| Unbreakable Linux, unphased Red Hat |
Oct. 30, 2006
Oracle hasn't wasted any time getting its own house-brand of Red Hat Enterprise Linux out to people. Its Red Hat-based Unbreakable Linux distribution has been available for download since last week. So, how is Red Hat reacting to this news?
Before answering that, let's take a look at what you get with this "new" distribution.
Well, we looked at Oracle's Unbreakable Linux over at eWEEK Labs and, at first glance, if there's any real difference between this and RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) -- except that "Oracle" has replaced "Red Hat" in some places, and you'll find "Enterprise" in place of "Red Hat Enterprise" in other places -- we're darned if we can see it.
After kicking its tires over the weekend, we found that we were right. It's safe to say that Unbreakable Linux is RHEL with a coat of Oracle whitewash. Maybe things will change, but for now, the important bits and bytes of Unbreakable are the same as Red Hat's bits and bytes.
As far as Tim Yeaton, senior vice president and general manager of Red Hat's products division, is concerned, all that Oracle has done in the long-run is support "the model behind the way we have built our business."
In his interview with eWEEK's Peter Galli, Yeaton also said that Red Hat wasn't worried that Oracle would use its financial clout to wreck it. "We are not going to have a knee-jerk reaction," Yeaton said. "Oracle is a big company to be sure, but it is a big company doing a lot of things. We are an open-source company from top to bottom. It's in our DNA, and we are not wavering from that."
Red Hat is also not wavering from investing in its own future. On Oct. 27, the company announced, after its stock had fallen by over 25 percent thanks to Oracle's Unbreakable Linux announcement, that it intends to repurchase up to $250 million of its common stock and up to $75 million of its senior notes due in 2024.
In other words, Red Hat is investing in itself. With a billion dollars in cash and investments, the Raleigh, NC-based company can easily afford the stock buyback.
In a statement, Red Hat Charles Peters said, "We believe this repurchase program is in the best interest of our shareholders. It underscores our belief in Red Hat's future and represents an opportunity to enhance long-term shareholder value."
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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