At the end of last week, Red Hat’s decision to limit access to its source code predictably caused a wide response. It blew up the Open Source community, and quite predictably, almost all of the comments are negative.
And with good reason. Whatever business language is used to dress up and explain this decision demonstrates the Red Hat crowd’s strong dissatisfaction with the rapid imposition of Rocky and Alma on the enterprise Linux scene.
The goal is clear – by moving to the edge of the legally allowed possibilities given by the GPL license and trampling on all the values on which the Open Source model is built, Red Hat is doing its best, if not to end, at least to put severe difficulties in the future existence of Rocky and Alma.
In this case, the paradox is that Red Hat itself was built thanks to Open Source and would not exist today if the Linux pioneers had done the same 30 years ago.
Things got even worse when, in an attempt to justify their decision, Red Hat labeled those involved in recompiling their source code as “freeloaders,” “rebuilders,” and “hobbyist,” going so far as to claim that “Simply rebuilding code, without adding value or changing it in any way, represents a real threat to open source companies everywhere.”
Against the backdrop of the growing discontent directed against Red Hat, but also affecting all company-backed Linux distros in some way, SUSE has made an official statement on the topic.
SUSE Remains Firmly on the Open Source Path
Dr. Thomas Di Giacomo, President of Engineering, Product, and Innovation at SUSE, stated on the company’s blog that despite the recent turmoil caused by Red Hat’s decision to restrict access to its source code, SUSE firmly stands by its Open Source values and will continue to adhere to them in the future.
At SUSE, the principles of open source and power of collaboration are dear to us. While changes in the open source landscape may shift dynamics, we firmly believe that the freedom to access, modify, and distribute software should remain open to all. Our commitment to customer satisfaction, stability and reliability remains unwavering.
Dr. Thomas Di Giacomo, President of Engineering, Product, and Innovation at SUSE
What can we say in response to such a statement? We can only applaud it warmly as all SUSE and openSUSE users have every reason to be proud of the distribution they have placed their trust in.
In today’s business world, when profit is the only thing that excites corporations, SUSE demonstrates that they have not forgotten the model to which they owe their existence and will continue to follow it without making sharp turns serving unpleasant surprises to users.
Furthermore, despite being in the same market niche, SUSE is the only company to oppose Red Hat’s decision publicly. We can’t hide that this wins both our sympathy and, we believe, that of the rest of the Open Source community as well.
What Next?
First, despite all its contributions to the development of Linux, Red Hat crossed the red line by restricting access to its source code, earning the right to be the bad guy in the Linux world for many years. Honestly, I don’t think that status can ever be changed.
Following the discontinuation of CentOS and its reemergence as CentOS Stream, the distribution’s popularity dropped. This trend is expected to increase even further now that user churn is imminent.
Trust is lost, and you have to wear a big red hat on your head and rose-colored glasses to continue believing that you can rely on a distribution for the long term that has done everything it can to prove that the Linux community is just words without meaning.
On the other hand, SUSE, particularly with their openSUSE Linux and Debian, could be the big winners of the situation, as disappointed Red Hat users are expected to switch to them. And that would be the most logical turn of events.
Given that Canonical also tried hard to make Ubuntu lose its position as the leading Linux distribution, SUSE remains the only right move for users preferring a company-backed one.
Often underrated, openSUSE, with its Leap and Tumbleweed editions, gives the best possible experience for the Linux user, backed by top-notch support, reliability, and predictability.
Trust is an essential component of any Linux distribution and is a determining factor for its successful existence. While Red Hat has lost ground, SUSE remains firmly on the Open Source route, so if you’re considering a switch, the cute green chameleon may be the answer.
