CentOS - Oct 2009 - Caught between a Red Hat and a CentOS

Interesting column at CNET...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10376762-16.html

~~
"Novell has been positioning itself as the Avis of Linux, a distant
but gaining Red Hat competitor that "tries harder." Like Oracle,
Novell argues that it can give customers Red Hat value at a lower
price.

"There's just one problem with this marketing spin: the "low-cost
alternative" to Red Hat isn't Novell. It's CentOS. And CentOS is
free
as in $0.00.

"It's true that adoption of unpaid Linux like CentOS is booming, and
that this no-cost alternative to more expensive solutions like Red Hat
is a real threat to Red Hat. This is no doubt why Red Hat has made
"free-to-paid" a core element of its ongoing strategy, as related in
its recent earnings call.

"But it's a much bigger threat to Novell and Oracle, both of whom are
trying to position themselves as cheaper alternatives to Red Hat
Enterprise Linux."
~~

I wonder if Red Hat has ever considered limited, paid support options
for CentOS?

-- 
RonB -- Using CentOS 5.3

Ron Blizzard wrote:
> I wonder if Red Hat has ever considered limited, paid support options
> for CentOS?
>   
I think that would be brand cannibalisation and self-defeating.  To
charge a lower support fee for the same product with a different name
would surely only devalue their prime product and lead to revenue
decreases in the long run.

Hopefully there are and will remain to be enough businesses who support
Red Hat.  I know most of my customers would not be comfortable with a
community support arrangement and so pay Red Hat's subscription fees. 
Thank goodness they do, because without them we wouldn't have CentOS.

Ian