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New Debian-based Enterprise Linux?
arkanoid.dk writes "Sources close to Progeny, Mandriva and Turbolinux report that a new Enterprise Linux distribution is on its way. Apparently, the distribution will be based on Debian 3.1 Sarge and will form the foundation of the next server distributions from the three companies. The three companies hope that the new distribution will enable them to compete with the market leaders Red Hat and Novell Inc's server distributions. An interesting part is that the new system should support both DEB (Debian package) and RPM (Red Hat Package Management) to enable better cross-compatibility with other Linux flavours. The vendor said: 'It will have a nice, Web-based front end for service management, which Sarge lacks. It's basically oriented toward edge-of-the-network type applications, such as ISP software.'"
Supporting both deb and rpm formats isn't that big a deal - Debian itself supports both, through both rpm itself and alien.
Well, in my experience RedHat/FC is not the place to go for stability. The changes between upgrades are too radical to keep many 3rd-party commercial apps running without expensive upgrades. Once you step outside of their walled garden (going beyond the usual RH-supplied services) then you're asking for trouble.
From RH 7.1 to 7.3 to 8 to 9 was some of the most harrowing experiences I've had with Linux.
Transitioning from Debian stable to testing (and following the changes in testing) has allowed myself and others to keep apps working for YEARS longer than we could with RH.
he complains about something that isn't actually raised. Mandrake is not going to be using alien, neither is Debian. They are both going to be using a new package tool, called SmartPM. Google for it.
The tool is able to use debian and rpm repositories natively. It also does a lot of good things that no other tool, yum, apt or urpmi currently does. The people doing the research for it are current and former apt and urpmi developers and they have done their homework.
So, stop spreading misinformation about something which you have not taken the time to understand.
Pragmatism as an ideology is not particularly pragmatic in the long term. Keep it in mind when you dismiss Free Software
Not only have they been providing commercial support for Debian for years (and providing employment for many Debian developers), but apparently they're doing well enough at it that some fairly decent-sized companies (neither Mandriva nor Turbo is exactly tiny) are interested in teaming up with them.