Thread: Price of Linux enterprise

  1. #1
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    Price of Linux enterprise

    I was planning to download Red Hat Enterprise for my new computer, but I find that minimal cost is $164. The cost of Windows XP professional edition is $190

    What gives? When did Red Hat get so expensive?

  2. #2
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
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    It has always been. With the enterprise version comes a full support contract.

    Get Fedora Core for a RedHat-associated free Linux distro.

    Of course, this has nothing to do with Linux programming and should go to Tech or General Discussion.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

  3. #3
    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
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    So Linux has lost it's only advantage?
    I thought it's free.
    "The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it." - John Gilmore

  4. #4
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
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    Sure, Linux is free. The Red Hat Enterprise package is not. Get a different one.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

  5. #5
    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
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    I will. Soon I will format my HDD and squeeze Tux into it.
    "The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it." - John Gilmore

  6. #6
    Crazy Fool Perspective's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by maxorator
    So Linux has lost it's only advantage?
    I thought it's free.
    Just for the record, I've always considered stability and security to advantages too.

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    I know you alway paid for redhat, but I think I remember a time when you could buy it for alot less than windows.

    I really like working with Redhat Enterprise, but it still is a shock that it costs so much, especially since linux has such an open source reputation. Are we paying for things like Oracle support? I don't think Oracle has documentation for installing it on any other form of linux. I have done alot of work with Oracle on RedHat. I'm afraid installing and using it on a free version of linux would be without documentation support, which would mean a ton of trouble.

  8. #8
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    You are paying for Red Hat support of their distribution. You are also paying for the manuals, box and CD. If you don't want to pay for that you can still download Red Hat for free.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  9. #9
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    I really like working with Redhat Enterprise, but it still is a shock that it costs so much, especially since linux has such an open source reputation.
    Open source does not mean zero price.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

  10. #10
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    Why dont you look at other distos? There are plenty of good free ones. I would recomend Ubuntu. From my experience, it has the best driver support and is quite easy to use/install. In addition to that, it has a great community.

  11. #11
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    It's interesting to note that Windows' price does not include proper support. I wonder if it's always been like that.

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    So maybe redhat is a better deal after all.

    But definately, if I want to use oracle, I'm stuck with Redhat and have to pay the $160. Right?
    Even though oracle is powerful on Redhat, it is also really touchy if you don't stick exactly to the oracle documentation. Installing it on other distros would probably be a disaster?

  13. #13
    Registered User Jaqui's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by darsunt
    I really like working with Redhat Enterprise.
    sick puppy, that's what you are

    Quote Originally Posted by darsunt
    , but it still is a shock that it costs so much, especially since linux has such an open source reputation. Are we paying for things like Oracle support? I don't think Oracle has documentation for installing it on any other form of linux. I have done alot of work with Oracle on RedHat. I'm afraid installing and using it on a free version of linux would be without documentation support, which would mean a ton of trouble.
    got one word for you:

    CentOS


    the (unofficial) FREE open source version of Red Hat's Enterprise Linux.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Henager
    If the average user can put a CD in and boot the system and follow the prompts, he can install and use Linux. If he can't do that simple task, he doesn't need to be around technology.

  14. #14
    Crazy Fool Perspective's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jaqui
    got one word for you:

    CentOS


    the (unofficial) FREE open source version of Red Hat's Enterprise Linux.

    Actually RHEL is free too, you can go to ftp.redhat.com and download all the source for RHEL. They just don't supply installable ISOs unless you sign up for a subscription (and compiling an OS is more complicated than one might think ). CentOS is a redistributer of RHEL that targets the small/medium business. They freely distribute their ISOs and offer support like the old red hat distro.

  15. #15
    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by laserlight
    Open source does not mean zero price.
    That means, if you are skilled enough to compile the source code, you'll get it free, otherwise you have to buy it.
    "The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it." - John Gilmore

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