mean that in the process, RH will produce a better version of their distribution for PC's, which still represent the bulk of their earnings?

    I guess I could rephrase the question into what's in it for me?

    1. Re:Neat and everything, but by autocracy · · Score: 4, Informative

      RedHat produces several variations of its Linux distribution. You're most likely familiar with the one priced at $30 you can download basically free. The cost of some editions, however, reaches $2500. The version IBM is using retails for $800 I think (could be more). See it yourself at http://www.redhat.com/apps/commerce/software.html

      --
      SIG: HUP
    2. Re:Neat and everything, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Jon Katz hasn't posted an article since July. Think we can do the same to Michael?"

      I vote for chrisd

    3. Re:Neat and everything, but by Amiga+Trombone · · Score: 1

      I guess I could rephrase the question into what's in it for me?

      I don't know if there's anything in it for PC users, but there may be something in it for Mac users. Both the AS/400 and RS/6000 lines are based on the Power and PowerPC chips. So presumably, they'll be marketing a version of PPC Linux. If they're going to support the IBM PPC machines, I don't imagine it would be that much more of an effort to support Macs as well. We shall see.

  6. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dear Troll,

    I help the community by writing free software. If this issue is important for you, perhaps you could help the community by providing packages in your favorite format? You pay me nothing, so please don't ask for anything in return.

    Sincerely,
    The Anti-Troll

  7. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why don't these companies ever partner with Debian? As much as people try to deny it, Red Hat is the Microsoft of the Linux world.

    I think not

  8. Redhat, MS of Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, right...Somehow, I don't see them running on closed software to begin with, among other "Non-*nix" like proprietary stuff just thought of and trying to be different, when it actually hurts. Basically, an open system based of Unix(Minix) is nothing like MS. I might understand what you're saying, but don't compare the two, it's oranges and apples my friend. :)
    (Typing this on Win2K, lol!)

    -NS

  9. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    "Red Hat is the Microsoft of the Linux world..."
    Close eyes, hands ovr ears, open mouth, insert splif"

  10. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    trying to partner with Debian would be like Onanism with both hands tied behind your back - the sound of one hand of Linux clapping in the forest - how could a company *ever* get a consensus on features, updates, etc.?

    mind you, this is not a criticism of Debian - it's a feature - thank heavens Debian will be around long after Linux goes mainstream, and other Linux vendors abandon free distros (what most people seem to want are pre-built .iso images, and not just an FTP directory of software packages for a net install)

  11. Where is Jon Katz!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I miss Jon Katz, damn it! I never had the patience to read his lengthy drivels of prose, but the resultant comments that invariably ensued gave me hours of entertainment at work (plus he was a welcome target for my own rants).

    Slashdot editors, please give us an explanation of what happened to Katz.

  12. Re:Red Hat? by tanveer1979 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    "Red Hat is the Microsoft of the Linux world."

    Shouldnt we stop it. Just because somebody is successful, we cannot make it M$ of linux world. Ask yourself this

    • Does Redhat violate GPL
    • Do they refuse to divulge source code
    • Do they steal code and then commercialize it?
    Agreed RPMS are common but whats wrong. People who want tar gz always get it, its all there. Just because something makes things for lesser mortals easier does not mean that it is EVIL. User freindly does not EQUATE with evil , neither does sucess, the sooner people learn it the better
    --
    My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
    FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
  13. RedHat is the best by qurob · · Score: 1

    They might not be the fastest, the most secure, , but they have the best chance (to me) of being successful.

    Many of the other Linux companies seem like garage-based outfits, and some of them are. Not to leave the little guy out, but personally I think RedHat has the best shot out of any Linux vendor. Besides, it's probably worse to have 5-6 distributions duking it out with each other.

    1. Re:RedHat is the best by RayChuang · · Score: 2

      RedHat has pretty much become the de facto standard for Linux because of the fact this is pretty much the standard Linux distro found on many desktop computers. After all, a lot of Dell server racks run RH Linux nowadays.

      It'll be interesting to see what Red Hat Linux will be like when the 2.6.x kernel appears.

      --
      Raymond in Mountain View, CA
    2. Re:RedHat is the best by kasperd · · Score: 2

      It'll be interesting to see what Red Hat Linux will be like when the 2.6.x kernel appears.

      I guess Red Hat Linux 9.0 will be their first release with a 2.6 kernel.

      --

      Do you care about the security of your wireless mouse?
  14. .DEBs are broken by Jeppe+Salvesen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    .DEBs lack integrity checks - that means that the contents are not public/private encrypted. .RPMs have this ability. That is a very important ability in an internet setting.

    That said, .RPMs have their troubles, too.

    --

    Stop the brainwash

    1. Re:.DEBs are broken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      apt-get install debsigs
      apt-get install debsig-verify

  15. Re:Red Hat? by larien · · Score: 2

    Er, hasn't HP chosen Debian? I can't find any recent links, but I'm pretty sure I heard something about that...

  16. Sorry offtopic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    quote from the zdnet article
    The multiyear deal, which will be announced on Monday, boosts Red Hat's Advanced Server version, which comes with higher-end features than Red Hat's other versions of Linux. Red Hat, the top seller of the Linux operating system, has already signed deals under which IBM rivals Hewlett-Packard and Dell back Advanced Server.

    Those are the 2 longest sentences I've ever seen outside of Slashdot. And I'm not entirely sure the second one makes sense.

    1. Re:Sorry offtopic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shit I just read the News-Observer article.
      Unveiled the day before software company Red Hat is scheduled to announce its second-quarter earnings to Wall Street, the agreement takes steps to address what has become a troubling issue for the 8-year-old company: how to make money on the Linux operating system -- a rival to higher-priced software like that sold by Microsoft -- when it's essentially available free over the Internet.

      That is now officially the longest sentence I've ever read. He even got the double hypens -- and the colon : in there. With all you people whining about spelling it's amazing nobody says anything about the run on sentences.

