The first beta of a Linux distribution that hopes to compete with enterprise server products from SuSE and Red Hat is set for release on 1 September – but few in the industry can see it gaining much support. Backed by open source advocate Bruce Perens, the free UserLinux distribution claims to offer the same functionalities as existing enterprise Linux distributions.
Perens readies old-school Linux, but who wants it?
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Eugenia Loli
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People buy SUSE, RedHat, etc, because there are respected companies guarenteeing support. Userlinux, on the other hand, seems to be mostly community driven. I really don’t seen much of confidence for that from people who need support.
I think UserLinux has as much chance as Debian does of becoming an Enterprise distribution, that is to say very little. It’s sad really, contrary to HP’s comment about too many competitors being bad for the market, I think it would be great.
@Anonymous
I really don’t seen much of confidence for that from people who need support.
That’s not what the article was implying at all. In fact, UserLinux while itself a free distribution will have commercial support and certification available. While I think it’s highly unlikely they’ll do very well it’s untrue that commercial support will be unavailable.
<p>People who want a supported Debian that’s who. Such people have already ruled out Red Hat or Suse for whatever reason, but they still want better support than what debian-user can provide.</p>
<p>The trouble is that Progeny and Xandros are also in the same space. Does the world really need three “Enterprise Debian” distros? (And I’m not even counting Linspire, Libranet etc.)</p>
“UserLinux is enterprise Linux without the big price tag,” Perens told the recent LinuxWorld 2004 conference in San Francisco. “The result will be that Linux is free again.”
Hell, White Box Enterprise Linux is free as in beer and free as in choice so I’m not sure where his head is at with “big price tag”…
And like others have mentioned… with Enterprise Linux the cost of the distro is a drop in the bucket compared with the service and support.
Still I admire Bruce Perens.
Cheers
Good managers realize that vendor support yields either poor results or costs very much. Good managers realize the benefit of knowledgeable and skilled workers or consultants and build and maintain those relationships. Yes, it’s an individual or small team, not the vendor, folks, that bails the business out when the shit hits the fan! I have installed Debian for customers before because I think it is easiest to maintain esp. remotely. The customer does not really care because they trust *me*. So, what exactly does UserLinux buy me over Debian?
vendor support is not am issue – many many hardworked servers run BSD and these are run by people who know what they are talking about. and as such they know that community support is not a bad thing – and often better then vendor support (which in fact is often the same people).
i for one would deploy such a clean and work oriented distribution – if there was sufficient community support. bruce perens knows his technical stuff and that means a lot.
Since Yast is now GPLed, there will probably be a Yellow salamander linux or something coming out that clones it.
I doubt this will provide much competition to RedHat and Fedora. However, this could be a good niche distro for areas where RedHat, Novell, and Mandrake’s support options don’t really work. I’m interested in it as an alternative to Fedora (I prefer Gnome).
If Perens manages to bundle something cohesive and with good documentation manuals, debian-based stable but more modern than the debian’s ‘stable’ branch, I’m interested on this.
I do build Debian servers for customers, but I need to left something behind that the people who paid for can administer, I do not earn money fixing stupid admin issues. A “decent” documentation will fix that issue.
It is true that there are lots of debian docs, but they are spread everywhere, sometimes problems are related to package bugs, etc.
i think that Bruce want to create a new piece of pie
for the linux sector.
the market of linux distros is full and small companies
can’t compete with big (SUSE REDHAT ecc )
he basicaly hope to transfer the knowledgebase of debian on every ISV,consultant without pay fees.
obviously if it succeeds to convince some capitalist to invest on userlinux fondation,i think that he will have
more money in her pocket
C’mon, guys! UserLinux is just a GNOME standardized Debian–that’s it, that’s all. If some folks benefit from this, then it is great.
When Red Hat became an enterprise-only subscription based outfit, they basically turned their back on smaller operations that would pay for phone support to iron out problems that they (or their clients) ran into.
From what I gathered when it was announced, UserLinux would be providing this type of support. Or am I completely wrong?
Hi
Not related to redhat enterpise turning backs or anything but Userlinux is exactly meant for per incident supports. software is free. support is optional and paid. you can do the same with caos/whitebox/taolinux but redhat wont support you. you can get the support from other companies.
userlinux adds more visibility and competition to the market which has been dominated by redhat/suse. debian is a very nice base and i am pretty glad that such a option is coming up. probably will try out immediately on the first stable release thou i am happy with redhat el and fedora
I find it difficult to lend support to any Open Source related product that has any connection to OSRM. It seems rather 2-faced for Bruce Perens to on one hand want to be involved in UserLinux and at the same time, make money from the useless money grabbing OSRM which by itself casts a shadow of doubt over the Open Source development process.
I thought rather highly of Mr. Perens before his venture into the Open Source FUD-machine OSRM.
I thought rather highly of Mr. Perens before his venture into the Open Source FUD-machine OSRM.
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OSRM said that linux kernel could possibly infringe on 200+ patents. you can sign up with them for more informationm. bruce perens has been warning about possible patent attacks on linux from 1996. a company like OSRM can act as insurance for people who are scared of patent problems. if you are a big company you would rather pay and avoid the problem than constantly worry about it. he isnt two faced. mail him or read the lwn.net comments on why he is doing what he does
Here’s what a good Enterprise Linux would need:
1. Full Windows Active Directory integration (like Xandros, but better), including GUI Active Directory management tools.
2. A complete OSS Directory Services suite (probably LDAP+Kerberos) complete with GUI management tools, for when you are ready to migrate from Windows to a fully OSS solution. AKA Windows Server killer.
3. A truly thin X protocol (Graphon?) for remotely hosting applications. AKA Citrix/Terminal services killer.
4. A fully integrated Groupware/E-mail server (Kolab?). AKA Exchange killer.
The first Linux vendor to provide these things has my business.
Sounds like you’re Novell’s target market. 🙂
1) E-Directory/Console1.
2) E-Directory imports all your ADS objects and manages continued running of ADS through/after migration.
3) I think this is why they’re now involved in LTSP.
4) Evolution/OpenExchange.
Good luck.
Sounds like you’re Novell’s target market. 🙂
Or Sun (If they ever get off their butts and actually do something with their right to use Microsoft IP).