>
>
>When you do talk to the right person, ask them this "So you mean to tell me
>that if I sella computer that I make, and someone asks me to put Red Hat on
>it, and I do for NO CHARGE, that's wrong?" You'll be amazed at the answer
>you get.
>
I would not be amazed at all. Someone who makes computers and represents
them as "running Red Hat Linux" without having bought a copy of Red Hat
for each one of those computers is going to piss off Red Hat. They get
(literally) thousands of support request calls and emails every day from
people who got Red Hat free or bought a cheapie CD. I don't think Red
Hat is handling this problem in a smart way -- they should be using
those support requests as an opportunity to *politely* sell support
services IMO -- but I don't work for Red Hat and have no say in how they
run their business.
I get hundreds of emails every week through linux.com requesting
(usually free) detailed support for "Linux 7.3" or whatever, so I am
more sympathetic than most to Red Hat's problem. And I assure you, it
*is* a problem. OSDN is not in a position to turn that problem into an
opportunity, as the classic business dictum says one should, but Red Hat
certainly is, but instead they're irritating people who should be their
natural allies.
(sigh)
- Robin "Roblimo" Miller
Editor in Chief, OSDN
(Linux.com, Newsforge.com,
freshmeat.net, Slashdot.org,
DaveCentral.com, and other
popular tech Web sites)
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