  17. Yeah, you're 1337 now by netphilter · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well, considering that I use Redhat Linux almost exclusively, it's not hard to discern what my opinion might be. The reality is, this claim is so far offbase that it's ridiculous. Most of the people making this claim are elitist goons who probably don't use Linux anyway, they just read on some newsgroup that it makes you sound 1337 to bash Redhat and so that's what they do. The only thing that makes Redhat any different from any other distribution is market share. People claiming that Redhat is the Microsoft of the Linux world are arguing against capitalism. These people would bash any company that was successful. Redhat remains open source, and contributes a great deal to open source software and to the community at large. This is VASTLY different from the proprietary software development model employed by Microsoft. I get really sick of elitist Linux users trying to put down everything successful, user-friendly, or even remotely easy to use. It's these people that will prevent Linux from every truly becoming successful on the desktop. Too many people hear these goons claiming how hard Linux is to use, and how you have to be a genius to even install Linux. They do this simply to puff themselves up and try to gain some semblence of self-esteem. Sorry guys, Linux really isn't that hard to install OR use. You don't have to be a hard-core computer geek use Linux for all of your normal computing tasks. This is a figment of your wannabe-1337, s'kiddie imagination.

    --
    "Herbivores eat well cause their food never, ever runs."
    1. Re:Yeah, you're 1337 now by blixel · · Score: 2

      Most of the people making this claim are elitist goons who probably don't use Linux anyway, they just read on some newsgroup that it makes you sound 1337 to bash Redhat and so that's what they do.

      Isn't that why Slashdoters bash Windows? Because it makes them sound 1337?

  18. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok i'm in a wierd mood today but here's my response...

    Blah, Blah Blah, Blah!

    Stupid dog! You made me look bad! Oggglabooglagoogla!

  19. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From memory I recall HP announced that they would run Debian on their internal network, but offer Red Hat as the linux distro with their server.

  20. Hats off to IBM. by caluml · · Score: 1

    I think I'll be buying their Intel servers in place of Compaq in future.

    Speak with your wallets, people.

  21. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and other Linux vendors abandon free distros

    I don't know about you, but I'd glady pay $99 or $199 for a Linux Distro if it were as good as Mac OS X and had a set of programs like the Mac i-programs.

  22. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just because something makes things for lesser mortals easier

    Typical Linux elitist arrogance... you just couldn't let it go could you?

    Guess what dork. The fact that you know more about Linux than I do (at least you think you do) doesn't make me a "lesser mortal".

    And YES.. that IS what you said. But I suspect you will just blow me off by saying some typical arrogant elitist Linux comment like "You just don't get it."

  23. the trickle effect of anti-trust? by cenonce · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Is this the trickle effect of anti-trust?

    Seems to me I've seen a bunch of articles on companies opting away from MS products. Dell offer Linux, IBM offering Linux, Dell (and other companies?) offering Word Perfect instead of some variation of Office.

    In my opinion, this looks like the start of a stance by companies against MS. Time more than ever for ALL Linux distros to be more user friendly. Don't get more wrong, I think Linux is a great thing, but I still use OS X because I get a stable OS, PLUS the ability to futz with *nix.

    The Linux "collective" needs to start making Linux less configurable (yes I said LESS) for the average user. The average user just doesn't care about all the configurability of Linux... heck, I'm a slightly above average user and I don't care!!! When the learning curve is less steep for Linux, or when somebody offers a distro (Lycoris?) that has less of a learning curve (a sort of Linux Home edition), then Linux will make some major inroads into the home.

    That would be great to see... because everybody should have access to the world of computers and everybody shouldn't have to buy a new one ever 2 years to keep up with the low quality stuff MS puts out.

    -A
    1. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by mrjohnson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > The Linux "collective" needs to start making Linux less configurable (yes I said LESS) for the average user. The average user just doesn't care about all the configurability of Linux... heck, I'm a slightly above average user and I don't care!!! When the learning curve is less steep for Linux, or when somebody offers a distro (Lycoris?) that has less of a learning curve (a sort of Linux Home edition), then Linux will make some major inroads into the home.

      Hell no! :-)

      Let me tell you, there's an older lady at my company who'll be retiring in a couple of days. I once mentioned Linux while I was working on her computer and she bubbled right up. Seems that she once used KDE at another company... and loved it.

      Now, she doesn't know the first thing about her computer. She's one of those users that needs help to install a comet cursor, but she did love Linux because she could change everything about it. (She happens to be quite fond of changing themes and backgrounds.)

    2. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by cenonce · · Score: 1

      The problem is that your example is purely anecdotal. The majority of people don't even need near the customizability that Linux offers, which is why everybody pays for MS's garbage.

      Second, the fact that this "older lady" likes to customize desktops and backgrounds in KDE does not mean that she can handle an installation in Linux. You can customize backgrounds and desktops in Winders and the installs are point and click.

      Without an O'Reilly book and some gumption, I can't get Linux to install right all the time, even in a nice distro format like Yellow Dog! One wrong click and I have to start all over! And not to mention that somtimes, nice features such as the GUI login just stop working (which is where I am at right now with it!)

      To me, that will always be the big problem with Linux: the techies don't want to take ANY option away from the average user, so they make Linux usable only to the technically inclined.

      I liken it to my insistence on constantly showing my Mom options on MacOS, constantly giving her the "more configurrable" set-up... all I got was phone call after phone call to get help! I don't do that anymore... I just install it, set-up the minimum and let her go. Now, she's got OS X and I have Mail, Word and IE on her dock and that's it! She has one big partition, no swap space or Users paritions, harddrive and other icons are hidden on the desktop, I tell her to save everything in Home so she doesn't lose it and everything works just fine.

      Linux won't ever do that, and that's why I sadly think it will never get to the average user machine.


      -A
    3. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by bsharitt · · Score: 1

      Without an O'Reilly book and some gumption, I can't get Linux to install right all the time, even in a nice distro format like Yellow Dog!

      How sad :)

    4. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by mrjohnson · · Score: 1

      "The problem is that your example is purely anecdotal."

      I don't have access to a large pool of users to survey. :-)

      "Without an O'Reilly book and some gumption, I can't get Linux to install right all the time, even in a nice distro format like Yellow Dog! One wrong click and I have to start all over! And not to mention that somtimes, nice features such as the GUI login just stop working (which is where I am at right now with it!)"

      Like the other poster said, that's just sad. I'm sorry, but how do you get through any installs?

