And getting tied to a particular vendor can be a problem (any one ever seen "nitix"?).<br><br>For many processes, writing an installer that will play nicely with more than one Linux distro flavor involves some serious mojo. The bigger the app, the greater the mojo.<br>
<br>The LSB is supposed to address this at least from the libs standpoint. But there are other things that will block certain distros from being used.<br><br>Example: I'm (very slowly) working on a large app that requires an extreme amount of data security from a network perspective right down to the database rows and columns. The only opensource solution that I have found to work is the selinux extensions to PostgreSQL. Do all distros support selinux? Of the ones that do, do they support it with a selinux policy that actually works or am I going to have add a bazillion lines to the policy? Then there's the end goal of getting the app actually in use. Is school ABC going to be more comfortable with a product based on distro R vs distro U? The app requires a fairly large installation pile of distributed servers so that requires a particular toolchain for support of enterprise-level installations. Which distros are workable in this arena?<br>
<br>At this point my head explodes and I grab the Linux toolchain I _know_ will meet all of these and go head down on design and devel.<br><br>Am I limiting my freedom by this? Can I run a 2001 Ford engine in a 2002 VW Jetta without a full machine shop?<br>
<br>The big difference between ALL the Linux distro (nitix is not in this list!) and the closed-source, proprietary crap is the Linux distros ALL provide and allow the freedom to solve the problem. Some are better in other areas than others but the ability is there for all to work with.<br>
<br>Can I switch distros? Yes. Will it _HURT_? Oh hell yes!<br><br>Are there any "for pay only" distros out there? Nope. Not exactly. Well, sort of. The most commercial one doesn't require a cent for anyone to download their source packages and build your own. But one of their competitors doesn't even pony up a working build source tree (screw you Oracle! not like I would EVER recommend or use your product.).<br>
<br>But adding in the mix of "closed-source app" to be run on an open-source platform, it will need to be pretty much self-contained or the developers will face the wrath of the multi-version, no common ground, distros split like stained-glass windows environment we all love (and grouse about :-)<br>
<br>Oh. That would be an Oracle install on their "Unbreakable Linux" distro they build from RedHat's src.rpms. Oracle still can't write an installer for their stupid product on RedHat, the platform the actually recommend when they don't recommend Solaris (or what ever it's mutated into now).<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 6:40 PM, Jeff Hubbs <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jhubbslist@att.net">jhubbslist@att.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff">
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><font color="#888888">
<br>
- Jeff</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
On 4/26/11 9:24 AM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div>
<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.)</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </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.</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </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 align="center" size="2" width="100%">
</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 href="mailto:ale-bounces@ale.org" target="_blank">ale-bounces@ale.org</a> [<a href="mailto:ale-bounces@ale.org" target="_blank">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>
Atlanta Linux
Enthusiasts<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b>
Re: [ale] Suggestions on
Linux / OSS
support providers?</span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Steel Pivot.
Local guy, real smart.</span></font></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
<div><span style="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</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 href="mailto:m.perry.wright@gmail.com" target="_blank">m.perry.wright@gmail.com</a></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;"> </span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span> </font></p>
</span>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </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:</span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br>
<br>
</span></font></p>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hi
ALE!</span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </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> </span></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> </span>$Werk
is
finally coming around and Linux is<span> </span></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> </span>I
can support it just fine<span> </span></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> </span></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> </span></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> </span></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">grow).<span> </span>You
know, in case
I take vacation... ;)</span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </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> </span></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) ??</span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thx,</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-e.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">_______________________________________________</span></font></p>
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</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</a></span></font></p>
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