All day I've been trying to download even one iso, to no avail. Which would be ok (I've never successfully retrieved an "Instant ISO from RHN in the past, either and I'll probably buy the boxed version when it is available),
<flame>
were it not for the insult to my intelligence that the email from Red Hat last week and the RHN website today embody.
Didn't anyone at Red Hat realize that the reason, to quote https://rhn.redhat.com/network/software/download_isos.pxt, that they "are experiencing high volumes of traffic due to unprecedented demand for Red Hat Linux 9 ISOs" is that: 1) they've never seen (and thanks to the leakage via BitTorrent never will see) the full demand because they've *never* been able to keep up in the past, so the mirrors *always* get the brunt of the demand, and 2) marketing has bombarded every Red Hat user on the planet with unsupportable hype about this program?
What's up with "recommend[ing] that you use *curl* to download the ISO images ... |*curl -C - -O 'very_long_url'"? What kind of cruel joke is this? How many tries do they think it is going to take a mere mortal to copy that 'very_long_url' from the status line of mozilla without an error? What good does it do anyway that "*|The '*|-C -|*' option allows you to continue the download if it is interrupted" if the session authentication cookie expires, invalidating the 'very_long_url' hours before the connection craps out (which is days before the download might conceivably finish at 5kBps)?
Does anyone at RedHat realize how totally lame today's performance has made them appear to be?
And then there's the matter of bumping the release number to 9, so, one can only presume, they can cut off support for the 7.x series sooner.
The whole unsubstantiated marketing hyperbole thing stinks of Micro$oft, if you ask me.
</flame>
-------- Original Message --------
From: Red Hat Network <dev-null@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Red Hat Linux 9 -- Get it Early
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Dear ????????,
We appreciate your support of Red Hat Network and wanted to alert you to a special service that we are extending to paying Red Hat Network customers such as yourself. For the past couple months we've gathered feedback and listened to our customers. We've heard that one of the things you want most is early access to Red Hat Linux ISOs.
Well, we've responded. Starting March 31st at 9am Eastern, you can start downloading Red Hat Linux 9 ISOs -- a week before they will be generally available in retail stores or via Red Hat FTP. For more information, go to:
http://www.redhat.com/mktg/rh9iso/
You also asked for improved technical support. Beginning March 31st, you will notice an improved Red Hat Network FAQ, and you will also notice that Red Hat Network technical support (with a Service Level Agreement) is being extended to paying customers.
We hope that you enjoy these added benefits of being a Red Hat Network subscriber and that you will continue to provide us with feedback in the future.
Thanks for all of your continued support of Red Hat.
--the Red Hat Network team
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