[TriLUG] Suse releases exchange server clone ($999) no client licenses

Tom 'spot' Callaway tcallawa at redhat.com
Tue Sep 24 09:58:11 EDT 2002


On Tue, 2002-09-24 at 08:43, Ben Pitzer wrote:
> Can this group ever get past the flame-bait distro bashing?  C'mon,
> folks, whatever your personal preference, other distros have redeeming
> qualities, too.  And while the Skyrix portion of this product may be
> closed source, it may be exactly what somebody needs to start to move
> towards Linux and an open source, non-Exchange clone groupware platform.

Allow me to clarify. There is a noted difference between SuSE and SuSE
Linux, just as there is between Red Hat and Red Hat Linux. If you want
to use SuSE Linux, more power to you. 

However, this is what bugs me: Skyrix is closed source. The review URL
posted for SuSE's Mailserver offering claims that "Source code is
included, all components are free or open source". This is simply not
the case. If this was the first case of SuSE falsely claiming open
source for one of their offerings, I would not have said that it was
"typical".

Off the top of my head, two examples: 
SuSE's "YAST" installer for SuSE Linux is closed source.
SuSE's S/390 Linux offering comes with closed source kernel drivers.

And by no means is this Red Hat propaganda or mudslinging. These are
observations that are easy to confirm.

I believe in Open Source code. I don't particularly care what license
you put your code under, as long as I can take the source, patch it, and
share it. I also expect Open Source companies to play by these rules. I
also believe that anytime the Open Source user community settles for
closed source code, we all lose. These are MY beliefs, and sometimes
they conflict with Red Hat's beliefs, but I don't speak for Red Hat. Red
Hat has PR people to do that for them.

IMHO, jumping onto an exchange clone/replacement just because it is
cheaper is a cop-out. You've exchanged one boat full of holes you can't
see for another.

SuSE's counting on it for cheap easy revenue. I'd hope the ideals of the
Linux community can't be bought like that, but maybe I'm too idealistic.

If anyone was offended by my statement, I apologize, but I'm sticking to
it.

~spot
---
Tom "spot" Callaway <tcallawa(a)redhat*com> Red Hat Sales Engineer
Sair Linux and GNU Certified Administrator (LCA)
Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
GPG: D786 8B22 D9DB 1F8B 4AB7  448E 3C5E 99AD 9305 4260

The words and opinions reflected in this message do not necessarily
reflect those of my employer, Red Hat, and belong solely to me.

"Immature poets borrow, mature poets steal." --- T. S. Eliot




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