Why Linux Users Hate Red Hat
After SCO, the company most hated by Linux fans is quite possibly … no, not Microsoft, but Red Hat. I often hear longtime Linux enthusiasts say things like "Red Hat has betrayed Linux" and "Red Hat wants to be the next Microsoft."
If you look closely, it's not hard to see why so much ire is tossed on Red Hat. Late last year, Red Hat's CEO, Matthew Szulik, said that for home users today, Windows is probably "the right product line." That's sure to win the hearts and minds of Linux fans right there. Then, Red Hat decided to kill off its low-end Linux distribution: Red Hat Linux. You would have thought from all the screaming in some Linux circles that Red Hat was proposing dog food be made from kittens. Some Linux fans even said Red Hat is on its way to becoming a proprietary software company.
Red Hat's corporate enemies and, in one case, a purported partner—Sun—are jumping on this last point It isn't true, of course. Red Hat is still an open-source company.
