On Thu, 6 Nov 2003, Ed Wilts wrote: > On Thu, Nov 06, 2003 at 01:38:40PM -0500, Matthew Saltzman wrote: > > According to the RH salesperson I spoke with, there is no renewal on the > > one-year RHN subscription that comes with RHPW. Obviously, the "life > > cycle" is the same as RHEW, but you'll be supporting your own installation > > with downloaded SRPM updates. (That is, *if* this information is accurate > > and *if* RH doesn't change the support model later. I did add my voice to > > those clamoring for a low-cost minimal-support subscription service that > > could support SOHO users and independent developers.) > > Renewal options are in the works... I don't know when, or even if, > they'll be announced, but Red Hat is certainly look at this issue. > > .../Ed See, this is really the thing that I find frustrating. I'd like to see a roadmap that lets me know what's happening, when, and what it will cost. It should cover the lifetimes of current products, and it should address recommendations for how customers should respond to changes that have a major impact on their operations. For example, RHPW comes with a year of support, but nobody has a clue what will happen at the end of that time. For example, with no warning whatsoever, RHN has changed the way systems can be re-entitled so that reducing an entitlement on a system requires deleting and reregistering it. I don't really mind that that changes the way I maintain a few systems I have at home, but I do mind that I wasn't told in advance. (And why change that now? That particular service level will die with RH9's EOL anyway. It won't cause anyone to buy more entitlements, it will just annoy them.) For example, RHES doesn't come with MySQL or PostgreSQL servers. I didn't see any announcement from Red Hat about this configuration change--it's only apparent from looking at the package list. According to RH Sales, some sort of database server will be offered as an add-on product with unspecified features at some indeterminate time in future at some unspecified cost. How am I supposed to plan migration of my RHES servers to 3.0 (which I'd like to do to get some of the other new technology) if I don't know when I can get database servers or whether they will be affordable? What options do I have in the meantime (besides sticking with 2.1)? If I call back today and get a different salesperson, will I get the same story? Sorry for ranting. I'm not planning on doing anything drastic yet, and I think a lot of the comments from people whose first thought is to move are overreactions, but I do feel kind of put out. -- Matthew Saltzman Clemson University Math Sciences mjs AT clemson DOT edu http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
