[TriLUG] different versions of 7.2 for sale]

Adrian Likins alikins at redhat.com
Wed Oct 24 17:43:30 EDT 2001


On Wed, Oct 24, 2001 at 11:19:31AM -0400, Paul D. Boyle wrote:
> Adrian Likins wrote:
> > 	Based on allocated resources, I dont perceive Red Hat, Inc
> > as focusing on the desktop. I dont think we ever have for that matter,
> > and never claimed to. I dont quite follow your logic on this one...
>
	Ah, press releases... lovely ;->

	chuckle. I almost added to my original post something about
press releases and marketing material for desktop being easy, but figured
that would be obvious. 
 
> I think examination of the historical record will allow you to follow
> my logic.  For example, what about RHAD?  If you look at their website,
> it says:
> "Welcome to the Red Hat Advanced Development Labs (RHAD Labs).  The Labs
> have been a part of Red Hat and the open source community for two years.
> Originally set up to help out with the GNOME Desktop Project ..."
>
	lets see... thats a handful of people? 

	I think kernel guys outnumber them 5 to 1 and compiler guys
probabaly 10 to 1. Not to mention consulting and services contracts... 
 
> As recently as Jan 2001, Red Hat entered into a strategic alliance
> with Eazel to help facilitate getting Linux on the desktop.  Here is an
> excerpt from a Red Hat press release:
> 
>    ...Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT), the leader in developing, deploying and managing
>    open source solutions for Internet infrastructure, today announced plans
>    to deliver a superior desktop experience for Red Hat Linux users.
> 
      Yes. We do work on the desktop. We dont focus on it. Theres a difference.	

> 
> Further, going through old Red Hat press releases, on 14 October 1998,
> it was the official Red Hat position that:
>    "GNOME is a fundamental part of our product strategy at Red Hat" says
>    Marc Ewing, Red Hat Software's Chief Technology Officer. "Soon our Linux
>    operating system product will ship with a fully integrated GNOME desktop
>    environment, and all our users will be able to take advantage of the
>    ease of use benefits and customizatbility that GNOME offers."
>    
>    Red Hat, Inc. remains fully commited to GNOME development, and will
>    continue to support GNOME efforts through RHAD Labs, as we have for the
>    past year. Ewing: "The next six months will be very exciting for GNOME,
>    Red Hat, and Linux. Hold on to your collective hats!"
> 
> On 14 September 1998, a Red Hat press release reads:
>    Red Hat's goal is to build the easiest, simplest to administer,
>    most advanced and stable Linux operating system. It's working:
>    InfoWorld Magazine named Red Hat Linux 4.0 the 1996 Product of the
>    Year in the Desktop category, and in 1997, Red Hat Linux 4.1 was an
>    Environment/Desktop finalist in the Ziff-Davis European Excellence Awards
> 
> On 21 July 1997, a Red Hat press release announcing Red Hat 4.2 states:
>    Red Hat, Inc. , announces the release of Red Hat Linux 4.2,
>    the cooperatively developed desktop operating system for advanced
>    computing solutions.
>   
>    [snip]
> 
>    Red Hat Linux 4.2 also performs as a user friendly, incredibly stable
>    desktop client for applications from software development, to X-Terminal
>    (thin client), to fast and reliable web browsing.
>
	All true. We do work on the desktop. No argument. It's not where
the majority of our effort goes. Ie, our "focus".

	Of course, in the 4.0 days "focus" was a bit of an odd concept.
I guess you could say "Our entire desktop team was focused on
brining you the latest desktop software" instead of "cristian was trying
to get fvwm2 to compile", but hey, whatever ;->
 
> I think examination of the historical record in the Red Hat press releases
> indicate that they have a long standing interest in the desktop.
> 
	Yup. We have an interest in the desktop. We write software
for the desktop, we hire people to work on it, we package desktop software.
Ditto for embdedded, server apps, databases, the kernel, the compiler and
toolchain, packaging tools, sysadmin and config tools, manangement tools etc.
I guess our focus is on all of those? 

> > 
> > > Naturally, admitting to RedHat shareholders
> > > that RedHat failing at their effort to grow market share the desktop
> > > market won't play well, so they lie and they say, "well, we're not really
> > > focusing on that market anyway; it's the server market we are after."
> > > Their words and their actions are not congruous.
> > > 
> > 	I would tend to disagree. The fact is, people will jump up
> > and down and write reams about what color the new desktop background is,
> 
> So?
> 
> Granted, Red Hat has branched out in many directions, everywhere from
> enterprise computing to, most recently, embedded computing.  Nevertheless,
> Red Hat has historically placed a lot emphasis on the desktop, so I was
> sort of surprised to read Beth's post yesterday indicating that RedHat
> isn't focusing on the desktop.

	Red Hat isnt focusing on the desktop. Simple as that.  We do work
on it, and always have. Probabaly always will. But thats a big difference.
 
	So basically, it's a semantic argument. If by "focus" you mean
"they spend resources on it", yes, we focus on the desktop. If by focus
you mean "their primary target is", then no, we dont focus on the desktop.

Adrian



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