[NCLUG] Trolling was: "red hat - the new redmond?" comment from mainstream online media

[mbutcher]

On Saturday 07 September 2002 09:46 pm, R P Herrold wrote:

> I'll bring this back to using an open source tool.
> Congratulations in making my killfile in one day:
<snip>
> ... which brands content as from a twit, and further dumps
> content into a holding pen, pending removal to /dev/null at
> the bottom of the recipe when X-Dump is present.
>
> -- Russ Herrold

That was unnecessary.

The point of the matter is this: Red Hat is certainly tweaking KDE (and GNOME) 
to fit their new marketing push. In the course of so doing, they have done 
things that make their version of KDE work significantly differently than the 
official KDE (and the KDE functionality in the vast majority of other 
distros). Whether they are intentionally trying to cripple KDE, or just stuck 
in the GNOME way of thinking (remember: at least a few of GNOME's key players 
are on the RH payroll), the fact is pretty plain to anyone who looked at the 
screenshots, read the articles, etc. that Red Hat is doing what they are 
doing to make their desktop look different, and make both KDE and GNOME feel 
the same. I'd call that marketing.

I am not anti-Red Hat. I do not think that Red Hat is (or could possibly 
become) the next Microsoft. However, it certainly seems to me that Red Hat 
has committed a few errors in dealing with the KDE community as a whole. Yes 
--  Red Hat can do what they want within the constraints of the GPL, but I'd 
have to agree with Idris -- their method of operation could use some 
adjustment. 

Idris isn't saying that DOJ should break up Red Hat, or that we should pick up 
pitchforks and head to NC, and his arguments are rational, though emotionally 
charged. Give him the benefit of the doubt and stay away from ad hominum 
arguments.