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Red Hat Software Businesses

Alan Moves from B3 to Red Hat UK 78

Posted by Hemos from the ending-paper-relationships dept.
Sarge_97 wrote to us with the latest from Alan Cox [?] 's diary. With Red Hat's movement into Europe, and the creation of Red Hat UK, he'll be closing Building Number 3 and going to work for Red Hat UK. This is, of course, no change in what was actually going on anyway.

disclaimer:Hemos owns shares in red hat
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Alan Moves from B3 to Red Hat UK More

Alan Moves from B3 to Red Hat UK

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  • Gotta love when you can drive half way acrossed a country in 3 hours.

  • You have a paltry understanding of telenetworking technologies. T1 is NOT ISDN! T1 is 24 aggregated 64kb channels. Just because those channels have the same datarate as 1 ISDN 1b channel, does not mean they are the same thing. However, PRI ISDN has the same speed as 1 T1.

  • News For Nerds? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This isn't News For Nerds!!! I ought to know, I'm a nerd and I don't care about this. How dare the creators of this site force me to read something I'm not interested in! Those egotistical maniacs act like they own this site, posting whatever they want to. The nerve.

    There really has been a decline in /. lately, I mean I keep seeing stories that I'm not interested in. What's up with that? It mush be Andover's influence. We need story moderation, I demand Taco (If that is his real name) to work harder on implimating a system to protect us AC's from his stupid stories.

  • journalism disclosures (Score:3)

    by Jim Efaw ( 3484 ) on Thursday December 09, 1999 @07:36AM (#1472107) Homepage

    IFAIK, this is standard journalist ethics. All news organizations are supposed to announce if they have a vested interest in the subject of a news story. Of course, some "journalist" organizations, in their giant conglomerate glory, have probably decided that things like disclosures aren't as important as fitting in another 7.5 second commercial or garage sale ad.

    Also, not to rag on Hemos (who I trust), but the "117 bytes in body" link reminded me of something else: I can see some organizations in the future shoving their disclosures into some inconvenient section of their production (half-second message at 5% of TV height at the end of the show, or stuffed into small type in the "copyright & legal" section) and then claim they're meeting ethical standards. I'm one of those pushy types that think that disclosures need to be as prominent as the news report.

    Come to think of it, Slashdot is also one of the few organizations I see that still posts corrections with the same priority as the original reports. That's another "minor" thing most billion-dollar precooked news companies don't think are important enough to bother with.

  • Actually you both need to go back and learn about telecom. A T1 isn't channelized unless you order it that way and then it is a "Channelized T1". Also ISDN uses out of bandwidth signaling, one D Channel for every 23 channels unless you share the D channel across multiple PRIs. A T1 channelized uses in-band signaling and doesn't have per channel the same bandwidth capability as PRI (which uses out of bandwidth singaling). The most data you can push across a channelized T1 channel is about 56k because it uses part of the bandwidth for singaling.
    If your going to tell someone they don't know what they are talking about at least have part of a clue yourself.
    You can order a T1 that isn't channelized for internet connectivity as a Point-to-Point circuit, and in fact it is done all the time, which has more bandwidth available than a Channelized T1 or ISDN PRI, because of the signalling methods.
  • Wow... You finally remembered your user ID?

    Sorry, just had to comment on it :)
  • ... without cluttering up the display? That's the design deliema.

    Here's an idea... a small icon - perhaps a pile of gold coins - that's no more than a twenty or so pixels high, placed after the authors name anytime they post a story needing the disclaimer. It would of course be a link to the actual disclaimer just like the text today, and the alt text would be the textual disclaimer as used today.
  • jeez.. you think you're funny with your pineapple something operating system, but you're not
    you fucking asshole, stop posting such unfunny
    shit, at least the grits boy is funny, bitch.

  • Well, considering that Alan has had that acronym for more than twenty-five years longer than any Anonymous Coward, Cowards shoould consider themselves lucky to be allowed to use it...

    BTW, if you meant that last remark as a joke, it ain't very funny.




  • No, he's right. Question the integrity of RH before even thinking about impugning Alan's reputation.

  • So? (Score:1)

    by garver ( 30881 )

    So what if RedHat has Alan work on things that benefit them? As far as I recall, the only time that I personally have ever worked on open source was to suit my own needs. I needed X feature in Y, so I put X feature in Y. Simple. After a while, with hundreds of users/developers adding their features, you get a strong product. In addition, if you don't like the direction it is going, you branch. As bad is this sounds, branching should always be an option. Branching is the check that will keep people honest.

