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AlmaLinux No Longer Aims For 1:1 Compatibility With RHEL
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this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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Maybe you should read the rest of my comments in this post.
Enterprise features like the update management server to keep a fleet of thousands of machines patched with only security updates. Infrastructure like geo-located mirrors of the update repositories (not volunteer mirrors like universities around the world mirroring kernel.org and centos.org and eclipse.org etc). Support service like on-call staff to pick up the phone whenever you call. Those things cost money to provide. If you know of a distribution which provides all that for free, please let me know. If you need that level of support, pay for it instead of trying to find a freebie around it.
I assume you like to be paid for your work. You might be surprised to learn that revenues from that commercial support pay for the free stuff.
I agree with you, and everyone else who thinks I need to be told this. Which is why I've been advocating in this thread for users to drop RedHat like I did 20ish years ago when they first replaced their free desktop with RedHat Enterprise. And further to move away from source-rebuild distributions because RedHat has clearly stated that they see these users as lost revenue and are taking these actions as a way to "claim" those customers by removing the options. And I certainly wouldn't pay RedHat after shitting on at least the spirit of the GPL (and I'll be happy if someone sues them successfully to set a precedent about the letter of the GPL).
I'm so apologetic to these corporations that I'm literally commenting in here to stop buying from them! Such an apologist! When RedHat killed CentOS, I recommended at my office that we switch all CentOS usage to Ubuntu. When they announced this last move of closing the RHEL source to non-customers and the user agreements that they'll terminate your contract if you distribute the sources, I recommended we don't even consider a source rebuild distribution either, because I don't want us to be caught with having to transition to another distribution if RedHat finds a way to kill off the source for UBI to non-customers (how Rocky is planning to stay compatible as a source-rebuild distribution). And it seems Canonical is killing their free distribution too, for organizations of more than 5, so I have to reconsider Ubuntu now (which sucks because WSL was really helping my case to use Ubuntu) Maybe now that Alma is moving away from the RHEL source rebuild model I can recommend Alma, maybe can get a WSL package of Alma. If the other distributions stop caring about RHEL compatibility, then RHEL will cease to be the de facto standard. And we can all rejoice. Seriously why would anyone want to sell a product they built on RHEL now. If they have to redistribute a library they got from RHEL, then they are faced with either being in violation of GPL or losing access to security updates from RHEL (meaning they'll be exposing their own customers to security risks). It's a legal lose-lose to be a RHEL customer now.
Fucking duh. I never implied that. I said if you're trying to make use of enterprise features that cost money to provide, you should pay for them. I personally get by just fine with support from GitHub issues/discussions, Gitter/Slack channels, IRC, and Usenet.
First, thank you for not resorting to name calling this time.
Here are RedHat's own words on users of source-rebuild distributions.
This is the perspective that is informing RedHat's decision making on the matter. It doesn't matter that you and I know the people using Alma and Rocky, and previously CentOS, won't switch to paid RHEL users if those options are gone.
I can see how you would see my comments as conflating the two. It was not my intention to do so.
I'm not saying they shouldn't exist, RedHat is saying that. I'm saying given RedHat's actions, I wouldn't want to be in the business of trying to fight with them to maintain a source-rebuild distribution or base my own business continuity on them being able to out-maneuver RedHat and continue to exist.
It is a fact that big corporations like Canonical, RedHat, and Suse have historically paid full time developers to contribute to and maintain FOSS code. They have to have money to pay those developers. They can't make a reliable and predictable revenue stream on just the existence of the software itself, so they sell support contracts to pay for it.
No, and I never claimed anything close to that. But RedHat is among many Linux distributors who employ developers full time to contribute to and maintain FOSS projects.
Indeed, hence why I think RedHat is ethically in the wrong here.
I gave examples of what I perceive as enterprise support, you're free to think those things don't matter, but maybe tell me who does those things for free. Alma Foundation isn't some group of benevolent billionaires paying for everything out of their own pockets. If they weren't receiving donations (be they monetary or services) or revenue, they wouldn't be able to do what they're doing.
Again, I agree. All the source-rebuild distributions have the right to exist. And if they feel it's worthwhile to pursue still , good for them and good luck.
I mean .. we all agree that RedHat is in the wrong here because the actions of the source-rebuild distributions are protected under the FOSS licenses. We have different reactions and hopes, but we all agree that RedHat is doing wrong. So I don't understand why you and Raphael are out here calling me an apologist who doesn't understand OSS.
fair
edit: I do support Linux distribution vendors having the option to do freemium if that's how they feel they can best deliver, just not the way that RedHat is now trying to do it. And I support people trying to do it in a way that is completely gratis to the users.