Re: Dig at open source
> Read the next sentence after the one you quoted.
Yeah, I read it. But I'd had quite enough of quoting nonsense as it was.
> but they make it difficult for anyone to use it to compete with them
No they don't. This is simply untrue.
> You might say to the letter but not to the spirit of "open source."
No, I wouldn't. I'd say it is both the letter and the spirit of Open Source.
> I think we are writing the same thing.
I think we are writing something entirely different. You keep mainitaining that RH are doing something nefarious, when in fact they are not. You keep saying they are obfuscating source, when in fact they are not.
> Maybe you would prefer the term "obscure" instead of "mask" or "conceal"
No, I wouldn't. I'd go for "publish".
There is no obscurement going on. There is no concealment. There is no masking. It exists only in the mutterings of ACs on various fora, and must therefore be considered FUD from "interested parties".
> They release patches in one giant system upgrade instead of point by point releases
No they don't.
They merely roll up all the patches for the *current kernel release*. You've still got the pristine upstream tarball, and you've still got a list of everything they did to make it into what was shipped. You've still got a detailed changelog.
The *only* thing that has been removed is RH's detail on which parts of the patchset comprise which parts of the changelog - and most of that information can be inferred from the changes between releases.
> They release everything to the general public
At last you have something right.
> they do it in such a way that it would be very difficult for anyone to use Linux code to compete with them
Nonsense. It is *trivial* to compete with RH - you don't even need to understand the code, just rebuild it.
> Linux distros are already starting to fragment as a result
Ah, the "fragment" keyword. I'm afraid you've just outed yourself.
Please stop spreading your FUD. I understand this might mean a reduction in income for you, but I'm sure you'll sleep better at night.
Vic.