    The core of what RedHat works on is GPL and, by the nature of the license, must remain that way, no matter how many features they add.

    Now if they want Alan to work on something closed source, it is up to Alan and his bosses if that happens. I don't think RedHat should be forced to open source everything they write. It is perfectly reasonable, to me, if they want to use Linux as the base for some proprietary kiosk app or workstation platform. I don't think it would be in their best interest because they would miss out on the hundreds of developers adding features, but it is still their decision and shouldn't be harassed for it.

  • >This isn't News For Nerds!!! I ought to know, I'm a nerd and I don't care about this.

    Then perhaps you aren't a nerd. As it is posted on /., it is news for nerds.

    -Michael
  • And what is the f*?k is wrong with him putting extra features into the ac tree? It's his fork - you know, as allowed under the GPL (perhaps you've heard of that?) - so he can do whatever the hell he likes with it.

    Plenty of vendors have opted to put extra patches into the kernels they use (e.g., the latest RAID patches); there's nothing at all unusual about it, and it gives them a way to distinguish themselves from other distributions.

    Anyway, where the hell do you get off bitching about all the work that Alan's put into the kernel? Prepared to stack your list of kernel contributions up against his?


    I didn't think so.
  • Oh yes, ever since RHAT incorporated, they have started requiring Alan Cox to wear ties, shave beard, wear pinstriped suits, and you don't want to hear the new dietary restrictions...
  • I thought the joke was good for a laugh...

    Light-heartedness makes the world more fun,and safer.
  • That's actually a good and necessary idea. It just struck me a bit humorous, as I was imagining most posters starting to add such a disclaimer in their sig, or at the bottom of all their posts.
  • Bummer now he has to commute every day.. well commute more than walk up to the computer room. :)
    ---
    Don Rude - AKA - RudeDude
  • You got to wonder if he called them or vice versa? With SUSE being in Europe, I wonder if they ever tried to recruit him. Off course, they are in Germany and it seems he's a bit attached to his island. Wow. Just thought: Wouldn't it be nifty to get paid to keep a diary?

  • AC w/ RedHat (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 09, 1999 @06:51AM (#1472133)
    How come the community openly supports major Linux developers working for companies with vested interest in Linux? It seems like a conflict of interest. I mean, we can trust Alan to not do things that are bad for Linux, but he does have to report to RedHat managers every day and they can quitely push agendas.

    Maybe this is a little paranoid, but RedHat employs a large chunk of the Linux kernel developers (as well as apps). This is fine, because there are checks and balances in place (ie, Linus has the last laugh), but Alan controls the stable tree. This is not a good idea in my mind. I like the fact that Linus is employed by a company that has no immediate interest in the success or failure of Linux. It keeps Linus honest. Can we say the same for Alan?

  • Hmmm... 'AC' - that's a very unfortunate acronym ;-)

    I think Alan Cox has enough integrity not to make changes specifically for Red Hat, and I'm sure this has nothing to do with the anouncement that the kernel's now going to be exclusively released in .rpm format...
    --
  • IIRC one of the conditions of Alan accepting his job was that he could pretty much do whatever the heck he wanted. If he ever felt he was being used or abused, I doubt he would have trouble finding a job somewhere else with more acceptable conditions.

    You're right, it will always be a worry, but the developers have to earn a living somehow.

    Dana

  • Good (Score:2)

    by Gleef ( 86 )
    Because that would be a nasty commute [mapquest.com].

    ----
  • Does Red Hat UK actually have a URL of it's own? Or just the entry in redhat.com's list of offices...


    Also, does anyone know if Alan'll still be working from home, or if he'll have to move to Guildford (eeewww - that kind of put me off too when I applied for a job with them, just as well I didn't get one in a way)

  • .. I thought "Building Number Three" was some kind of cryptic reference to his working on 2.x versions of the Linux kernel.

    This makes more sense now.
  • More like this can only be good for all of us. I'd rather see the movement into large linux markets like southeast asia. When I've been in indonesia, everybody uses linux.. because they don't have the $ for nt.. that's where the real user base is..

    Any growth at this point is good, because it means
    jobs for us linux geeks everywhere.. Personally I like traveling.

