[CentOS] Will CentOS become obsolete now because of the changes Red Hat is implementing?

[Nataraj]

On 03/05/2011 04:22 AM, Johnny Hughes wrote:
> On 03/05/2011 04:07 AM, Rudi Ahlers wrote:
>> This post appeared on another forum:
>>
> This kernel change does not impact the ability to rebuild the source as
> is, it just makes it much harder to do anything except build the
> pristine kernel from kernel.org or the Red Hat kernel.
>
> You can still compare the RH tarball to the pristine kernel and see all
> the changes ... they are just not added one at a time.
>
> This will make it very difficult to back out one patch (because your
> server is running version xyz of farmer joe's ethernet card, and that
> does not work with PatchA).
>
> This should not impact building the kernel ... it might impact things
> like the CentOSPlus Kernel or CentOS providing a "stop gap" kernel (in
> the testing repo) while waiting for Red Hat to correct a problem and get
> their kernel through engineering and then released.
>
> That is not to say I like the changes, as it will have impacts ... but
> as long as they only do it to the kernel, it is not a big problem.
>
> If they do it to every package in the OS, then that would be a much
> bigger problem.  It is much easier for us to find and remove trademarks
> when they are inserted via a patch into existing upstream code ... if we
> only had the modified tarballs and not the patches, it would be much
> harder to find all the things that need changing.
>

It's my sense that Redhat views CentOS and SL as benificial for them and
not as competition.  I think over time many people install CentOS and it
leads to them selling more redhat licenses from companies who really do
need support.  Our testing and filing of bugs in their database is also
supportive of the development process in the same way that it is with
fedora.

Over the years, I've talked several times to redhat sales people and
they've always recognized people that contribute to the Open Source
community and were not really in need of a support contract and told
them to just download Open Source distributions.  I've never once felt
pressure from them to replace my CentOS systems with Redhat licenses,
though I've purchased a few over time.

I think redhat is a great example of an open source company that truly
gives back to the community without fear of losing business as a
result.  Their concerns around  these two large commercial competitors
are legit and it is apropriate for them to be addressed.  We all benefit
from having companies like Redhat around.

Nataraj