Rahul Sundaram wrote:
HI
This is total double talk. If Fedora Core is not a testing ground for RHEL features why exactly does it exist? What you are saying makes no sense at all.
Mission to provide a community oriented completely Free and open source operating system.
This answer is perhaps not incorrect, but is at least incomplete, by comparison to what you stated in your long missive. AIUI, there are four (at least) reasons Red Hat is contributing to Fedora...
(1) community good will (2) good will among a possible customer base for RHEL (3) "free" contributions to testing, defect finding, and defect repair (4) building a base of people who are accustomed to using the Red Hat formula for install/maintenance etc, i.e. "brand recognition and familiarity"
So, not all motives are altruistic. That's ok. And I also don't understand why anyone would complain about handing over Fedora Core to a non-profit organization. AFAICT, there is N-O-T-H-I-N-G which obligates Red Hat to continue Fedora Core support at all. From the moment I first investigated it, I considered it to be a free-will kind of thing, which could stop at any moment, for any or even no reason. This change, if and when it takes place (or even if it already has) will not be any problem for me, philosophically, economically, or otherwise.
And I wish people would quit beating up Rahul, who has so far been very polite and soft-spoken.
I am put in mind of the parable of "The Man Who Gave Too Much". Once upon a time, a man of some economic means began sending Christmas Cards to his relatives, each of them containing a $100 bill inside it. He continued this way for ten years, each year sending his relatives $100 in this manner. After this time, he decided that the card was enough to express his feelings, and the next year he sent only a card. To his amazement, all his relatives were angry, demanding to know where was "their" $100.
In this case, the $100 hasn't even been withheld, only the possibility that the $100 would come from someone else, who might not be able to send the entire amount.
My $.02.
Mike