    It's opening up opportunities for all of us.
  • As far as this Hedgehog understands things, Alan has been working for Red Hat (US) for some time as a contractor, though his own company 'Building No 3'. Now he's employed directly by Red Hat UK. All that's happened in that a non-existent middleman (Building No. 3) has been cut out. I believe that Alans main role for RH is as a sort of super support person for difficult problems.

    HH

  • Apparently he'll still be living and working at home in Swansea (accoring to a reliable source), rahter than working at the Red Hat office in Guildford.

    HH

  • Re:AC w/ RedHat (Score:3)

    by um... Lucas ( 13147 ) on Thursday December 09, 1999 @07:04AM (#1472145) Journal
    So long as AC is working on the kernel, all his work is GPL'ed... So whatever he does benefits everyone else too. And if it seemed he were distracted by other interests (his or his managers, if he even has any there...) then Linus would probably hand off AC's responsibilities to someone else....

  • The real currency of the internet is respect & reputation. Alan has those in spades, which is why he's trusted. Should he ever violate that trust, then he won't be as influential as he is now.

    If he becomes sufficiently untrustworthy, then someone else that most developers trust could start managing a fork of the Linux tree. But, Red Hat's continued success depends on the general public's favorable impression of Linux. Even if a particular fork turns out to be a "good thing", the public opinion would start to turn, and Red Hat would suffer. Methinks Red Hat won't use any hidden agenda to shoot themselves in the foot deliberately.


    Christopher A. Bohn

  • Well, Microsoft tried to recruit him once...

  • Hey, Guildford's not that bad!
    The shopping's not _bad_, there's plenty of restaurants etc, and the pubs aren't too bad either.
    And there were some gorgeous babes in the club we went to!:)
  • Personally I think Alan would quit if he were pressured into a situtation that was for the greater good of Redhat, and to the detrement of Linux. Let's face it, he wouldn't be short of job offers.
  • I think you are fooling yourself if you think that Alan has to report that much to Red Hat. It's not that uncommon for vendors to pay individuals to do their stuff and get paid at the same time. I should know - I'm involved in the same kind of deal (no, not Red Hat!).

  • Commute.. no chance (Score:4)

    by Alan Cox ( 27532 ) on Thursday December 09, 1999 @08:11AM (#1472154) Homepage
    I'm staying put - right here.
  • Maybe this is a little paranoid

    Try ait is a LOT paranoid. Since when have you seen ANY indication that AC or Redhat is not fully behind open source principles? They have done nothing but give back to the community, and yet they get PLENTY of very undeserved criticism based on actions that somebody thinks they MIGHT take in the future.

    Personally I think that is insane. If they did something that was clearly against open source principles, criticism would be warranted. But giving somebody a hard time because they MIGHT do something in the future is flat out wrong in my book.


  • I wish I could say the same about here in Latin America. It is not as if there are no Linux enthusiast around here, there are a lot. The point is the lack of interest of major companies. Even small shops show no major interest at this time.

    We'll see that changing soon, but for now...
  • Admittedly it isn't entirely faultless, but I can think of far worse places to live. Like Liverpool. Or Bradford.

    Disclaimer: I grew up near Guildford

    Chris Wareham

  • IR35 related? (Score:4)

    by sparks ( 7204 ) <`moc.silibateal' `ta' `drofwarca'> on Thursday December 09, 1999 @07:11AM (#1472160) Homepage
    In the Uk, up 'til now there have been significant tax advantages to operating through your own incorporated company - i.e. you only end up paying about 40% of your income in tax as opposed to 50%. Lots of computer people in a high income bracket have been operating this way for several years.

    The government (bless 'em) have decided that that's quite unfair and have introduced this new IR35 thing that basically makes the whole system unaffordable.

    (Naturally, computer contractors have very portable skills, and can easily work in Europe or the States for a few months at a time and pay very little tax anywhere. And now lots more will have an incentive to do so - so overall, the UK government could lose tax income because of this. But who ever accused politicans of thinking things out?)

    Anyway, there are no longer any advantages to having your own company, and lots of disadvantages (paperwork, hassle, tax inspections), so lots of contractors are "going permie" - especially those on long-term contracts.

    I wonder if that's one of the factors behind Alan making this move? He wouldn't be alone.

  • I've been hearing alot about linux in latin america lately, though.. What's that new distribution based out of brazil?

    If you know linux.. why not start pushing it
    onto shops, companies you work with? If you
    show them the advantages they'll go for it..

