Carving out a niche (Re: Redhat 6.1)

[Dan Frasnelli <dfrasnel alphalinux org>]

> (excluding things like Netscape on the Alpha), the same interface and
> configuration methods, etc.
	Agreed - consistency across platforms is a definate plus.    
> Ironically (given what was in the previous post about Redhat not being very
> gung-ho on the Alpha port), it was the Alpha port of Redhat that got me to
> switch my Intel boxes from Slackware.  So if they'd not put out an Alpha port,
> I probably would have never bought any RH in the first place.
	Good point, and I fall into the same category.  Prior to buying
the Alphas, SLS and Slackware had been the sum total of my Linux
experience.  I guess coming from an Ultrix/SunOS background, the BSD
"feel" of Slackware was more comfortable than the SysV-ish RedHat.  That
and reports of very nasty bugs (in 2.1 and 3.0.3 esp.) kept RH at a
distance from my desktop.

	The question I was getting at in the last post was not really 
"Should we build a better distro because none are perfect?", but rather 
an underlying theme that accompanies it: self-sustainment vs. adaptation.  
Should AlphaLinux focus on very specific niches where it historically fits 
in well, or continue in an attempt to be 'all things to all users', 
covering every market that Linux/x86 targets?

	There are definate advantages of AlphaLinux which 'sell'
themselves to certain market segments without any effort on the side of
marketing.  For the hardcore number crunching demanded by grand challenge
problems, massive renderfarms, weather forecasting (again, kudos to
HPTi!) and simulations, a cluster of AlphaLinux boxes cannot be beat. 
	There are other areas where it's unclear how or if AlphaLinux
should fit in.  For example, how should we respond to a video game 
company which wants to port their product to AlphaLinux but "needs" AGP
support when there is none? Should they be given more or less
consideration than a company which wants to bring their scientific/server
application to AlphaLinux? These issues are very real, and ones which I
know have faced ALO (and other Linux advocacy groups) in the past. 

Regards,
---
Dan Frasnelli
Security analyst