Red Hat Archive

"We see the desktop as only a piece of the entire operating system product; integration must extend beyond the desktop. We also believe that users care most about functionality and integration rather than the underlying technology. For these reasons, we have created a single desktop look and feel for Red Hat Linux rather than maintaining two unrelated configurations." Very good stuff over there from Owen Taylor, the Red Hat Desktop Team member.

In an interview with IT Week, Red Hat chief technology officer Michael Tiemann said the new product - which is expected to be called Red Hat Technical Workstation - will be Red Hat's first attempt at making a Linux desktop for business users. Unlike its existing desktop product, which is used mostly by programmers and specialists and is often updated, Technical Workstation will be upgraded only every two years to make it easier for third parties to support.

IBM just released a tutorial detailing the process involved in transforming "out of the box" Red Hat OS into a stable, secure, and better performing system customized to individual needs. Its based on Red Hat 7.3 but most of the techniques and procedures discussed are equally applicable to other Linux systems. This is also related to a "Speed Start Your Linux Program" and CD.

The latest beta of Red Hat 8, named "null", released a couple of days ago, includes some UI changes, mostly new icons, showing the clear wish of Red Hat to enter the corporate desktop market. Texstar from PCLinuxOnline posted some screenshots of his Null beta, so you can see the UI changes for yourself. I took the time this afternoon to try and suggest ways to clean up the new Red Hat UI even more (particularly, the menu). See the original shot, and the modified one. Our previous article, based on a random shot of Red Hat's older UI can be found here.

"Red Hat Inc. is looking to expand its general retail Linux and enterprise server software offerings and so will release a formal desktop Linux product geared toward the corporate market early next year. Mark De Visser, a vice president at the Raleigh, N.C., open-source technology provider, told eWEEK Tuesday that Red Hat is "working on a special desktop product offering for the corporate market. There is now a place, as well as demand, for this." Hence the greatly improved - from the simple user's point of view- Limbo beta. Red Hat is after the corporate desktops, eWeek and News.com report.

Just a few weeks after the beta release of the next version of their Linux based OS, Red Hat has released 7.3.93 of their software, once again, code-named Limbo. Those of you who read my first Limbo review know that I gave it a favorable review. After downloading and installing the second beta, I had to take a few days before writing this article.

"A new beta release of red hat linux, code-named Limbo, hit FTP servers earlier this month, giving users a first look at what is likely to become Version 8.0 of Red Hat Inc.'s most popular Linux distribution." Read the preview at eWeek. OSNews also had a preview of Limbo recently.

Seeing a Red Hat Beta so soon after the release of Red Hat Linux 7.3 is both surprising and exciting - I've used many flavors of Linux and always come back to Red Hat on the desktop. First off, the installation program is second only to Caldera's Lizard. Secondly, the GUI is usually responsive in most cases. Thirdly, the software is easy to find. Lastly, Red Hat seems to set the standard for Linux - until distributions are more compatible, I am content with Red Hat. Limbo is a major upgrade to Red Hat Linux from a user standpoint, so I'd like to discuss the pros and cons of this specific distribution as a comparison to other Red Hat distributions; this is not a "Why You Should Use Red Hat" article.

"Red Hat is warming to the use of the Linux operating system on desktop computers, a difficult market where customers are picky and Microsoft is the leader." Read the article at ZDNews.

"Could Red Hat become the next Microsoft -- that is, could it become the dominant (not necessarily domineering) operating systems provider? What a ridiculous proposition, you might say. How could a little company that provides Linux open source software hope to topple Microsoft?" The editorial is at ZDNews. In another Red Hat related article, LinuxDevices wondering "What's up with Red Hat's embedded strategy?"

"Red Hat Linux is the most commercially popular distribution of Linux out there today, hands down. However, reviewing a new release of Red Hat can make any reviewer a little wary of what they might find this time around. Bill von Hagen has examined Red Hat's latest release and has found some surprises, both good and, well, not so good." Read the review at LinuxPlanet.

Last year, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik thought Sun Microsystems' open source-based alternative to Microsoft's widely used Office software would encourage broader use of the Linux operating system on desktops and perhaps loosen the iron grip of Windows. But Szulik abandoned those hopes when Sun started charging for its StarOffice product and changed its way of dealing with the original equipment manufacturers, such as Red Hat, which can bundle it with their own offerings. Szulik accused Sun of adopting the domineering methods of mutual enemy Microsoft.

"Sun Microsystems Inc.'s decision to start charging users for its upcoming StarOffice 6.0 desktop office productivity suite is coming at a price: Linux sales and service company Red Hat Inc. has decided not to use StarOffice 6.0 in any of its distributions going forward. Red Hat is a leading distributor of Linux desktop and server software, and its rejection of StarOffice 6.0 cuts out a major Linux distribution channel for Sun and comes just as the company prepares to release the Office product later this month." Read the rest of the report at ExtremeTech.

"Here's the riddle: If Linux is gaining more market share among big-spending corporate customers, why have sales at Red Hat -- the undisputed Linux leader -- been creeping steadily downward? Red Hat now has 90 percent of its 630 employees working to lure corporations looking to move their computing platform from expensive systems running on the rival Unix operating system to Linux, widely considered to be the more cost-effective choice. But it might be the cost-effective part that comes back to haunt Red Hat. With the Linux operating system available for free, Red Hat has struggled to find a way to secure paying customers. After a year of adjusting the focus at Red Hat away from smaller businesses and e-commerce applications, the company now needs to prove that it can translate Linux's growing popularity into stronger sales." Read the rest of the story at NewsObserver.