> On Thu, 2006-12-07 at 09:11 -0500, Paul Giordano wrote: > > The issue is one of support. If you have a support contract with IBM, > > Novell, or Redhat, it is for the code that they deliver, basically the > > binary RPMs, and it is on a very tight turnaround timeframe. Compiling the > > code outside of their model is not supported, > > Perhaps not. Whether something is "supported", and the degree to which > the vendor will assist in diagnosing a problem varies. I haven't met > many vendors that take a hard line; when you're down, you're down, and > reputable support organizations will do what they can and let the > accountants sort it out later. >
I understand, but that said, once you get into things like middleware stacks, vendors absolutely do take a very hard line. Vendors test their with exact distributions, things like WebSphere, DB2, etc, as do the Oracle folks, and many other ISVs. You start compiling your own source underneath their middleware code, and I can tell you from experience they will instantly tell you to put it back to the supported distribution binary RPMs they tested and approved their code under. It's too expensive for them to try to support moving targets. > That much said, you should be able to justify a mod, and better have the > wherewithal to fix whatever you break, or be able to reproduce the > problem on an unsullied system. If you don't have the chops, you > shouldn't play. > > Support issues aside, the most important use for source is read-only: as > a documentation supplement. You want to know what happens when you do > *this*, you can always consult the source. This is especially important > in a world where "messages and codes" books are unknown. Agreed - on both points - and, if you want to use things that are newer, for example PHP5, or newer LDAP support, newer compiler levels, even newer kernels, by all means you should bring them in and use them, and, as I mentioned, you can get support from IBM's kernel group for the kernel levels, for example, or from Zend for PHP. Using them for production, well, as you say, if you don't have the chops... I also would believe that in a non-middleware stack standpoint you could get some support help from your vendor of contract - but I do not think it would be the "my server's down" kind you're alluding to - again, it's not in IBM, Novell, or Redhat's best interest to shoot at moving targets - if their entire user community was just compiling whatever they wanted to and when it broke calling up their contract support and saying "we're down, fix it" - well, contracts would be a lot more expensive than they are now. You can get contracts from other vendors, Zend, JBoss, Oracle, etc. But the IBM/Novell/Redhat contracts that I'm aware of are very specific - it's only the RPM code that's in the distribution, and that's it - I suppose you can negotiate something more, though I've never heard of anyone doing so - everything's negotiable, right? Regards, Paul Giordano IBM IT Specialist - Linux on System z ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
