At one point, there were some doubts about Red Hat's commitment to Linux/390, given that they hadn't updated their platform in quite a while, and weren't putting out many patches for it. This, in spite of their contractual obligation to IBM to have a Linux/390 platform.
When the beta testing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 started, it became clear to me that they had simply decided to wait and make that the next release instead of trying to push out an interim non-RHEL one. The implications of this are that binary RPMs for RHEL3 will not be freely available, just SRPMs, if they continue the same practices they have with RH AS 2.1. I suspect they will, so from my perspective that makes one of the items on your list a "wash" in that neither Red Hat nor SuSE will have freely available (binary) downloads of their Linux/390 products. I would seriously recommend looking at the support offerings of the two companies, and see if there are any significant differences there when viewed from _your_ organization's particular needs. That particular area can have more impact on your ability to run your systems than just about anything else. I myself have no problems with having two Linux distributions being standard within one organization. They're not _that_ different from each other (LSB and FHS have had an impact there). Having two would not be unmanageable. Some things are certified on one that are not on the other, and vice versa. If one company becomes a poor choice as a supplier, you'll already have experience with the other, providing you with some leverage. I'm sure you can think of other reasons. Mark Post -----Original Message----- From: Daniel Jarboe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 8:53 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Any new SuSE vs RedHat arguments? Management here is getting serious about a support contract for linux on the mainframe, and asked me to poll reasons why people/organizations may have chosen one distro over the other on s/390 (specifically RedHat vs SuSE). In the archives most of the arguments in favor of redhat revolve around: free download, familiarity with the environment, management pressure to keep linux to 1 distro in house. SuSE arguments typically revolve around: first on s/390, work more closely with s/390 community, and GA SuSE at more current patch-levels than RH (particularly where s/390 or VM is concerned). Are there other considerations people have discovered, or any of the above I mentioned that seem off-base? Thanks for any input, ~ Daniel ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This message is the property of Time Inc. or its affiliates. It may be legally privileged and/or confidential and is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). No addressee should forward, print, copy, or otherwise reproduce this message in any manner that would allow it to be viewed by any individual not originally listed as a recipient. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized disclosure, dissemination, distribution, copying or the taking of any action in reliance on the information herein is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this message. Thank you.
