Red Hat

[Mosabama]

Why do I have to pay to get Redhat ?

if its free software where can I download its source code ?

[szymon_g]

you pay for support.
and yes, it is free software- you can find sources on internet. ask centos crew for details.

[t0p]

According to this thread (http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/red-hat-31/want-to-download-rhel-5-624311/) at linuxquestions.org, RHEL sources are available for download from these links:

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/5Client/en/os/SRPMS

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/5Server/en/os/SRPMS

You can also get CentOS (http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/), which is basically Red Hat without the hat. ;)

PS: Check out the link in my sig for the Spider's Apprentice. You'll find more stuff there to help you in your search.

[RiceMonster]

Because Red Hat is not for home users. It's for enterprises, and you pay for the support that comes with it. If you don't want to pay for Red Hat (why would you if you're a home user anyway) use Fedora, which is testing ground for Red Hat, or CentOS which is Red Hat without the commercial branding and does not cost money.

[kavon89]

I tried RHEL as it was free through my university, and I wouldn't recommend it for a home user. It is the exact opposite of cutting edge and it's using a very old kernel. I would have liked to give it more of a try, however, because the kernel was so old, my wireless card had no support.

[Simian Man]

I tried RHEL as it was free through my university, and I wouldn't recommend it for a home user. It is the exact opposite of cutting edge and it's using a very old kernel. I would have liked to give it more of a try, however, because the kernel was so old, my wireless card had no support.
Yeah RHEL is not meant to be cutting edge, it is meant to be stable for production environments. I'd never run it on a laptop, try Fedora for that use which is quite cutting edge.

BTW, unless you plan on calling up Red Hat with questions, RHEL is free for everyone in the form of CentOS.


I know what freetard means. I just used it in a sentence. Your follow up point is irrelevant to meaning of freetard.

No, you aren't using "Freetard" correctly. A freetard is someone who uses FOSS for primarily philosophical reasons. Since both RHEL and CentOS are FOSS, they are equally valid choices for a "freetard".

[juancarlospaco]

Get CentOS, its ugly too...

[toupeiro]

RHEL releases are all about LTS for stability over providing the most bleeding edge software linux has to offer. If you want a redhat flavor of that, Fedora is your only option. If you need a linux machine to be rock solid (and I mean SOLID, uptimes on my RHEL boxes span years), RHEL is what you use, but its much better on a server or high end technical workstation than a laptop.

[johnboy1313]

Get CentOS, its ugly too...

I tried Cent Os 5.2 for a couple months, it was a really solid os, but i agree it isnt the most attractive os.

I liked fedora 9 too, a little nicer looking but i abandoned it as well, i had a hard time getting all the devices in my machine to work right, especially the wireless card.

[BslBryan]

Running Fedora 11 as my primary OS right now, and I love it.

[blur xc]

I tried Cent Os 5.2 for a couple months, it was a really solid os, but i agree it isnt the most attractive os.

Just a question to help my understanding of things- With Linux and its modular nature, couldn't you just install whatever DE and WM you wanted, and bling it out to look the same as any other distro?

I mean, if I installed Gnome, Compiz, AWN, and the same themes I use in Ubuntu- wouldn't it look exactly the same?

BM

[Simian Man]

Just a question to help my understanding of things- With Linux and its modular nature, couldn't you just install whatever DE and WM you wanted, and bling it out to look the same as any other distro?

I mean, if I installed Gnome, Compiz, AWN, and the same themes I use in Ubuntu- wouldn't it look exactly the same?

BM

For the most part yes. However the versions of those programs in the repositories are fairly stale. For example Centos 5.4 only comes with Gnome 2.16 and KDE 3.5. Of course you could install newer versions of those programs, you may as well just use a different distro at that point.

[Mosabama]

I am not asking because I want to use it ... i just want to know.

