Hi, The following came across linuxisp. Hope I'm not repeating someone.... Cheers, --Amos
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- To: linuxisp@friendly.jeffnet.org
- Subject: Building a commercial support system for Linux (fwd)
- From: Mike Taylor <taylor@syrinx.jeffnet.org>
- Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 09:42:31 +0000 ( )
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 00:54:16 +1000 From: Robert Hart <hartr@interweft.com.au> To: SERVER-LINUX@NETSPACE.ORG Subject: Building a commercial support system for Linux Red Hat proposes Commercial Support for Red Hat Linux ----------------------------------------------------- With the growing use of Linux in general (and Red Hat Linux in particular) in corporate offices, there is increasing demand for commercial support of Red Hat Linux. At present, this demand is being partly met by independent consultants who provide support to their clients. There is however no special assistance available from Red Hat to aid such activities. Although Linux is penetrating the commercial, business, industry and government markets, the lack of formal Linux support arrangments for sites considering the use of Linux is all too frequently used as reason for NOT using Linux. Provision of a high quality support infrastructure is essential to assist Linux to increase its penetration of the commercial sector. Red Hat Software is now actively looking at providing commercial support for its distribution. In order to move this issue forward, Red Hat Software has contracted Robert Hart of InterWeft (hartr@interweft.com.au) to research this issue, make recommendations to Red Hat Software and manage the establishment and evolution of the commercial support system. Support Provision Models ------------------------ Red Hat Software currently provides free (Email based) installation support for its Linux Distribution, but does not provide commercial support contracts or make any special assistance available to persons and organisations wishing to provide support. Whilst Red Hat could offer commercial support contracts itself (in the same way that commercial operating systems are supported directly by the owning organisation), this model has a number of problems:- 1. Red Hat Linux is in use worldwide; constructing a Red Hat Software operated, world wide support network would require considerable time and resources, neither of which are available. 2. A major reason for the success of Linux is the intensely cooperative philosophy which characterises the Linux community. This cooperation is also evident within the existing Linux consultant community. A traditional, company operated support system would not mesh well with this philosophy and would fail to take advantage of one of Linux's strengths. 3. The commercial Linux community consists of many (usually small) organisations providing a range of solutions based on Linux. These organisations are close to their clients and have high skill levels; staff at these organisations also make significant contributions to the Linux world through activities such as authoring and/or maintaining software and documentation. Bypassing such organisations in the provision of commercial support would be extremely counter productive. Red Hat Software is looking to build a commercial support system which is firmly grounded on the principle of cooperation that has been so successful in creating Linux itself. This model meshes with the fundamental Linux philosophy and also provides a mechanism by which small organisations acting cooperatively can achieve the requirements of size and reputation to provide visibility in the commercial world. Cooperative support - how will it work? --------------------------------------- First of all, it should be made clear that Red Hat Software has not made any decisions on how such a system should work. The following possible model is provided simply to stimulate discussion. The requirements of any system are :- 1. The system provides the end users (those organisations seeking a commercial support contract for Red Hat Linux) with a high quality, responsive support system allowing them to operate their systems reliably; 2. The support system is operationally feasible on a world wide scale; 3. The system in financially feasible for all parties concerned - Red Hat Software, independent consultants providing the support and the end users of Red Hat Linux; 4. The system benefits the Linux community at large (beyond just users of Red Hat Software's distributions) through improved documentation, improved system reliability, a wider range of free and commercial server and work station software and the increased visibility of Linux in general. Current Planning - and how to have your say ------------------------------------------- With these requirements in mind, Red Hat Software is actively seeking input from the Linux user community on how such a system could operate and what services it could provide . Input is sought from :- * individuals and organisations already providing or interested in providing commercial support for Linux; * individuals and organisations interested in purchasing a commercial support contract for Linux; * the Linux community at large. To this end, a mailing list has been established at Red Hat to provide a mechanism for the discussions to occur. To subscribe to the mailing list, please send a message to cons-forum-request@redhat.com with the subject line of subscribe You will receive a return Email requesting confirmation of the subscription request. Upon replying to this you will be subscribed to the list and will receive an information message about the list and its operation. The mailing list address (the address to which messages to the list are sent) is cons-forum@redhat.com (You must be subscribed to the list in order to be able to post messages to the list). You are invited to subscribe to this list and participate in building the model for the operation of a commercial Linux support system. -- Robert Hart hartr@interweft.com.au Voice: +61 (0)3 9735 3586 http://www.interweft.com.au/ InterWeft, 35 Summit Road, Lilydale, Victoria 3140, Australia IT, data and voice networking Strategic IT business planning Internet planning, implementation, security and configuration
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