      Look, I was talking about a corporate user, one of those fabled "enterprise" desktops we hear so much about. She would never have to ever install... anything. Her drive would be one big partition, the OS something dd'ed from a generic install box. Because you can't get through a Linux install only means I'd never hire you, not that Linux can't be a success on the coporate desktop. :-)

      My users have all been trained to find things on their desktop. (In fact, if a program's not there, they call the helpdesk guy to "install" it...) All I do is get their software together and put a link on the desktop.

      But to get back to the point, configurability is important to me so I can customise everything on the box for my users. On the desktop, configurability is important for the all-so-important, breathless call "I don't like how X works!"

    5. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, I'm sorry, it isn't the job of software authors to reduce the configurability of their programs. It's the job of distribution authors. What software authors should do is make everything as configurable and flexible as possible, so that the distribution authors can then easily mould programs into distro-specific, integrated, easy-to-use configurations. Only the craziest of us fetch all the software we need from the huge archives of open-source software out on the open 'net; most let someone else do the job and use a distro.

    6. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by cenonce · · Score: 1

      I perhaps overstate my ineptitude, but you would be smart in never hiring me to do an install! :) Yellow Dog installs just fine, but there are numerous spots that can be hang-ups and makes Linux unusable for the average person.

      For example, if I partition the drive wrong, then have to restart, I can't use that partition... that info was hidden in the little "pamphlet" I got with the distro. And had I downloaded it, I might have never seen that issue.

      If I mistakenly say NO to whether I have OS X also on the drive, it never comes up as an option to boot into X during the bootloader. Now, I'm sure there is a way to re-configure it, but again, this goes back to the average home user: they don't want to be traipsing around the command line trying to figure out the odd-language of the shell AND they don't have you or another support person to fix it. That leads to frustration and that leads to Linux being know as a "Geek OS". I agree with you about corporate users, but they have you and other Support people to help them through.

      Now, we get into using the OS. Right now, the GUI interface I installed in the YDL distro no longer works. All I get is the machine constantly flashing the text loging inteface, but I can't login because it keeps "resetting". I've fsck'ed it and all that, but it still doesn't work and I have no idea how to fix it. I booted from the rescue CD, but that only gets me to the command line. I don't know what to run, or what to edit. So I'll spend a few hours trying to figure it out, because I am interested in learning more about Linux. I'll post on the YDL forums and wait for some help, but the average user won't. Most of my friends, my girlfriend, my Mom... they just want to install it and have it work. No troubleshooting, no waiting, just work... even if it is a crappy OS like Windows! And I can't blame them... they aren't remotely geeky (yeah, I guess like you and me!) :)

      To tie this into a point (I hope!), that is where the configurability of Linux, to me, it is a disadvantage and why you get a lot of breathless calls saying "I don't know how X works". With Windows, you get "my machine crashed, please fix it". So it is a choice between thousands of little calls or dozens of big calls.

      I don't know which is better, but being able to blame somebody (i.e., Microsoft) may be what people are willing to pay for.
      -A
    7. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by jeremy_hogan · · Score: 1

      >>>does not mean that she can handle an installation in Linux
      She'd probably lose her mind in a Windows install then ;-)

      Most folks have never installed Windows. It came on the PC. This is a perception issue that we need to overcome, one phase is making the install more user friendly, another would be to lean on your favorite IHV to pre-load.

    8. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by byran+lei · · Score: 0

      >Without an O'Reilly book and some gumption, I can't get Linux to
      >install right all the time, even in a nice distro format like Yellow
      >Dog! One wrong click and I have to start all over! And not to mention
      >that somtimes, nice features such as the GUI login just stop working
      >(which is where I am at right now with it!)
      >
      >
      Just because you're an Mac-using idiot doesn't mean everyone else in the world is. Get a life fool.

    9. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      >How sad :)

      Well, that about was just about perfect!

      Pithy, yet still juvenile sarcasm and condescension, punctuated with a trite-fully geeky emoticon, all with a total absence of any positive contribution.

      Pick up the phone, it's Bill Gates. His company is thinking about putting out their own distro of Linux and he wants to know if you'll come on board as head of customer service.

      Linux R00lz, d00d!!!!!!!!

      Seriously, so much for the once legendary community of enthusiastic help and cooperation Linux newbies could expect online. Or maybe it's still out there, just no longer to be found on dear ol' jaded-and-now-morphing-into-something-else SlashDot.

    10. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by boskone · · Score: 1

      IBM has been biding their time and not too happily about the whole Windows thing. MS is a HUGE threat and has cost IBM many fortunes through reduced sales of midrange and mainframe products and by taking a cut out of IBM for PC hardware and for killing IBM's own x86 OS. Not to mention that they compete on almost all layered applications (databases, development apps, etc). So I am sure that IBM would LOVE to free themselves more from MS and stop feeding their competitor. The reality is that they need to maintain a good relationship for now, but I bet IBM would drop MS in a heartbeat if they really could.

    11. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by mrjohnson · · Score: 1

      "I perhaps overstate my ineptitude, but you would be smart in never hiring me to do an install! :) Yellow Dog installs just fine, but there are numerous spots that can be hang-ups and makes Linux unusable for the average person."

      No arguement here. And your point about custom options causes some of this mess. But that's why you have uber geeks like me fix it for the users. What blissful nirvana their lives must be. :-)

      "All I get is the machine constantly flashing the text loging inteface, but I can't login because it keeps "resetting". I've fsck'ed it and all that, but it still doesn't work and I have no idea how to fix it."

      Well, this isn't usually a forum for tech support, but I'd be glad to help if I can. X is failing to start, so you are going to need to login as root (the flashing will stop after a couple of tries to start X).

      If you execute `tail /var/log/XFree86.0.log` it'll most likely tell you why it can't start. Probably a video card or font problem. If it says something like "Can't find fixed font," then try `/etc/init.d/xfs start`.

      You may think this is horrible that you have to do this to fix your box, but I've seen the Windows safe mode more times than I care to recall. :-) It's a nice point-and-click interface that's supposed to help you fix things, but it usually fails to do anything powerful enough to be very useful.

      I do have an OS X iBook. After trying to get Debian installed, and failing (funny enough) because there's no XFree driver for my radeon mobility card, I actually had to boot into OS 9's install disk to repartition the drive. Had it been a Linux box it would have been nothing to drop to a terminal and fix things for myself... OS X just died during that process.... But it did look good sitting there doing nothing. :-)

      Anyway, my point: the terminal and configurability may scare users but it's still important...

