[CentOS] New to CentOS, is this a safe bet?

CentOS 4   xfce ( http://www.os-cillation.com/article.php?sid=43 ) 
installer (xfce + goodies + gtk themes) , DAG's repository for yum and 
apt ( Kaffeine + DVD codecs + mplayer plug-in) = desktop OS nirvanna

On Sat, 2005-05-07 at 04:35 -0700, Preston Crawford wrote:

 >> I know this may be a stupid place to ask, but I have to ask. I'm looking
 >> for a new Linux distro to use and support. I've been a loyal purchaser
 >> of SuSE Linux Pro for the last 3 years. I've paid my $90 loyally, in
 >> part because I wanted money to actually go to someone working on OSS,
 >> but also because I thought it was a good bargain, to get a quality,
 >> tested distro for that cost.
 >>
 >> The problem is that lately SuSE is sliding down the path towards being
 >> considered Fedora-like by Novell. So when I install SuSE I don't know if
 >> I'm going to get security updates next week or the week after. My $90
 >> may have just gone to be a 6-month or 1-year beta tester. I need more
 >> stability than that.
 >>
 >> So I'm considering CentOS based on some articles I've read lately, as my
 >> solution. What I'm looking for is a good solid distro that COULD do some
 >> multi-media if I go hunt down the RPMs or if there's a YUM repository
 >> (I'm familiar with Fedora), but mostly a solid distro where I can do
 >> Java work daily and where the distro is memory efficient, solid and
 >> stable. And also where if I decide to run it for a year or more I won't
 >> be forced to upgrade. Now I believe CentOS promises all of these. My
 >> concerns, in terms of it being a safe bet are...
 >>


The issues with multimedia are:

1.  DVD playback requires the use of a decryption product that can not
be distributed by the CentOS project.  Supposedly decryption is bad  :) .

2.  MP3 playback requires a patent payment for every player sold.  Being
that CentOS is given away for free, and we have no idea how many people
install our software, we can't comply with that requirement.

While the CentOS team doesn't agree with either of the above
requirements, we do follow them