[ale] Suggestions on Linux / OSS support providers?

Tue Apr 26 19:43:07 EDT 2011

And getting tied to a particular vendor can be a problem (any one ever seen
"nitix"?).

For many processes, writing an installer that will play nicely with more
than one Linux distro flavor involves some serious mojo. The bigger the app,
the greater the mojo.

The LSB is supposed to address this at least from the libs standpoint. But
there are other things that will block certain distros from being used.

Example: I'm (very slowly) working on a large app that requires an extreme
amount of data security from a network perspective right down to the
database rows and columns. The only opensource solution that I have found to
work is the selinux extensions to PostgreSQL. Do all distros support
selinux? Of the ones that do, do they support it with a selinux policy that
actually works or am I going to have add a bazillion lines to the policy?
Then there's the end goal of getting the app actually in use. Is school ABC
going to be more comfortable with a product based on distro R vs distro U?
The app requires a fairly large installation pile of distributed servers so
that requires a particular toolchain for support of enterprise-level
installations. Which distros are workable in this arena?

At this point my head explodes and I grab the Linux toolchain I _know_ will
meet all of these and go head down on design and devel.

Am I limiting my freedom by this? Can I run a 2001 Ford engine in a 2002 VW
Jetta without a full machine shop?

The big difference between ALL the Linux distro (nitix is not in this list!)
and the closed-source, proprietary crap is the Linux distros ALL provide and
allow the freedom to solve the problem. Some are better in other areas than
others but the ability is there for all to work with.

Can I switch distros? Yes. Will it _HURT_? Oh hell yes!

Are there any "for pay only" distros out there? Nope. Not exactly. Well,
sort of. The most commercial one doesn't require a cent for anyone to
download their source packages and build your own. But one of their
competitors doesn't even pony up a working build source tree (screw you
Oracle! not like I would EVER recommend or use your product.).

But adding in the mix of "closed-source app" to be run on an open-source
platform, it will need to be pretty much self-contained or the developers
will face the wrath of the multi-version, no common ground, distros split
like stained-glass windows environment we all love (and grouse about :-)

Oh. That would be an Oracle install on their "Unbreakable Linux" distro they
build from RedHat's src.rpms. Oracle still can't write an installer for
their stupid product on RedHat, the platform the actually recommend when
they don't recommend Solaris (or what ever it's mutated into now).

On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 6:40 PM, Jeff Hubbs <jhubbslist at att.net> wrote:

>  In my view this is a dynamic that marks a large and hopefully only partial
> failure of the Open Source movement.
>
> One of the reasons I began exploring uses of Linux in 1995 is that I sought
> a way to build computing platforms that were not tightly coupled to the
> whims and cash-flow desires of vendors.  This was driven in part by my role
> as a Federal civil servant bent on maximizing value to the Taxpayer, not
> value for vendors and contractors.  By 1998 I had started to see a crack
> developing in the wall with respect to what Microsoft was doing in the
> industry and this reinforced my notion of Open Source software as a way to
> not only design and deploy more cost-effective computing resources but also
> more "free" ones - "free" here meaning maintaining my freedom as an
> implementer and administrator with respect to what hardware and software is
> used and in what manner.  As I learned from my bad experience with device
> support in WinNT, in Linux-land a similar problem could be taken up easily
> and quickly with the very developers who wrote the code or, alternatively, I
> could tackle the problem locally.
>
> To accept a software product in the door that couples you to a for-pay
> Linux distribution is to basically say that you prefer life under
> Microsoft-like hegemony.  I've seen it happen, and it stinks up the room in
> the same way Windows-only apps did.  It is not necessary to develop and sell
> closed-source software with such shackles as standard equipment and it is
> therefore not necessary to use such products.
>
> I don't subscribe to RMS-like levels of absolutism and purity but if I were
> developing a closed-source app for profit to run under Linux, I would see to
> it that it had system requirements that were easy to meet under most any
> reasonably multipurpose (I pointedly avoid the term "mainstream") current or
> future Linux distribution.  This is because just as I value my own computing
> freedom, I value the freedom of others.
>
> - Jeff
>
>
> On 4/26/11 9:24 AM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>
>  RHEL and SUSE are both “commercial” distros built around being supported
> by their respective makes.   Many companies that want “support” use them for
> that reason.   Here we use RHEL but haven’t really had any major support
> needs.   The main benefit to using these distros is many of the commercial
> applications one might get on Linux are supported mainly on RHEL and to a
> lesser extent on SUSE.   (This doesn’t mean they won’t run on other distros
> – just that you might have issues calling the software maker for issues if
> they find out you’re not running on a “supported” platform.)
>
>
>
> Canonical offers support for Ubuntu as I understand it but I don’t know
> that there is a lot of support for it by other application vendors.
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org<ale-bounces at ale.org>]
> *On Behalf Of *Mark Wright
> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 26, 2011 9:07 AM
> *To:* Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> *Subject:* Re: [ale] Suggestions on Linux / OSS support providers?
>
>
>
> Steel Pivot.  Local guy, real smart.
>
>
>
>
>
> Mark Wright
>
> m.perry.wright at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 25, 2011, at 9:44 PM, Eric Webb wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi ALE!
>
>
>
> Anyone have any recommendations on support providers for Linux (OS) and
>
> open-source software needs?  $Werk is finally coming around and Linux is
>
> finally getting a foothold in the server fleet.  I can support it just
> fine
>
> myself, but as can be expected in larger enterprises, they are searching
> for
>
> someone to provide support/assistance with not only Linux, but some
>
> open-source software (primarily Apache at this point, but I expect it to
>
> grow).  You know, in case I take vacation... ;)
>
>
>
> Candidate suggestions can be local or national/global -- anyone worked with
> a
>
> company that they would recommend (or recommend staying away from) ??
>
>
>
>
>
> Thx,
>
> -e.
>
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-- 
James P. Kinney III

As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
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