    12. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 2
      The Linux "collective" needs to start making Linux less configurable (yes I said LESS) for the average user. The average user just doesn't care about all the configurability of Linux... heck, I'm a slightly above average user and I don't care!!! When the learning curve is less steep for Linux, or when somebody offers a distro (Lycoris?) that has less of a learning curve (a sort of Linux Home edition), then Linux will make some major inroads into the home.

      A few points.

      a) There is no Linux "collective". There are distros, there are projects. Some are making things more configurable, some less.

      b) There is indeed a recognition that too many prefs make bad GUIs (which is what you're actually referring to I think). For instance, GNOME2 has far simpler configuration and in some cases fewer features than GNOME 1.4 - this was painful for some but deliberate. Often, you can access prefs via the GConf system anyway like in the Windows registry if you must change settings that don't have GUIs.

      c) There are lots of reasons Linux has yet to make big inroads onto the desktop. Too much configurability is only a very minor one when compared to the just general lack of polish it has. For instance, it's too hard to install software often.

      Finally, although it's a common truism that Joe User does not want complexity or configurability, my own experience with non-geeks are that they often love the higher flexibility of Linux. "You can have multiple user interfaces, cool!", "You can change the window borders - sweet!", "You can make an auto updated web cam link on your desktop - amazing!". Yes, of course there are some people who cannot stand choice, probably because they are not used to it, but many many others like it. What can you do?

    13. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by cenonce · · Score: 1

      Yes, I realize now that it really is the responsibility of the distro to make it more or less configurable, more or less difficult to install. As an aside, I believe that may be a problem for Linux. I don't think the average user understands that Linux is the underlying "kernel" driving KDE or Gnome or whatever, that Linux is the underlying kernel in a RH, SuSe or Yellow Dog distro. Thus, Linux is interoperable no matter what platform you are on. People are accustomed to Microsoft: one company for the distro and nothing else generally works very well with it. Of course, that is anti-trust as we have finally seen! :)

      I think I am referring to too many prefs in the GUIs, but that is where 99% of the home market wants to do their configuration. Very few of those users want to go back to the DOS command line days. Heck, my girlfriend tells me that Windows had been out a few years before she could actually LEAVE DOS, but now she would never want to go back to all that command line and function key stuff. While I'm more inclined to peer into the command line, I'd rather configure with a GUI.

      Lack of polish is a problem. If you followed my post with my locked-up GUI, the solution was simply plugging my mouse back into my laptop. That's the kind of stuff that infuriates the average user and keeps them away from Linux. While I appreciate that the way a distro essentially makes money is by making you pay for support, it seems that a little ridiculous to have to call tech support for every little hiccup. Maybe I'll feel differently when I have a better handle on Linux, but right now, I truly am a Linux newbie.

      I think where MacOS and, yeah, even Windows, has Linux beat is in stability of install and ease of configuration. Linux definiately wins on being able to tear the entire system apart to find a problem and make however you want. But then again, as I mentioned, that is why I think, for now, the best of both worlds is OS X.


      -A
    14. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 2
      I don't think the average user understands that Linux is the underlying "kernel" driving KDE or Gnome or whatever, that Linux is the underlying kernel in a RH, SuSe or Yellow Dog distro. Thus, Linux is interoperable no matter what platform you are on.

      Tru dat. But Linux is largely interoperable between distros. As much as cars are interoperable with each other, for instance.

      I think I am referring to too many prefs in the GUIs, but that is where 99% of the home market wants to do their configuration.

      Ah, I think perhaps you misunderstand. It's better to have prefs stored in some kind of database (text files in /etc, gconf registry) as then GUIs can be layered over them. If you use OS X you must know how many small utilities there are that simply adjust settings that Apple (deliberately) do not provide GUIs for - primarily reducing graphics overhead so it can run on lower spec machines. There are lots of TweakUI style programs around, that are basically just front ends to registry keys.

      Heck, my girlfriend tells me that Windows had been out a few years before she could actually LEAVE DOS, but now she would never want to go back to all that command line and function key stuff.

      That is not evidence that the GUI is superior to the command line. Considering that DOS had no support even for basic command line stuff like tab completion, I'm not surprised she doesn't want to go back. Yet here we are, most Linux users are of course ex-Windows users, but the cli is still a very popular interface. Why? Because the Linux CLI doesn't suck.

      She's also probably confusing the fact that most DOS programs were text based, rather than GUI based. So to her, DOS doesn't mean "cd", "dir" etc, it means text mode word processors. It works quite well on Linux, really. And no, it's not the same as in OS X, which doesn't really provide much power via the command line, it inherited one from unix but never really made it a central feature.

      Lack of polish is a problem. If you followed my post with my locked-up GUI, the solution was simply plugging my mouse back into my laptop. That's the kind of stuff that infuriates the average user and keeps them away from Linux.

      I didn't see that post, but I've seen enough to know that you consider Yellow Dog to be an easy to use Linux distro. Sorry, but Mac support for Linux has never been a high priority for the dev teams, and using on a Mac is a second rate experience compared to an Intel PC. The reasons for this should be pretty clear, PCs are open, Macs are not, and PCs are vastly more popular, so they get priority. I dunno what caused that mouse problem, but I've never heard of anything like that on the PC. Even the PPC versions of mainstream distros (of which YellowDog is not one) are usually harder to setup and are buggier than the PC ones. It should be noted that installing SuSE 8 is easier than installing Windows (98). It detects all my hardware and installs the drivers for it perfectly, and it installs and configures all my software. It'll even resize partitions and auto-detect networks. Setting up Windows with all the drivers and apps takes a day. Linux takes a few hours. Installation is no longer a problem mate. I suggest you find a modern PC and try the latest Intel distros (suse ppc is not the same btw).

      While I appreciate that the way a distro essentially makes money is by making you pay for support, it seems that a little ridiculous to have to call tech support for every little hiccup. Maybe I'll feel differently when I have a better handle on Linux, but right now, I truly am a Linux newbie.

