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Red Hat Desktop Unveiled
Gudlyf writes "Red Hat announced yesterday that they will be releasing a version of their OS -- dubbed 'Red Hat Desktop' -- targeted at corporations, universities and government agencies, "looking to upgrade their PCs but don't want or need all the features that ship with the latest version of Windows", said Matthew Szulik, Red Hat's chief executive, although it's not targeted at consumers. It will cost on average about $5 a month per machine, with additional support services available."
...Red Hat Desktop includes the Linux operating system, a Web browser and office productivity tools. It's entirely open-source software...
That's what they said in their press release. This is what they include -which is not open source:
Adobe Acrobat Reader and plugin
Macromedia Flash plugin
Java (IBM and BEA) and plugin (IBM)
Real Player
The information page for Red Hat Desktop mentions that it is "attractive for use in small and medium business environments". Two sentences later, it states, "Red Hat Desktop supports single CPU systems".
So no small or medium business environments have dual-CPU workstations? It seems odd that Redhat wouldn't try to cater to that potential environment.
Additionally, Red Hat Desktop is only available in Proxy (10 system) or Satellite (50 system) deployments, which means that if you're a small business looking to set up 35 machines, you're going to have to buy either 4 Proxy packs or 1 Satellite pack. Either way, you're overpaying. Proxy packs are $2500, and Satellites are $13500; not exactly cheap. This means you're paying between $250 and $270 per machine, per year.
And of course, this isn't to be confused with the Fedora desktop, which is meant for end-users, and isn't supported by Redhat. Argh. I wish Redhat would officially support home users, but I guess that's not where the potential money is.
I don't think you read the article. That's $5 per month INCLUDING full support. Not just software licensing - support.
Red Hat has been entirely consistent in their desktop focus, it's just that their words gets twisted by people with their own agendas to push and misinterpretation. They've time and time again said that the time for Linux on the home desktop is not yet, and this is no change. RH Desktop is clearly for business use only. At the same time, they're pouring more money into Linux desktop development than ever before, paying for GNOME hackers, HAL hackers, kernel hackers, Freedesktop.org etc. RH is very much a major desktop driving force with Fedora playing the defacto role of RH10 you so desire. The idea is that one day soon Linux on the home desktop will be reality and that day Red Hat will be ready to sell your grandma a shiny box, but not now.
Here's the scoop. Time is money and in the corporate world, and the time to wade on the .net for answers costs the business money.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.