[BlueOnyx:26356] Re: Redhat sources - current state of affairs

[Chris Gebhardt - VIRTBIZ Internet]

Hi Michael and list,


> TL;DR: It's all good. Better than ever, actually.

Ah ha, I *DID* read.   And I appreciate the time that you took to 
thoughtfully process the information, compose the message and also add 
the links for context.    Mostly, I'm glad that we don't have a gun to 
our collective heads having to face difficult decisions about our base 
OS for the moment.   That's a huge relief.

It's fair to say that Red Hat's actions have been disruptive to nearly 
all sectors of RHEL user base, but the impact to the hosting community 
has been profound.  BlueOnyx is not the only control panel that was 
caught flat-footed by RH's pronouncements and it may be years before the 
ripples are fully settled.   The commercial vendor we use for some 
hosting applications had been working on their Ubuntu support for a 
while, but that has certainly been fast-tracked to a fully supported 
(and just short of recommended) option.  And they've been based on RHEL 
for as long as we have.

While my company certainly has a hand in many different pots when it 
comes to Linux flavors, our comfort zone has been with Enterprise Linux 
from the start.  That began back in the days of the MIPS-based Cobalt 
RaQs and their Redhat-derived OS.   We'll adapt to a new base-OS for our 
production hosting if need be, but I'm relieved to hear that Redhat's 
actions may have actually spurred some new enthusiasm and possibly new 
directions for Enterprise Linux as we know it.   It's comforting that we 
don't have to jump head-first into a new distro.

To that end, I'm pleased we chose the horse we did when selecting a 
distribution following the collapse of CentOS.  AlmaLinux benefits from 
even-handed management and CloudLinux's backing. It seems to carry with 
it the best of the CentOS spirit.   I find it curious that CloudLinux 
themselves are offering a free distribution although they're funding 
AlmaLinux.   I'm unsure what their angle is with that, and how that may 
impact AlmaLinux.

I can tell you one thing for certain:  Given the mercurial nature of 
RedHat's decision making, we will not be considering their product.  
They seem to shift directions on a whim, which is not a trait I'm 
interested in when making decisions on how best to provide stability and 
success for my business.   I cannot help but wonder if other managers 
might be thinking along similar lines, and if RedHat's actions will 
ultimately put then into an also-ran position.  Now that would really 
make things interesting with the futures of AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, 
CloudLinux etc.

-- 
Chris Gebhardt
VIRTBIZ Internet Services
Access, Web Hosting, Colocation, Dedicated
www.virtbiz.com | toll-free (866) 4 VIRTBIZ