      Don't worry, we all were once. This is another misconception, that companies like RedHat/SuSE make money out of private individuals phoning up to ask how to install their CD burner. When we say "support" in reference to distros, we mean corporate level support. This isn't for fixing the odd problem, it's for having 24/7 engineers on callout, consulting etc. You might want to check out the #linuxhelp channel on FreeNode IRC. It's where I got all my tech support, didn't have to ring SuSE once.

      Linux definiately wins on being able to tear the entire system apart to find a problem and make however you want. But then again, as I mentioned, that is why I think, for now, the best of both worlds is OS X.

      If you believe that you can tear apart and change OS X in the same way as Linux then you need to think again. Even Windows is vastly more configurable than OS X, you can alter almost any setting, it's themable, it can also have multiple user interfaces (check out talisman). OS X is a dog when it comes to customization, you need to buy 3rd party programs just to turn off graphics effects you don't want by and large.

      Finally, it should be noted that the biggest strength Linux has is of course it's licensing. It's a gift to society, not a mechanism for extracting money from locked-in customers (that applies to apple too). Enough said. Seeing why Linux is the way forward despite appearances takes time, but many do get there, hence the number of people working on improving it.

    15. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by cenonce · · Score: 1

      I appreciate your comments. Excellent points that have made me think differently regarding open source and the differences (and similarities) between it and closed OSes such as MacOS and Windows.

      Also much appreciated the info on the ease of installing and configuring Linux (specif., SuSe) on PC boxes. One of my projects in the upcoming year or two is to build my own PC... and I certainly wasn't planning on putting Windows on it! :)


      -A
    16. Re:the trickle effect of anti-trust? by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 2

      No problem friend, I hope building your own box goes well. It's something of an art, I've done it twice now and although quite good fun, when it doesn't start or whatever your heart tends to skip a beat (unless you're filthy rich of course). Anyway, have fun!

  24. Re:Red Hat? by xlation · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How can Red-Hat Linux or any open-source operating system become the "Microsoft" of anything? Yes, some things only come in an rpm, but that dosen't force you to use RedHat.
    If you are using open source software, you can by definition - get the source. You can even make all the Debian packages you like and provide them to anyone you wish.
    If you choose to use software that isn't open-source, it's not RH's problem if rpm the only package it's released in.

    At worst, RH is the "AOL" of the Linux World... but that really isn't all that bad.

  25. The Upside and Downside of the IBM Deal by hillct · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It has always seemed to me that there is more money to be made in services than RedHat has ever been able to squeeze out of them. Every hardware manufacturer of any significant size derives large percentages of their revenues from their Global Services (enterprise consulting) divisions so why couldn't Redhat manage it? IBM seems to think they can do it bu supporting and integrating the same products redhat was.

    Perhaps the key is that the hardware manufacturers are offering the services as a value added feature of their core products. This raises the question, why did VA Systems abandon Linux based PC hardware in favor of becoming a software shop, and at that, not even one that provides Linux software integration consulting? Well, in the case of VA it was probably due to their content holdings, but again, if the combination of hardware sales and software integration services can work for IBM, why wouldn't it work for Redhat or (in the past) VA? It just seems to me that, while having IBM enter what is esentially a reseller agreement, is not the most lucrative means for generating a revenue stream from Redhat's distribution; although it does have vary low overhead, which is parhaps a key for redhat at this point.

    --CTH

    --

    --Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
    1. Re:The Upside and Downside of the IBM Deal by Khalid · · Score: 2

      RH are already activly involved in the migration to Linux market, hence Amazon, AOL deals, for the most publicized of them. I bet they will extend slowly their offring to the pure development and integration market, like IBM Global Service, HP Service division (don't remember the name) etc.

      This is were the real OS/FS business will be.

    2. Re:The Upside and Downside of the IBM Deal by duffbeer703 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      IBM Global Services does "Best of Breed" consulting. They push whatever will do the job (and get comissions for the salesmen). If you want Sun, IBM will sell you Sun. If you think RS/6000's and DB2 are shit, they'll sell you Windows 2000 and Oracle.

      Red Hat and VA is/was a Linux-focused company. Nobody is interested in having an evangelist/salesman push Linux as a solution to all problems. With the IBM deal, RedHat gets to sell services to a more diversified group of companies.

      Also consider that it is time-consuming and difficult to get on government acquisition contracts. IBM is on all state contracts and most federal agency contracts. So through IBM, RedHat can access the massive gov't IT market without getting on contract!

      --
      Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
    3. Re:The Upside and Downside of the IBM Deal by JohnsonWax · · Score: 2

      Which is why I think that Apple may be trying to get IBM to roll Mac OS X into the mix. For some jobs (content work, mainly) Mac OS X is a very strong candidate, and if Apple and IBM are in fact closing ranks on a new PPC implementation for both parties to use, it makes even more sense.

      In other areas, OS X may be strong as well - such as when you need Office and unix on one box.

    4. Re:The Upside and Downside of the IBM Deal by jmcnamera · · Score: 1

      My experience with IBM Global Services is they say they push "Best of Breed", but then will look to switch everything they possibly can to IBM. We got badly burned by this when they talked management into tossing out a competitor's servers and replaced with IBM ones that had serious problems with their dual-headed NICs.

      One thing, unlike you say, IGS will never sell you Oracle over their own DB2.

      --
      this is not a sig
  26. Re:Enough with the nytimes links anyway by gujo-odori · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your privacy has been invaded? Would you mind explaining how? Did someone crack your server and put a link to the NYT there? Did they spam you with a link to the NYT? Call you up on the phone while you were having dinner or engaging in some other important activity and tell you about it?

    No?

    What's You visited /. and saw the link there?

    Did someone hold a knife or gun on you and force you to visit /.?

    No?

    What? You came there of your own free will and saw the link? OK, I think I'm starting to a get a handle on the situtation? You must own /., and they invaded your privacy by putting the link there.

    No? You're just a visitor?

    Oh.

    Pardon me, but I think I'm having a hard time believing your privacy has been invaded.

  27. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    They are only evil if they make it easier and cover up the underlying information, otherwise people believe the easier way is the truth, when if fact it is just One possible way of doing it.


    \
    People thing Windows is the computer, they don't realize it is just one way of doing it

  28. Re:Red Hat? by rjkimble · · Score: 2
    Red Hat is the Microsoft of the Linux world.

    Right. Red Hat is so evil. That's why Mandrake can base their whole distribution on it -- i.e., clone the Red Hat distribution and then enhance it for their own purposes.

