[OS:N:] Re: K12 and Red Hat

[Perry Horner <P_HORNER asu edu>]

My only issue with Red Hat has to do with the uneasy access to find an email
address for general requests.  I sent an email to a sales and customer
service rep asking how I can obtain 100 of the small Red Hat clear stickers
distributed within the retail box.  I am deploying 100 Linux workstations at
our institution and wanted to let the users know what OS is beneath the
hood.  I have received no response from them.  Oh well, I guess they are not
into branding like Intel is.  I plan to get Tux stickers instead.

Perry Horner

>Hi all,
>I don't know if this is an appropriate place to post
>this rant but I want to make sure Red Hat hears it as
>I am incredibly frustrated with them and they sponsor
>this list.
>As a company, what are peoples' experiences dealing
>with Red Hat?  I am seriously considering moving away
>from Red Hat because I find them so difficult to deal
>with. As a distribution I really like it and know it
>better than any of the others.I think the features of
>Res Hat network are very nice but when you try to
>purchase anything from Red Hat as an educational
>institution, they are incredibly unfriendly. In order
>to use a PO you must be buying at least $2000.00 worth
>of stuff. I deal with a lot of vendors and virtually
>all of them take school PO's without a problem no
>matter what the amount is. I run a few Linux servers;
>all but one on Red Hat and want to purchase Red Hat
>Network for them. They are making me jump through many
>hoops to get it since I am not buying $2000.00 worth.
>I am considering moving my servers to another
>distribution such as Debian. The updates you get
>through Apt-get are free and I don't have to fool
>around with a company that doesn't want to give me the
>time of day because I am not an 800 pound gorilla that
>is going to spend big bucks in one fell swoop. Red Hat
>has an opportunity to make real inroads into
>government and education and to take the posture they
>have seems quite ridiculous. It is a deterrent to
>schools and small municipalities. I am one of the only
>K12 open source advocates in my small state but there
>is a lot of interest in open source. I get queried by
>colleagues frequently on how to transition to Linux
>and open source apps. I find Red Hat pays a lot of lip
>service to doing things for education but their basic
>purchasing policy is anything but friendly. As my
>colleagues ask me for recommendations, I think I am
>going to start talking up other distros despite the
>fact that Red hat has one of the best organized
>support systems in the Linux world as they are so
>unfriendly to the little guys. What are other folks
>thoughts/experinces?
>Dave
>
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