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Re: GNU licenses


From: Alexander Terekhov
Subject: Re: GNU licenses
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:30:49 +0200

And here comes the GPL girl:

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061026013857159
(Oracle's Offering and Red Hat's Response)

------
The CEOs of Dell and HP, among others, say this is a great leap forward, 
in video clips at the end. Things are beginning to smell funny, folks. 
There does appear to be some kind of enterprise makeover attempt, to 
remake Linux in their image. Why would anyone imagine that grabbing Red 
Hat's work product and cutting Red Hat off from its own customers would 
be progress? And if Red Hat is put out of business, what will Oracle 
sell then?

What the corporate dudes never do grasp is that you can't coopt FOSS 
past a point, because FOSS programmers won't work for nothing to buy 
them yachts. 

[...]

Making Linux more successful in the enterprise is the right goal. But 
not if you kill off what makes Linux desirable, namely ethics. It's the 
value add of FOSS, and if the corporate guys don't figure that out soon, 
they really will kill the Golden Goose. Let me explain in one sentence 
why:

    Cut throat competition destroys software.

------

LOL.

http://news.com.com/5208-7344-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=22307&messageID=196964&start=-1

------
...the fact that Oracle does it shows that RHAT and other Linux 
distributors have been living in a dream. Their business model is 
"develop software, give it away and live off support". But there's 
nothing preventing another company from establishing a slightly more 
interesting business model: "NOT develop software, take what's 
already out there, give it away, live off cheaper support". Nothing 
bad with that, but then the companies investing in developing Linux 
will have a cost center with nothing to show for it. Why would any 
serious company spend money on something that gives zero $ in return? 

Net result: corporate Linux development is stalled, and only 
development comes from individuals and nonprofit organizations. Not 
the death of Linux, but certainly a bad sign.

And the crazy thing is that this was evident from day zero. But some 
tried to look the other way, especially investors trying to look into 
some innovative business models.

Now it's time for a reality check. And RHAT stock is just beginning 
to show the consequence of that reality.
------

alexander.terekhov@gmail.com wrote:
> 
> http://news.com.com/5208-7344-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=22307&messageID=196945&start=-1
> 
> -------
> interesting business plan
> 
> Reader post by: hedred
> Posted on: October 25, 2006, 4:17 PM PDT
> Story: Oracle to offer Red Hat Linux support
> 
> Copy RedHat's product and steal their customers.
> 
> So, what happens when RedHat goes out of business?
> 
> Will Oracle be able to update the OS on their own?
> 
> Is Microsoft behind this just like they have been behind SCO?
> -------
> 
> LOL.
> 
> alexander.terekhov@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > http://www.charvolant.org/~doug/gpl/gpl.pdf
> >
> > -------
> > The open-source movement has provided the impetus for another form of
> > patronage. Companies such as RedHat or Linuxcare need free software to
> > succeed to be successful themselves. As a result, these companies hire
> > the producers of free software to ensure the supply, provide good
> > public relations and provide in-house expertise for the support
> > operations that make up the companies income.
> > This is in addition to the general desire on the company's part to do
> > the right thing; open-source is still a social movement.
> >
> > Eric Raymond argues that this form of patronage works, in part, because
> > the companies dispensing the patronage are leaders in the field, and
> > thus benefit in proportion.[20] If this is true, then it also
> > represents the break-point for this form of patronage. As the market
> > becomes more competitive, a significant free-rider problem appears:
> > companies that do not have the overhead of patronage and can offer the
> > same services at reduced cost.[13]
> > -------
> >
> > http://news.com.com/Oracle+to+offer+Red+Hat+Linux+support/2100-7344_3-6129544.html
> >
> > -------
> > "As of this moment, Oracle is announcing full support for Red Hat
> > Linux," Ellison told thousands of attendees at the Oracle OpenWorld
> > conference here. "If you are a Red Hat support customer, you can very
> > easily switch from Red Hat support to Oracle support."
> >
> > Becoming an operating-system company is one of a series of bold
> > attempts at growth by the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software
> > company, which in recent years also has acquired small and large
> > rivals. Many major computing companies have embraced Linux, but until
> > now, all have chosen partnerships with Linux companies rather than
> > direct competition.
> >
> > Ellison argued that customers of the Unbreakable Linux 2.0 service will
> > enjoy lower costs, better bug fixes and legal protections compared with
> > Red Hat. Software updates cost $99 a server, while technical support
> > costs $399 for a two-processor server and $999 a year for a larger
> > system, Ellison said. And unlike Red Hat, Oracle will let anyone
> > download the software for free.
> >
> > "We will backport your bug-fixes" to earlier Linux versions, he said.
> > "We will indemnify you from intellectual property problems. And our
> > support costs way less than half of what Red Hat charges," Ellison
> > said.
> >
> > Oracle, like the CentOS project, wants to clone Red Hat's Linux based
> > on the source code produced by the company, not create a new Linux
> > variant. And Ellison promised that software certified for Red Hat's
> > Linux will still work.
> >
> > "If your application runs on Red Hat today, that application will run
> > unchanged when you're getting Oracle support," Ellison said. "It's very
> > important not to fragment the Linux market. Every time Red Hat comes
> > out with a new version, we're going to sync our version with that
> > version. All we add is bug fixes."
> >
> > Red Hat didn't immediately comment. Red Hat shares fell sharply in
> > after-hours trading, down more than 10 percent to $17.45 a share.
> >
> > Oracle will sell support to any Red Hat Linux customer, not just
> > customers of Oracle products, Ellison said.
> > -------
> >
> > Alexander Terekhov wrote:
> > >
> > > Alexander Terekhov wrote:
> > > >
> > > > John Hasler wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Well, you can also get whitebox Linux or something like that...
> > > >
> > > > [Red Hat's free-riders]
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > White Box Linux and Centos.
> > > >
> > > > WBL is not well supported. Centos has more friends (Sun Microsystems
> > > > and OpenSolaris Project). At some point Red Hat will have to fire core
> > > > programmers and only packagers will stay (free-riders do not have the
> > > > overhead of patronage and can offer the same patching services).
> > >
> > > Now, this is fun:
> > >
> > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061025/tc_nm/oracle_dc_1
> > > (Oracle CEO targets Red Hat with half-price offer)
> > >
> > > -------
> > > 31 minutes ago
> > >
> > > SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq:ORCL - news) is taking
> > > aim at Red Hat Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT - news), the top distributor of Linux
> > > operating system software, with an offer to provide half-price technical
> > > support to Red Hat Linux users, Chairman and Chief Executive Larry
> > > Ellison said on Wednesday.
> > >
> > > Speaking at the company's annual user conference in San Francisco, the
> > > technology industry's most outspoken executive said Oracle was seeking
> > > to solve key problems that have held back the development of Linux among
> > > big corporate customers.
> > >
> > > "As of this moment, Oracle is announcing full support for Red Hat Linux,"
> > > Ellison told thousands of attendees at the company's annual OracleWorld
> > > conference. "The goal is to enhance and speed the adoption of Linux."
> > >
> > > "Our support costs less than half what Red Hat charges," Ellison added.
> > >
> > > Linux is the most popular varient of open source software, which allows
> > > developers to share code in order to focus on creating new features
> > > themselves. Software like Linux allows customers to use programs for
> > > free, paying only for custom features, maintenance and technical
> > > support.
> > >
> > > (Additional reporting by Eric Auchard)
> > > -------

regards,
alexander.


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