    So who gets to do the same thing with a product from Microsoft?
    --

    Guns don't kill people -- people kill people.
    But the guns seem to help a bit. (apologies to Eddie Izzard)
  29. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People thing Windows is the computer, they don't realize it is just one way of doing it

    right..... because "people" aren't as smart as you?

  30. Debian? by DrunkenPenguin · · Score: 0, Troll

    Debian has clearly pointed out that it will start using HURD kernel in the future. That's why! Linux business has no business in Debian business. At least not in the future. If you wanna support Linux, stay away from Debian. Gentoo is the best distro anyway.

    1. Re:Debian? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      link please?

    2. Re:Debian? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gentoo is the best distro anyway.

      Gentoo sucks. You are dumb. Go take a shower.

    3. Re:Debian? by blixel · · Score: 2

      Debian has clearly pointed out that it will start using Hurd kernel in the future.

      Debian will support the Hurd kernel as well as the Linux kernel. It doesn't imply they are dumping Linux in favor of Hurd.

      This is on their website. Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel. Linux is a completely free piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide.

      However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels, primarily for the Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project.


  31. Re:Red Hat? by Stephen+VanDahm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Red Hat is the Microsoft of the Linux world."

    Yeah, I can kinda see that. Compared to OpenBSD, Debian, or Gentoo, Red Hat seems bloated, bland, and corporate. When using the newer versions of Red Hat, I don't quite know what's installed on my system and I feel alienated from my computer and from my OS -- which is one reason why I don't like running Windows on my machines. I can't explain it, but Red Hat just isn't fun anymore. Lately, when I screw around with computers, I'd rather screw around with Gentoo or BSD.

    But that's where the comparison between Red Hat and Microsoft ends. Sure, Red Hat can act unilaterally and piss lots of people off (GCC 2.96), but they're generally good corporate citizens. They make their ISOs freely available for download, even though they aren't obligated to do so (hell, even OpenBSD refuses to release official ISOs on their FTP site). They don't launch campaigns to embrace-and-extend Debian and Gentoo into existence. They don't charge K-12 schools assloads of money for site licenses and threaten to audit them if they don't pay up.

    Red Hat's freely available, easy-to-use software is what enabled me to learn how to program. I'd always been interested in programming, but didn't know where to start and could never afford Windows compilers. Red Hat 5.0 provided an easy-to-use (by 1998 standards!) introduction to UNIX and Perl which ultimately led me to switch my major to CS. I know Debian is freely available, but try doing an FTP install over the phone line. I've since abandoned Red Hat in favor of Gentoo, but it's my experience with Red Hat that gave me the technical proficiency to install and manage Gentoo and, most importantly, to realize that Gentoo suits my needs better than Red Hat in the first place.

    As much as I disagree with some of the design decisions that Red Hat has made, I think that their distribution is a fine product. I think RPM can be overkill for the casual user, but if you're an admin for a sizeable institution (I'm not, but I used to work for someone who was), and you've got Linux boxes scattered all over the place, Red Hat's package management is a good way to keep things syncronized. If I ever end up as a sysadmin in a similar situation, I'd very likely deploy Red Hat, just as they did.

    Red Hat isn't perfect and it's totally legitimate to blame them when they do something that you think is dumb. But they aren't nearly as bad as Microsoft.

    Steve

  32. to be picky... by gdoliner · · Score: 1

    thats the "News and Observer", the Raleigh, NC newspaper. whose url is "news-observer.com" Its no wonder Red Hat and IBM are collaborating this way, with their home offices "just down 40" from eachother.

    1. Re:to be picky... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While IBM's largest site is in RTP, NC, its headquarters is in Armonk, NY.

  33. IBM and Lexmark by oddbudman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Lexmark is a somewhat owned by IBM. I still can't get my printer to go under Gentoo as the only drivers that come for the printer are RPM based binaries (rely on LPD not CUPS). My point is that we don't want a situation where many manufactures claim linux support when they only really provide RPM based distro support- I never knew a tgz and a detailed readme were so hard to organise! Clearly from my interactions with Lexmark they seem to not take RPM based distros very seriously, and, as lexmark has close ties with IBM, could this be a sign of things to come with other hardware manufacturers? Is the CUPS standard really all that hard to keep up with?

    1. Re:IBM and Lexmark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RPM is the tool that is defined in the linux standard base http://www.lsb.org so if a company claims it has drivers for the standard linux OS, than that's correct. (not that I like it) but this is the way things go. just like the success of nvidia binaries.

    2. Re:IBM and Lexmark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope... Lexmark was at one time a part of IBM. It is now it's own company.

      IBM does have some marketing deals with Lexmark however, but the two are seperate businesses (I work at the IBM Boulder site, and Lexmark is still on the campus site, but all of their buildings are seperate, etc.)

      IBM also has it's own printer's division (www.ibm.com/printers). The IBM printers are targeted towards the 40+ pages a minute to very high end production type printing systems.

    3. Re:IBM and Lexmark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lexmark was owned by IBM at one point but bought back its assets and seperated again about 5 years ago. Don't blame IBM for lack of lexmark drivers, thats like blaming taco bell for burger kings bad food..

    4. Re:IBM and Lexmark by Daengbo · · Score: 1

      I just did this (took me a while) with a Z32, and you need to go over to foomatic.com and search their database. Install the rpm, run their cupsing script, and whammo, you're in. Sorry for OT, but the Lexmark provided driver is actually pretty good, while the printer itself is a $20 piece of trach.

    5. Re:IBM and Lexmark by GauteL · · Score: 2

      You could always install RPM for Gentoo.

  34. Is SuSE loosing it? by NeonSpirit · · Score: 1
    Whilst I welcome this as both a RedHat and IBM user I wonder what is happening with SuSE.

    SuSE is the current "preferered" distribution for both PPC iSeries & pSeries platforms in addition to the mainframe zSeries. With the imminent release of UnitedLinux at the same kind of cost the SLES version distribution seems to be competing with the consortium.

