[RndTbl] RHEL pulls source code

[Alberto Abrao]

On 2023-06-23 01:19, Adam Thompson wrote:
> RHEL's own *customers* still have access to the source code for the as-built system, so I think they're in the clear there, but... IANAL.

Except that they can't redistribute the sources, else Red Hat will drop 
them as customers.

"You're totally free to do as you please, but if you don't do as *I* 
please, there be consequences."

That's a... very... elastic definition of freedom.


> From: Roundtable <roundtable-bounces at muug.ca> On Behalf Of Trevor Cordes
> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2023 1:16 AM
> To: roundtable at muug.ca
> Subject: Re: [RndTbl] RHEL pulls source code
>
>
> Is this legal, per the GPL?  They make modifications, they release
> binaries (though not for free).  Therefore they must release the
> sources?  Releasing a different version (I guess what they'll call
> their "upstream" may not satisfy the GPL?

By the time you're calling the lawyers, the relationship is already soured.

>
> Ramifications?  I guess this instantly kills Rocky et al and forces
> everyone on "free RHEL" to buy RHEL?  I don't think Rocky et al have
> the resources to path & update their distro on their own, and in any
> event, it would no longer be "fully RHEL compatible"
>
> Or am I reading this completely wrong?

That's the whole point. It doesn't need to be impossible, it just needs 
to be hard enough.


You know what pisses me off? When they first started down this path, I - 
and many others - decided to go and look at their terms and prices.

Red Hat does *not* want to deal with any organization that lacks deep 
pockets. We got out of this exercise thinking about paying Canonical for 
Ubuntu, instead. Talk about shooting your own foot.

And here's another one that just has to go off the deep end, but for 
different reasons: we decided to not go with them, because of the little 
hills they choose to die on. Snaps, for example. Heck, Canonical could 
just do "Debian, with Enterprise Support" and it'd be a winner!

I am always amazed by how far we've come, and yet we often manage to 
screw it up because we're unable to see the bigger picture.


Oh well.. it was a good run. Hope Debian sticks around. That's where 
I'll be most likely going for the long-term. I am more of an RPM guy, 
but between RH's shenanigans and having to battle snaps on every release 
of a **server** distribution, that's where it's at.


Kind regards,

-- 
Kind regards,
Alberto Abrao