Awtrey: Debian is Different

[ Thanks to Anthony Awtrey for this link. ]

"Debian may have started out as a typical Linux distribution, but it is more than that now. Other distributions, especially commercial distributions like Red Hat and SUSE, still tend to treat their Linux distribution like more traditional software products. Raw materials, in the form of software from Free / Open Source projects, goes into a black box where it is packaged and prepared by the vendor and comes out as if under cellophane. The companies may provide the source code to their packages, but they lock up their build and distribution processes tight. They trade the complexity of the build, quality assurance and distribution processes in exchange for money. The upside for their customers; simpler access to Linux. The downside for their customers; dependency on the distribution provider for new technology, quality control and ongoing support..."

Complete Story

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• Murdock: Can't We All Just Get Along?(Apr 12, 2005)
• Linux Magazine: It's All About the Debians(Feb 27, 2005)
• NewsForge: 10 Ways to Pay Back the Open Source Community(Jan 11, 2005)