[NTLUG:Discuss] Evil 2.96 continued...

[Chris Cox]

Will Senn wrote:
> 
> Ok, people, what's the deal 8 replies but not one tells
> what the evilness is.  Why is 2.96 evil?
> 
Good point.

gcc 2.96 is evil because it doesn't exist!... well,
ok it exists because RedHat made it exist.  Basically
RedHat wanted the most robust C++ (primarily the reason)
compiler they could get because of the demands of
their corporate customer base.  Unfortunately, the
timeline for Redhat's next distribution and the
timeline for gcc 3.0 did not come together.  So they
pulled a version out of the development tree and
called it 2.96.

The problem is that the compiler is different... it
is different from what the real supported 3.0 is and
of course different from the existing gcc line.
Therefore, it is capable of producing incompatabilities
with the rest of the world using gcc.  Since Redhat
rpm's are the most prevalent (especially for the large
commercial SW providers), this will effectively
FORCE people to move to the Redhat to get the support
they need (again, primarily people who depend on
commercial software... especially where libraries
are involved... and where the vendor delivers "specifically"
for Redhat).  Previously, the commercial products
worked pretty well with whatever distribution
was chosen.

This kind of technique has been used effectively
by other OS manufacturers as a way to increase their
market share when the market will not move voluntarily.
(remember the Puppet Show presentation at NTLUG?)

I think the RPM 4.0 move was also kind of evil for
similar reasons (that is, it's easier if we just
switch distributions...then we don't have to worry
about being compatible with Redhat).

Redhat doesn't mind if you use other distributions...
they know you'll be back sooner or later... after
all they are personally responsible for the success
of free and open source software :-)

(sorry about the rant...the more I think about
Redmond...err...I mean Redhat, the sicker I get)

I am sure that Redhat will move to 3.0 quickly and
the rest of the world will too.... but I can't help
but wonder how many Redhat coerced converts
will have been created through all of this.

Regards,
Chris