    --
    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.....my life is my own.
  35. Shouldn't that dept header be? by trellick · · Score: 0

    from the 'one distribution-to-rule-them-all-and-in-the-darkness- bind-them' dept ?
    I remember the days when IBM was the Evil Empire.
    Beware suits bearing gifts!

  36. Re:Red Hat? by rindeee · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You are obviously part of the grand conspiracy! I know that because you linked to MSN. Die commie!

  37. Re:Red Hat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even if something "only comes in an RPM" it is easy to change it into a gzipped tarball with alien . RedHat has even been including alien in their distro, even if not part of the default install (does anyone actually not take the time to add a few libraries and utilities to the defaults?).

  38. Re:Red Hat? not free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    # Do they refuse to divulge source code well according to the article you can't download (Advanced Server)for free. How can that be, I thought redhat released it's own code as GPL, and used GPL s/f for the rest ?? How how can it be

  39. deal for profit by jsse · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's not surprising. the $1 billion spent on Linux last year has been entirely recouped at the beginning of this year. This is a big deal in this economy.

    1. Re:deal for profit by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      the $1 billion spent on Linux last year has been entirely recouped at the beginning of this year.

      I saw an IBM spokesperson say that. I didn't see any numbers to back up it up. Got any?

      I mean, what do you expect a company spokesperson to say? "Sorry, guys, this Linux thing really isn't working out?"

    2. Re:deal for profit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, they'll say "we're no longer focusing on the linux market."

      Do you seriously think some spokesdroid would dare make up figures? It'll all come out in their next quarterly report, and if it turns out they flat out lied, heads will roll.

      You might be smart to expect corporations to lie, but if it will soon be verifiable, its nearly certain that they won't. It'd be suicide these days, where simply switching account firms away from Andersen can cause a 25% drop in stock price.

    3. Re:deal for profit by tim_maroney · · Score: 2

      Neither annual nor quarterly reports are detailed enough to allow evaluation of a claim of that type. An auditor could check it, but wouldn't bother if it was just somebody's press statement -- that's not what they're looking for.

  40. Re:Red Hat? by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 2, Funny

    So who gets to do the same thing with a product from Microsoft?

    * Scratches head

    * Installs Windows 2000

    * Installs Mozilla 1.1 and makes it the default browser and e-mail client

    * Installs Litestep as the shell

    * Installs Magellan Explorer(free) or Opus Directory(rather expensive but kicks ass)

    * Makes disk image

    * Distributes disk image

    * Hides in cave for 20 years

    --

    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  41. Now about Smartsuite by westfieldscientific · · Score: 1


    From the article:

    ...Lotus e-mail and calendar software works on Advanced Server...

    I guess I have to concede that my suggestion is somewhat offtopic, but this is an opportunity to drop a hint for Lotus/IBM to produce a native Linux Smartsuite.

    If this is considered too much effort [meaning too expensive] how about at least releasing an opensource filter for .lwp so those documents could import cleanly into Star/Open Office?

    The partnership as announced though is great news, and seems to be going over well and generating a lot of market enthusiasm.

    --
    give me a /home where the buffalo roam
    1. Re:Now about Smartsuite by Wesley+Felter · · Score: 2

      Server apps are much easier to port than GUI apps.

  42. Somewhere in a quiet office in Santa Clara.. by verch · · Score: 2

    ..Scott McNealy is updating his resume.

    I love SUN and Solaris, but this is yet more really bad news for them..

    1. Re:Somewhere in a quiet office in Santa Clara.. by pete-classic · · Score: 2

      It's only bad news to them if they can't adapt to changing market conditions.

      If I have my history right, SUN really ate into IBM's dominance by being a fleet-footed young company that was able to deliver "Open Systems" while the Goliath IBM was still convinced that everything other than mainframes was a fad.

      You could cut the irony with a knife.

      -Peter

  43. IBM --- give the linux client Notes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now if IBM would just port the Notes client (and designer) to Linux - then some big blocks of clients would start thinking Open Office and Linux on the desktop ...

    I know they have a how-to on using Wine to support
    the client on Linux, but it just isn't the same ... (odd chrashes, a pain to set up, etc. - not territory for your typical windows user) ...

    1. Re:IBM --- give the linux client Notes by Salsaman · · Score: 2

      Hear hear ! I, and a lot of others have been saying for a long time that IBM/Lotus should port the Notes client to Linux.

  44. Re:Red Hat? by N3WBI3 · · Score: 1

    Very good points but I think RPM's are better for the casual user (note I think of casual as inexperienced). RPM's give a person new to linux to set up apps that actually make their computer useable, and makes a transition from windows a little less painless..

    --
  45. Re:Read the parent by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

    Um, no. NY Times doesn't invade anyone's privacy either. They don't force you to use their site (you're perfectly free to not use it, and I am one of those who choose not to), and they do not secretly take information from you. At least one of those conditions must be met for it to be invasion of privacy.

    Spyware, for example, is (or at least can be, if the spyware doesn't tell you what it is doing) invasion of privacy. I hope you understand the difference between that and a site that requires registration for access. Somehow, though, I suspect that perhaps you don't.

    Your assertion that the parent AC's argument is that one sacrifices privacy is, therefore, completely wrong. The parent stated most clearly that it was an invasion of privacy, but it is nothing of the kind. If you give up information voluntarily, that is a sacrifice of privacy (your words) but it is in no way an invasion of privacy (AC's words).

    It's all perfectly clear to me. Maybe it is to you now, too. But who cares? I can't really give the time of day to anyone who has to call me an asshole because he can't beat me in an argument, and doesn't even have the guts to do it out in the open, choosing to hide behind AC instead.

    One of the nice things about not living in North America is I don't know what Donald Rumsfeld sounds like. He doens't get much coverage far from home. Apparently, though, he and I must have one thing in common: we're both better at argument than you are (and I don't mean "being argumentative" - you're clearly better at that).

  46. Beware IBM pc servers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think I'll be buying their Intel servers in place of Compaq in future.

    Do yourself a big favor and DON'T. I've run a Compaq Proliant shop for more than half a decade. The last time we purchased some new servers we decided to give IBM a try and not only did they fail to ship the stuff on time like they promised, they screwed up the order and sent us the wrong stuff. It's now been 6 months and we still haven't gotten all what we ordered (it's now obsolete and off the market, yet they won't give us the next version of the hardware and we've already paid for it) and the machines run poorly (slow and sometimes unreliable) on top of that. The Proliants kick their buts quite badly.

