Red Hat turning retail-boxed Linux 9 into a development-only version

Computerworld - By keeping its desktop Red Hat Linux product on a controlled release cycle, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Linux vendor makes it easier for consumers and small business users to have a reliable version to install and use on their machines.
But for the open-source developers who are always fiddling with the code, the controlled release cycle can be maddening, shutting off the flow of progress just as new ideas pop up, only to have to wait until the next development cycle to introduce the features.
To address both needs, Red Hat announced this week that it's transforming its standard Linux version from a boxed product into the Red Hat Linux Project, which won't be sold on store shelves. Instead, the Project version will be a 24/7 development release available on the Web for continued innovation and features.
Later this year, the company will replace the latest standard Red Hat Linux 9 boxed consumer product with a new desktop and small-server version of Red Hat Linux. The new-generation product will be based on the company's flagship Enterprise Linux server product line but reconstituted for the consumer and small-business markets.
Deb Woods, Red Hat's director of product management, said the separate versions will make life easier for developers, consumers and small-business users. "We had one product trying to serve two markets," Woods said. "Developers sometimes had to pull functions out because they were not quite ready for new users," slowing innovations in the product line.
By separating the two groups' needs and offering two distinct products, Red Hat said it will be promoting continual innovation in the Red Hat Linux Project, while sticking with scheduled release cycles for reliability and ease of use for consumers and small business users.
"We won't have the conflict with the developers," Woods said.
Red Hat Linux Project will be available on the company's Web site for free download by developers who wish to participate in the ongoing process, as well as through other sources.