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Monopoly is not a game Linux advocates play: it's not fair to compare Red Hat and Microsoft. One is open source; the other is decidedly not - View Point

Recently I read an article comparing Red Hat to Microsoft, suggesting Red Hat is the Microsoft of Linux. What I inferred from it was that Red Hat uses illegal and unethical tactics to gain market share, make profits and try to create a monopoly.

This, of course, generated quite a bit of discussion on the Internet and at my workplace.

When people think of Linux they think of Red Hat as it's the most popular retail distribution in North America. By some estimates, up to three-quarters of all Linux-related sales are from Red Hat products. Other Linux companies can't compete.

But Red Hat software has caused its share of grief among Linux users.

For example, the C compiler included with Red Hat 7 was called gcc 2.96 even though it was the beta of the gcc 3.0 code, and programs compiled with it were incompatible with any true gcc release. Also, Red Hat's record of forcing the GNOME desktop--a GUI-based user interface for Linux--on users over KDE--the GUI-based user interface for Unix--has landed it in hot water.

Red Hat has applied for some software patents, something often frowned upon by the open source community, and has aggressively tried to expand market share by buying smaller companies and hiring the best-of-the best programmers.

Why then is Red Hat the most popular distribution of Linux? Many would say ease of install, ease of use, choice of KDE or GNOME, excellent documentation and technical support.

Also, Red Hat is a large enough company that businesses feel comfortable dealing with it. They release software patches and errata frequently, and are Linux Standards Base (LSB) certified.

But the No. 1 reason Red Hat can never become "the Microsoft of Linux" is because of the Gnu General Public Licence (GPL).

Simply put, all versions of Linux are open source. They are freely available. Download it. Get the source code. Modify it. Sell it. Other companies have done just that with Red Hat Linux. Mandrake used to be a version of Red Hat Linux with tightly integrated KDE instead of GNOME. Anyone can take the Linux code and modify and sell it. You won't ever see that happen with Windows.

People should not confuse success with monopolistic practices. The U.S. department of Justice did not investigate Red Hat and find it guilty of any such behaviour. Although Red Hat is the leader in the Linux market, its stock has taken a beating, and it's still not profitable. It also doesn't have a monopoly in the Linux market. Just ask a group of Linux users which distribution they use and you'll surely get many different answers. Linux users have choices.

Red Hat is bound by the GPL and it would be very difficult to become a monopoly in the Linux marketplace. Some may not appreciate the way Red Hat runs its business, but those users can always run another distribution.

If you really don't like the way Red Hat looks and feels, download the source code and release your own distribution of Linux.

Kevin Linfield is a freelance technology writer specializing in operating systems and PDAs. Linfield@rocketmail.com