    When I was in indonesia, I think every hotel I stayed at ran mostly linux.. this was about 3 years ago.. some had webservers most of them just had linux boxes in their financial divisions, etc.. one hotel (which i'm told no longer exists
    since the riots caused by soeharto) had a linux x-based registration system.. I thought that was
    pretty cool.
  • Heh. Guess they havent heard yet about....
    Tele-commuting!

  • Flip the coin - there is another side... (Score:3)

    by IIH ( 33751 ) on Thursday December 09, 1999 @07:14AM (#1472166)
    I like the fact that Linus is employed by a company that has no immediate interest in the success or failure of Linux. It keeps Linus honest. Can we say the same for Alan?
    Yes, you could be concerned (but shouldn't, IMO) that Alan is employed by Redhat so he may have a vested interest in keeping Redhat happy, but you can also flip it completely. Redhat employ Alan, so you could say that Redhat may have a vested interest in keeping Alan happy, so it keeps RedHat honest!

    One of RedHats major selling points is that they are well regarded by the linux developers, and employ several of them. If the devolopers had cause to leave, Redhat would go rapidly downhill because of the two, Redhat would lose the most if ac and RHAT parted company.

    --
  • AC wrote:

    Maybe this is a little paranoid, but RedHat employs a large chunk of the Linux kernel developers (as well as apps). This is fine, because there are checks and balances in place (ie, Linus has the last laugh), but Alan controls the stable tree. This is not a good idea in my mind. I like the fact that Linus is employed by a company that has no immediate interest in the success or failure of Linux. It keeps Linus honest. Can we say the same for Alan?



    Two things that this brings to mind:

    1) Linux is inextricable from the GPL. Red Hat can succeed (and seems to be doing great, good luck to the stockholders!), but they're limited by the GPL. Yes, there are some software pieces that they can make proprietary, but they can't pre-empt Linus' approval for kernel changes. However, RH seems to put the vast majority (all?) of their software under the GPL anyhow, so it seems very appropriate that Alan Cox should be working there. In fact, it seems like the fastest way for changes to make themselves into the kernel, since RH sells / downloads so many copies ...

    2) I'm not convinced that Transmeta has no immediate interest in the success of failure of Linux. The strong impression I get is that Crusoe will run Linux as a base, whatever its transmogrifiability. I mean, isn't that why they hired Dr. Torvalds?

    Maybe I'm silly, and await corrections ...

    :)

    timothy




  • Re:Good (Score:1)

    by trog ( 6564 )
    No kidding.

    I live in the bay area as well. I commute from Castro Valley to Menlo Park.

    Total miles: 32

    But get this...with traffic, average time in commute (one way): 1 and a half hours.


    All well...when my options vest, I'll by a helicopter to commute in!
  • who stood up to IDG [linux.org.uk] on the issue of speaker funding:

    Mucho fun on the IDG front. Seems my original diary entry started a small grass fire that then blazed out of controller across slashdot (not that slashdot is exactly known for its ablative properties). Anyway IDG are now paying some speakers on the basis of need. I'm told that some of it is a misunderstanding between their higher and lower echelons. I don't actually care too much if they've learned or just sorted a problem internally. Its now going in the right direction. I know Miguel of Gnome fame now has his funding sorted.

    Three words for ya, guys: Alan Cox 3:16.

    And what did he do then?

    They did offer to pay my travel expenses but since they can only fund some people I figure they should fund others instead. The Bazaar can afford me somehow on their low budget but IDG can't on their not insustantial price per stand budgetting. I don't wish to overtax IDG's budget.

    AC's record is stone cold.
  • I was born in, raised, and still live in Guildford.. and it's really not that bad. It's certainly better than it used to be (nightlife wise).

    I've just got a new job in the town, and belive me, after working in London and doing the daily commute for 3 years you appreciate the place a lot more :)

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday December 09, 1999 @07:17AM (#1472174)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • If the Onion had a news section covering Linux, this could easily be the top headline.
  • If my memory serves me correctly, there's lots of influential games developers in Guildford, right? Bullfrog/EA for starters...

    Best thing about Guildford though? It's close to London. :-)

    (Actually, all I know of Guildford is the Forte Posthouse (it's a hotel) on the edge of town. Spent six weeks there when I was doing a contract down that way. They have good chocolate ice cream.)

    ...j
  • I agree. Make it equivalent to -1, Funny.

  • I spent a year in Guilford one week.

    Guildford: closed on Wednesdays.

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