    Now IBM *does* make a wonderful RS6000 series RISC processor unix (AIX) machine. Those are bulletproof. I have 5 of those, but will never again buy a PC server from them. In my opinion, they should give me another RS6000 to make up for the horribly bad experience we went thru buying three of their piece-of-crap PC servers.

  47. That's "News & Observer".... by rgoer · · Score: 0

    ...not just "News-Observer"

    You may, however, feel free to call it the "News & Fishwrap"

  48. Re:Red Hat? by byran+lei · · Score: 0

    >Yeah, I can kinda see that. Compared to OpenBSD, Debian, or Gentoo,
    >Red Hat seems bloated, bland, and corporate. When using the newer
    >versions of Red Hat, I don't quite know what's installed on my system
    >
    Try looking at /var/log/rpmpkgs. It's updated every day.

  49. Re:Is SuSE loosing it? IBM is just playing the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    field. SuSE is really strong in europe and will continue to be dominant. But in the US its anybodys game.

  50. Re:Enough with the nytimes links anyway by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

    You sure showed me. I bet people all around the world are talking about how you put me in my place. I better give up now, I could sure never win any argument with you. I'm so scared.

  51. IBM just *thinks* about linux and they get press by lerhaupt · · Score: 1

    I fail to understand how IBM continually can just think about penguins and get such great press. Especially when Dell has already certified all of their appropriate hardware on RH Advanced Server.

  52. Re:Red Hat? by Stephen+VanDahm · · Score: 2

    "I think RPM's are better for the casual user (note I think of casual as inexperienced)."

    I suppose that the word casual does imply a lack of experience. By casual use, I meant that you use Linux on your computer, but you don't want to fool with it too much. For the experienced user who uses his computer casually, RPM can be overkill. Instead of searching rpmfind.net for the correct RPMs, you could just download the tarball from SourceForge and just ./configure, make, make install. But for the inexperienced user (who doesn't care much about flexibility), RPM and Red Carpet can be just want they need.

    Steve

  53. Not the job of the collective by Rupert · · Score: 2

    This is a job for the distros. Lindows is having some success by bundling Wine and giving you a windows look & feel. RedHat is moving more towards an "official RedHat default desktop", while preserving your choice, if you want to do the expert installation.

    Debian, Gentoo, and the other "hard-core" distros, I imagine, will never do this, because that's not the what their users want.

    This is an excellent illustration of how you make money off free software. You put in the effort of selecting a single CD player, a single web browser, a single email client and so on, lay it down on the users hard disk with a minimum of flashy install screens. Then people buy it more than they buy those other distros that didn't want to make a decision.

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    E_NOSIG
  54. Red Hat, the microsoft of "free" software by forgoil · · Score: 2

    Using anything but Red Hat will become harder and harder, and when the Boss says "Install Redhat or IBM won't give us support" you will do it or train your "do you want fries with that?". Just because the source might be free (mostly) doesn't mean there is a free spirit going on (or ease of use for that matter. I can recognise the reason why GNU came to be).

    Why just today I looked at drivers for one of HPs RAID cards. Whoppie, they had drivers for Red Hat 7.1. Thank you very much...

    There need to be a standard so that anyone can make a distribution that is supported, or Red Hat will 0wn Linux soon enough.

    1. Re:Red Hat, the microsoft of "free" software by Wesley+Felter · · Score: 2

      AFAIK, IBM supports several distros, not just Red Hat.

      There is a standard; it's called LSB and IBM is a big supporter.

    2. Re:Red Hat, the microsoft of "free" software by kermit6306 · · Score: 1

      Red Hat may be the "Microsoft of "free" software" with respect to popularity, but that's where the similarities end. Red Hat works with in the parameters that define fair business practice. Microsoft does not.

  55. United Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some might consider this a blow against United Linux, but I don't think so. I read last month that IBM and most of the other big guys are supporting United Linux because they don't want to have to support 5 or 6 distributions, but they also don't want to have Red Hat completely dominate the market. They think having two competing distributions for the corporate area is just about right, so they are going to hellp United Linux along and make sure it gets some business.

  56. Is the DMCA an issue here? by MulluskO · · Score: 2

    Allright, so this music is protected from copyright violation by glue. Does this mean that solvents are now illegal? Start stockpiling acetone now.

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    Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
  57. Redhat Security by Acidcrawl · · Score: 1

    One thing that I noticed hadn't been discussed is security. If you go to http://www.linuxsecurity.com/advisories and look at each distro you will notice that by far Redhat has had the largest number of advisories. I haven't done any research to see if the distro's that go to companies like IBM and Dell for servers are more secure, but I would certainly hope so. Redhat, although not quite as bad as Microsoft, seems to have advisories ALL the time, as apposed to Slackware or freeBSD, which can go for months at a time without a single advisory. IMHO, I would never run a Redhat server because the chance of it being compromised is a lot greater.

  58. Re:Red Hat? by kingOFgEEEks · · Score: 1

    i do like where you're going with this, but for my $.02 worth:
    windows/internet explorer 5.5 is actually OK. note, i did not say good, nor did i mean it, but it is SO integrated into the windows OS that it actually IS the fastest browser for Win2k...

    of course, NT/2K is the ONLY windows OS in my book, since all the others are either cartoons or just glorified DOS

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    mechanicos ergo cogito
  59. Going seriously o/t here..... by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 1

    5.5 is ok. 6 works out fine for me too. However, I still consider Mozilla to be superior, due to having an e-mail client that isn't the prime target of every half-crazed virus writer on the planet, an irc client I can sneakily use at work :P and the glory of tabs.....not to mention the possibility to disallow Javascript to open up new Windows...

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    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  60. Re:Red Hat? not free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fucking christ, why is it so hard for people to understand what the GPL means

    it does not mean that all of your software licensed under the GPL must be given away.

    it only means that if you have a product that is GPLed, then you must offer the source code at no additional cost.

    read it again: it does not mean that you offer your product for free. it means you must offer the source code at no additional cost.

    if you buy advanced server, you can get the code for free. you can't download SuSE images last time i checked. why isn't suse the redmond of the linux world?