Re: Which Linux?

"Ronald Cole" <ronald@forte-intl.com> wrote in message news:m3n07izjqq.fsf@yakisoba.forte-intl.com... Thanks for the comments about RHEL: it's invaluable to know of real users' experiences. You took my sarcastic comments about RedHat moving to a chargeable model at face value, which is always the best way. In fact I was trying to make a wider point: that it was unrealistic to expect the "free" model to last for ever. Speaking personally and extrapolating my views widely, one of the reasons that I have got so "in" to Linux is the free distribution model, which has allowed me to use it for a time-only investment. And I'd very much like it to stay that way. But as it moves into the mainstream, and companies like IBM move their tanks into the battlefield (I think we had a previous debate on the pros and cons of IBM's involvement in "The Linux Project"), it is perhaps inevitable that companies will try to cash in more directly. It's similar to the evolution argument: the greatest good for all would doubtless be obtained by all Linux vendors maintaining the free model, but that won't ultimatately sustain because the gains for any one of them to break ranks are so high.