My Final Summary (and I'll Shutup) ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

I've commented enough here on different topics, so it's time for me to
summarize and shut-up.  I'm sure many people are probably saying to
themselves, "who the fsck does this guy think he is?" and that's fine.
I'll let my final summary stand (or fall) on its own, as I don't believe
in throwing around credentials or resumes.  As I always say, if you
don't agree or believe in something I say, assume I pulled it out of my
rectum.  I'm just an "outsider" after all.  ;->

With that said, here goes ...

1.  Glad Red Hat is maintaining control of Fedora development

I wish they would have just done this from Day 1.  Fedora(TM) was needed
because of the trademark, but I can't fault Red Hat for their continued
attempt at goodwill over the past 3 years to "find the right fit."  But
the separate trademark and more formalized community committee (over
what didn't really exist in the Red Hat(R) Linux days) is really all
they needed.  But I'm glad it's finally set as I wanted it (as most
other, previous Red Hat(R) Linux who stayed with Fedora Core and love it
even more did too).

2.  Anaconda/YUM Tools:  Keys to preventing future trademark abuse

Fedora is still very popular, and that's going to mean a lot of projects
are still going to be based on it.  Yes, some have gone to CentOS (the
RHEL rebuild), but Fedora's Anaconda-YUM and base approach, tools and
packages are still at the heart of many projects.

We need to look past just giving the Anaconda tools we do today to allow
custom distribution roll-outs in the assumption that major changes will
change the logos and branding.  We need to not only make some
alternative logo sets and a corresponding file setting/switch, but we
need to enforce it by having Anaconda spit out the requirements.

Heck, it probably wouldn't hurt to have the Anaconda-YUM installer
detect packages not signed with the included keys and put up another set
of logos/disclaimers dynamically.  That would be ideal.

3.  Fedora Ambassadors is key to proliferation and consumer adoption

If Red Hat and its Fedora Steering Committee should put any focus on any
marketing aspect, it's Fedora Ambassadors.  They are your gateway to the
Linux User Groups, which is where most _users_ of Linux -- not just
installers, not just "I'll try it out" -- but _users_ of Linux are born.
You also get free marketing via helpful individuals who know the distro,
and a future track to Red Hat services as a result.

[ SIDE NOTE:  I have suggested that the Linux Professional Institute
(LPI) consider a similar model for their Alumni program, which has
little more than a mailing list.  In fact, Red Hat could learn to
leverage some of its advocates and certification/training Alumni better
too.  E.g., after plunking down $749 for the RH302 exam-only, when I
passed, I didn't even get a printed Certification sent to me -- but only
received a PDF file and had to print it myself!  I humored my fellow
Novell colleague Ross Brunson with that one -- even though I regularly
argue FC/RHEL over SuSE/Novell in our other sessions. ]



-- 
Bryan J. Smith             Professional, technical annoyance
mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org       http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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