"Yesterday Oracle announced the release of their own version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, simply called Enterprise Linux or 'Unbreakable Linux'. In a remarkably similar move to such projects as CentOS, Oracle have decided to remove all Red Hat specific trademarks and brand it as their own (all quite legit, of course). They will be supplying bugfixes for this new version, and will also be synchronising it with future releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We decided to take a peek at what Oracle had come up with. Read on for a first-look, and the Linux Format team's opinions." In the meantime, Mark Shuttleworth said a partnership with Oracle is no longer a matter of if, but when.
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Member since:2005-07-06
You're assuming a zero-sum game
Yes that is why I wrote "Ceteris Paribus" which I believe is a economics term meaning "All else being equal".
My final statement also stated that I knew it was more complicated than that, but basically Redhat is likely to be a better option for anyone who would like to see the profits from their purchase go back into the system. Oracle growing the market is irrelevant in that regard.
Member since:2005-07-24
"My final statement also stated that I knew it was more complicated than that, but basically Redhat is likely to be a better option for anyone who would like to see the profits from their purchase go back into the system. Oracle growing the market is irrelevant in that regard."
True, but that's not the purpose for existance of either Oracle OR Red Hat. They both exist to make a profit. Giving back to the system is secondary, for Red Hat, and maybe completely irrelevant for Oracle. I have a lot of respect for Red Hat so far, and not much for Oracle. But that's irrelevent too. The bottom line is that I think ultimately this move will not harm Red Hat, and may prove positive for Linux overall.
Member since:
2005-07-24
"Oracle on the other hand may just take the money, which will likely be a net loss to Redhat, and not use it to develop the 'linux platform' in needed areas. Therefore 'ceteris paribus' the 'Linux platform' will have fewer resources developing it than if the money had gone to Redhat."
You're assuming a zero-sum game, that overall Linux usage is stagnant. That's not the case. Linux usage is growing. If Oracle actively promotes its own version, Linux may grow even more.
Oracle is a lot more likely to bring in new customers from outside the current Linux market than it is to steal existing customers from Red Hat. There's a lot of untapped wealth out there. If Oracle can bring some of it in, it should help ALL of the Linux distributions.