[plug] RH7.x

[Bret Busby]

On Mon, 26 Aug 2002, Colin Muller wrote:

> 
> On Mon, Aug 26, 2002 at 03:10:20PM +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
> > Regarding the issue of whether users of Red Hat Linux should be
> > charged for bug fixes, I have this ideal (yes, I know that I am
> > altruistic), that, when a person provides a good or service, and the
> > good or service is faulty, it should be repaired free of charge. In
> > this case, that means free patches.
> 
> Red Hat provides not only free patches, but also free upgrades. In
> addition, they provide the free service of packaging these patches and
> upgrades into RPM files to make them easy to install; they also
> provide the source files, if that's what you prefer. Then they put
> them onto a RedHat server and do not charge for the outgoing bandwidth
> from their server that people use to download and/or mirror them. They
> post regular notifications of patches and upgrades to their Web site,
> post these same notifications to free public mailing lists which you
> can subscribe to, hosted on their servers, for those who would like
> the notifications to come to them rather than have to go to the Web
> site to check for them. They let you take advantage of all this at no
> charge, whether or not you have ever paid them a single cent. How
> exactly does all this contravene your ideal?
> 
> Colin
> 
> 
> 

On Tue, 2 Jul 2002 rhn-help at redhat.com wrote:
> 
> Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 03:58:00 -0400
> From: rhn-help at redhat.com
> To: bret at busby.net
> Subject: RHN Support Request #32528
> 
> 
> Dear Sir,
> 
> Up2date is functional. However, if the system encounters extreme traffic during
> the update, it will disconnect all the users that has free service and will
> only retain users that are entitled.
> 
> 

"extreme traffic" appears (from experience) to mean the system gets a 
bit busy as a significant update, such as a kernel update, is available.

Thus, to use the service, a person has to pay to be ensured access. The 
message above, makes it clear that Red Hat regards people who do not 
have paid support contracts, as not being entitled to the bug fixes.

I had been trying for about a week, to get the kernel update. I have 
each time (apart from the time where I encountered the first error 
message about being short of space), encountered the message that the 
facility was only available to people with paid support contracts. Time 
of day is irrelevant, when this happens. (When the updates are not as 
significant, time of day can affect the updating, as the downloads are 
more available, if they are less significant.)

It becomes a question of whether it is free, when it is not available 
to people who do not have paid support contracts.

Having got chucked off our Internet connection, as our 4 hour minimum 
period had expired, the download has just started again from scratch.

Hopefully, we will manage to get the download completed before they 
wake up in the USA, and start all their downloads by people who have 
paid support. Otherwise, it is just more wasted bandidth, and, more 
wasted time in trying to get the update, and, no update, as we have not 
paid support contract fees.

-- 
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
 you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
  Chapter 28 of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Douglas Adams, 1988
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