Re: Concerns with Open/OS Corporate Linux ads?

[Benjamin Mesing <ben-ml@gmx.net>]

Hello,

> It calls our distro "reliable and secure" and states that they add
> "maturity and corporate readiness". Then they go on to state that
> Debian is
> 
>   - reliable
>   - secure
>   - upgradeable
>   - integrateable
>   - preconfigured
>   - remotely administratable
> 
> and that they add support and maintenance, which adds the features
> 
>   - reliable release cycle
>   - newest packages
>   - security team
>   - preselected packages
>   - security administration
>   - certification
>   - software tests
[..]
>  - we have our own security team
That isn't negated by their add, in fact they state that Debian is
secure. And Debian has lacked security support for new software for a
long time (I believe testing is supported now).

>   - we have preselected packages (tasks)
Well, but they probably have others, focused on the business domain.

>   - we are definitely ready for the business world
>     (I know what they mean, I guess)
I would debate that. Sometimes companies simply need to pay money for a
product to have someone to blame. Debian is volunteer driven, and thus
noone can be put under any real pressure. For companies it is sometimes
better to pay for the service and thus have someone who is responsible
for that. In fact I would see the security team statement in that light,
they provide security support for money and thus probably guarantee that
updates are prepared in a certain time frame. 


> and since their ad is entitled "Debian of full age", it kind of
> suggests that Debian per se is immature, a child, an assertion I'd
> strongly oppose.
Well, I would be to hard on that. Being young does also have its
benefits :-)


> Should we do anything about this? If so, what?
I do not think that Debian as a whole should take action, but you could
sent an email to them and tell them that they've hurt your feelings (and
you, as opposed to me, form a part of Debian). Perhaps they'll act on
your criticism.

Best regards 

Ben

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