[CentOS-devel] Before You Get Mad About The CentOS Stream Change, Think About…

John Crisp

jcrisp at safeandsoundit.co.uk
Wed Dec 23 00:31:52 UTC 2020


On Mon, 21 Dec 2020 11:29:52 -0600
Mike McGrath <mmcgrath at redhat.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Dec 21, 2020 at 11:06 AM John Crisp
> <jcrisp at safeandsoundit.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, 18 Dec 2020 13:03:47 -0600
> > Mike McGrath <mmcgrath at redhat.com> wrote:
> >  
> > >
> > > Red Hat isn't aiming for total global domination

> > That is what any company aims for, even if they don't achieve it.
> > It is the simple objective, and outcome, of capitalism. Beat the
> > rest.
> >
> > So this is about growing/expanding market share, which then equates
> > to profit. Why wouldn't you?
> > 
> > If you argue anything else you really are quite simply gaslighting.
> >
> >  

> You have grossly oversimplified a complicated situation and completely
> ignored corporate responsibility which is something Red Hat takes very
> seriously.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is called gaslighting.

As a good friend of mine said many moons ago. "Life is simple. It is
people that make it complicated."

And for good reason. It is easy to hide amongst corporate complexity and
a wall of long arguments over minutiae. Take a simple idea and
complicate it.

Business really IS simple. Buy or create something, add value, and sell
for more money than it cost you = profit.

How to increase that may be complex. But the base formula is not.

Of course, you can add morals & all that jazz. But none of it gets away
from the fact that companies need profit, and shareholders need
dividends, and the simplest way to increase profit is to either cut
your highest costs - usually jobs - and send them somewhere cheaper, or
increase market share, aka 'domination'.

Corporate responsibility? Yeah, I understand that. We like to be
huggy too. But with no profit it doesn't mean a thing. You are out of
business.

But of course, you know all this.

My point was/is please stop the platitudes and excuses and just say
it like it is. Stop trying to pretend it is really complicated, and
we couldn't possibly understand your feelings, when in fact it is
fundamentally really simple.

> > It really is quite offensive and you are aren't winning any hearts
> > and minds right now.
> >  
> 
> I'll admit something about Mark's reply didn't bring out the best in
> me. However, I'll take every opportunity to dote on the team and on
> Red Hat, they've done some amazing things that we have all benefited

Indeed. Seeing more and more frustrated RH people desperately try to
defend the indefensible. I almost feel sorry for many there who
probably feel quite betrayed, and those like you having to do the rounds
on lists like this getting their ears bent trying to placate people with
businesses that have just been destroyed over night (luckily I'm not
one) by telling them what a great company RedHat is. Gaslighting.

>   There is a lot more to Red Hat than the dollars and cents
> you're trying to distill us down into.
> 

There may well be, but I'm afraid when you do distil it down, no matter
which way you try and cut it, the bottom line is always money. 

If it wasn't for money, CentOS as we know it would not be being cut.

No, I don't doubt for a moment that you are all lovely people to meet
down the bar (and I have met one or two). But this is a decision
based on $$$ presumably trying to convert a cost into revenue and
extinguishing the 'free loaders'. 

Probably rammed home when the new RedHat owners asked about how you
were going to increase revenue. They aren't known for beating about the
bush with 'loss making' business. I'd guess a marketing and
beancounter assessment of how many CentOS users converted to RH didn't
fair well.

So this was a quick way to shave a few million in costs overnight,
potentially gain a load of new subscribers, and get more testing by the
rest. And your morals went to hell in a handcart.

It is really that simple. Please don't try and pretend it is otherwise.

Have a safe Xmas & New Year.



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