Garret's Thoughts on the RHEL Source Changes...

Hi guys!  RE: RedHat - After reading the blog posts, listening to the Ask Noah interview, and general discussion about it.  I generally land with Chris on the topic.  The Cliff's Notes version I've come away with was that RedHat was spending RedHat time and resources to make RHEL sources easy to take and rebuild even though they are not using that publishing endpoint.  With this change, source is still published, they just aren't doing the extra legwork for the rebuilders in the "Sure. You can copy my homework, just change it a little." sense.

Physical analogies are always nice for a perspective shift - I imagine a scenario where System76 is releasing the designs of the Thelio as opensource (as they do) and going further providing the pre-machined panels in a flat pack for you to build your own.  Re-builders take these premachined kits, rebrand and assemble them, and sell them as their own while undercutting System76.  They (rebuilders) don't submit design changes up stream to build a better case, and do not machine their own parts to ensure their own business has something to stand on if System76 goes away.  In this scenario, I'd have no complaints nor criticism if System76 opted to stop selling the DIY kits.

Which that later part is a key point in my mind.  If I'm going to sell cases, there's a certain amount of the manufacturing process you need to control or else it's a threat to your business.  The same with shipping software, in my mind.  Having your business completely dependent on the output of another without an alternative "break glass" process ready to go in your back pocket is just bad business.  We've seen over the past few financial crises that any number of things can kill a company over night.  Even large ones.