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In my view this is a dynamic that marks a large and hopefully only
partial failure of the Open Source movement.<br>
<br>
One of the reasons I began exploring uses of Linux in 1995 is that I
sought a way to build computing platforms that were not tightly
coupled to the whims and cash-flow desires of vendors. This was
driven in part by my role as a Federal civil servant bent on
maximizing value to the Taxpayer, not value for vendors and
contractors. By 1998 I had started to see a crack developing in the
wall with respect to what Microsoft was doing in the industry and
this reinforced my notion of Open Source software as a way to not
only design and deploy more cost-effective computing resources but
also more "free" ones - "free" here meaning maintaining my freedom
as an implementer and administrator with respect to what hardware
and software is used and in what manner. As I learned from my bad
experience with device support in WinNT, in Linux-land a similar
problem could be taken up easily and quickly with the very
developers who wrote the code or, alternatively, I could tackle the
problem locally. <br>
<br>
To accept a software product in the door that couples you to a
for-pay Linux distribution is to basically say that you prefer life
under Microsoft-like hegemony. I've seen it happen, and it stinks
up the room in the same way Windows-only apps did. It is not
necessary to develop and sell closed-source software with such
shackles as standard equipment and it is therefore not necessary to
use such products. <br>
<br>
I don't subscribe to RMS-like levels of absolutism and purity but if
I were developing a closed-source app for profit to run under Linux,
I would see to it that it had system requirements that were easy to
meet under most any reasonably multipurpose (I pointedly avoid the
term "mainstream") current or future Linux distribution. This is
because just as I value my own computing freedom, I value the
freedom of others.<br>
<br>
- Jeff<br>
<br>
On 4/26/11 9:24 AM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:FF38BBA1BF42AB46A7F46524614FAB6202BFCB65@EXVS02.dsw.net"
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial"
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial; color: navy;">RHEL and SUSE are both
“commercial”
distros built around being supported by their
respective makes. Many
companies that want “support” use them for that
reason. Here we
use RHEL but haven’t really had any major support
needs. The main
benefit to using these distros is many of the
commercial applications one might
get on Linux are supported mainly on RHEL and to a
lesser extent on SUSE.
(This doesn’t mean they won’t run on other distros
– just that
you might have issues calling the software maker
for issues if they find out
you’re not running on a “supported” platform.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial"
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial"
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial; color: navy;">Canonical offers support for
Ubuntu as I
understand it but I don’t know that there is a lot
of support for it by
other application vendors.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial"
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"
align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">
<hr tabindex="-1" size="2" width="100%"
align="center">
</span></font></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;
font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font
face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size:
10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ale-bounces@ale.org">ale-bounces@ale.org</a> [<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:ale-bounces@ale.org">mailto:ale-bounces@ale.org</a>]
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On Behalf Of
</span></b>Mark Wright<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b>
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 9:07
AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b>
<st1:personname w:st="on">Atlanta Linux
Enthusiasts</st1:personname><br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b>
Re: [ale] Suggestions on
Linux / <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city
w:st="on">OSS</st1:city></st1:place>
support providers?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Steel Pivot.
Local guy, real smart.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing:
0px;">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black"
face="Helvetica" size="1"><span
style="font-size: 8pt; font-family:
Helvetica; color: black;">Mark Wright<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black"
face="Helvetica" size="1"><span
style="font-size: 8pt; font-family:
Helvetica; color: black;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:m.perry.wright@gmail.com">m.perry.wright@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black"
face="Helvetica" size="1"><span
style="font-size: 8pt; font-family:
Helvetica; color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
</span>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On Apr
25, 2011, at 9:44 PM, Eric Webb wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hi
ALE!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Anyone
have any recommendations on support
providers for Linux (OS) and<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">open-source
software needs?<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span>$Werk
is
finally coming around and Linux is<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">finally
getting a foothold in the server fleet.<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span>I
can support it just fine<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">myself,
but as can be expected in larger
enterprises, they are
searching for<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">someone
to provide support/assistance with not only
Linux, but some<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">open-source
software (primarily Apache at this point,
but I expect it
to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">grow).<span
class="apple-converted-space"> </span>You
know, in case
I take vacation... ;)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Candidate
suggestions can be local or national/global
-- anyone worked
with a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">company
that they would recommend (or recommend
staying away from) ??<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thx,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-e.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ale
mailing list<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Ale@ale.org">Ale@ale.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">See
JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
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size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
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</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<font face="Arial" size="2">Proud partner. Susan G. Komen
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_______________________________________________
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