Ubuntu is free (Free bear & free software)... if you want support, pay.
Redhat is free if you want it you HAVE to pay for the support by subscribing, you cant download it until you subscribe with money?!! freedom ?

is Redhat considered GPL? and why I cant just get the source, compile it and use it without subcribing.

and if redhat is GPLed, source code has to be available WITH the binaries, or in GPL V3 it has to be available through an FTP site at least.... WHERE ?

[RiceMonster]

I am not asking because I want to use it ... i just want to know.

Ubuntu is free (Free bear & free software)... if you want support, pay.
Redhat is free if you want it you HAVE to pay for the support by subscribing, you cant download it until you subscribe with money?!! freedom ?

is Redhat considered GPL? and why I cant just get the source, compile it and use it without subcribing.

and if redhat is GPLed, source code has to be available WITH the binaries, or in GPL V3 it has to be available through an FTP site at least.... WHERE ?

You don't like to pay attention do you?


According to this thread (http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/red-hat-31/want-to-download-rhel-5-624311/) at linuxquestions.org, RHEL sources are available for download from these links:

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/5Client/en/os/SRPMS

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/5Server/en/os/SRPMS

You can also get CentOS (http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/), which is basically Red Hat without the hat. ;)

PS: Check out the link in my sig for the Spider's Apprentice. You'll find more stuff there to help you in your search.

[Sporkman]

Free bear

Oh no - run!!! :eek:

[KeLa]

Actually here in Finland there is beer that has name as bear (Karhu in finnish) so run towards it or away from it?

[Simian Man]

Ubuntu is free (Free bear & free software)... if you want support, pay.
Redhat is free if you want it you HAVE to pay for the support by subscribing, you cant download it until you subscribe with money?!! freedom ?

is Redhat considered GPL? and why I cant just get the source, compile it and use it without subcribing.

In addition to being able to download the sources directly and via CentOS, much of the work Red Hat does (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/RedHatContributions) is included in other distributions including Ubuntu. They are just as free as Ubuntu, and in some ways, more so.

[OpenGuard]

Running Fedora 11 as my primary OS right now, and I love it.

+1, except, updates could be smaller ( fresh install results in +2Gb in updates ).

[Sporkman]

Actually here in Finland there is beer that has name as bear (Karhu in finnish) so run towards it or away from it?

I recommend towards.

[blur xc]

I am not asking because I want to use it ... i just want to know.

Ubuntu is free (Free bear & free software)... if you want support, pay.
Redhat is free if you want it you HAVE to pay for the support by subscribing, you cant download it until you subscribe with money?!! freedom ?

is Redhat considered GPL? and why I cant just get the source, compile it and use it without subcribing.

and if redhat is GPLed, source code has to be available WITH the binaries, or in GPL V3 it has to be available through an FTP site at least.... WHERE ?

the GPL has nothing to do w/ $$. You could release a program under the gpl and charge $1000 per download if you want. You probably won't get many downloads though.

Compiling source is a pita compared to installing from a repository. I've never done it, but I have a rough understanding of how an application can be compiled from source, but you need to be running in an os. So, then- how do you compile an OS if you need a running computer to do it? It's kind of a chicken and egg thing... Also, according to what I've read, if you compile your own kernel, you forever on have to do your own kernel updates... No more update manager doing the work for you. Sounds like a real good reason to not compile yourself.

BM

[Simian Man]

+1, except, updates could be smaller ( fresh install results in +2Gb in updates ).

If you install the "yum-presto" package, yum will download "delta-rpms" which are the differences between the current package and the updated one. Many updates are to a small part of a large package, so this cuts the downloads by quite a lot.

This will be installed by default starting with Fedora 12.

[OpenGuard]

If you install the "yum-presto" package, yum will download "delta-rpms" which are the differences between the current package and the updated one. Many updates are to a small part of a large package, so this cuts the downloads by quite a lot.

This will be installed by default starting with Fedora 12.

Might give it a try - thank you :)

[RiceMonster]

Might give it a try - thank you :)

I'd say it's worth it (if you're using Fedora right now). Updates are nice and speedy for me.