[TAG] (forw) Re: RHX and License Clarity

[Rick Moen]

Trying to figure out how little they can do?

----- Forwarded message from Matt Mattox <mmattox at redhat.com> -----

Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:20:56 -0400
From: Matt Mattox <mmattox at redhat.com>
To: TAG <tag at lists.linuxgazette.net>
To: rick at linuxmafia.com
Subject: RHX and License Clarity

Hi Rick,

Just a quick note responding to your comment in the "More About RHX" 
section of RHX. We're working on a solution that will make the license 
approach used by each RHX software vendor very clear to users, including 
whether or not they are OSI-approved. I'd love to get your feedback on 
our approach if you have the time and interest. Let me know....

Thanks,
Matt
Product Manager, RHX

----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 11:02:52 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: TAG <tag at lists.linuxgazette.net>
To: Matt Mattox <mmattox at redhat.com>
Subject: Re: RHX and License Clarity

Quoting Matt Mattox (mmattox at redhat.com):

> Just a quick note responding to your comment in the "More About RHX" 
> section of RHX. We're working on a solution that will make the license 
> approach used by each RHX software vendor very clear to users, including 
> whether or not they are OSI-approved. I'd love to get your feedback on 
> our approach if you have the time and interest. Let me know....

Hi, Matt.  Thank you for your note.  

The main problem is actually the statements on the RHX main Web pages
that serve as entry points to RHX (and, in the recent past, by all RHX
press releases).  For example:

http://www.redhat.com/rhx/
  Starts out with "Trusted open source software" -- without saying that 
  some offerings are open source and some proprietary -- and goes on for
  the entire page talking how RHX has helped you select open source 
  applications, etc.

http://rhx.redhat.com/rhx/support/article/DOC-1285 ("More about RHX" page)
  Starts out with "Red Hat Exchange helps you compare, buy, and manage
  open source business applications. All in one place and backed by the
  open source leader. We've collaborated with our open source software
  partners to validate that RHX applications run on Red Hat Enterprise
  Linux and are delivered through the Red Hat Network."

Letting people _dig down_ to licensing specifics would be nice but
wouldn't fix the problem of false and misleading general statements 
everyone encounters on the way in.  The latter should be replaced
without delay.

And future RHX press releases should mention that it includes both
proprietary and open source applications.

The longer the delay in fixing this problem, the more Red Hat's
reputation for integrity is suffering.  Please make no mistake:  Your
firm is being damaged by this.


----- End forwarded message -----