Oracle Linux, Distributions, Redux

It's interesting to read what a well known and well respected MySQL Employee has to say, not only about Oracle Linux specifically but about the state of Linux distributions in general. A couple snippets:
First, I'm really unhappy with the state of Linux distributions today. Its a tower of babel for the most part. Its a hope that the LSB will solve some of this, but today shipping on Linux is a real mess. Upgrading is a mess, especially for applications developed to rely on a stable platform.
Redhat ES is still the 800lb gorilla. Problem is that its too expensive when you get thousands of servers (or even a hundred). There was a day and an age where libc problems kept rearing their heads but that seems to be mostly over. I'm not going to pay what they want me to pay. They don't present me with a value proposition that I like. I used to buy one copy of it each time it was released to keep my servers upgraded, but I stopped that after RH9.
I'd like to see a winning Linux distribution, but right now the race is wide open as far as I am concerned. Fedora could improve on upgrades to the point where I was happy with it. Oracle could innovate and create a platform that ISVs would consider stable. Ubuntu could get a major win and we see sites move to it. Redhat could realize that they have created profit by creating a ceiling for adoption and find a new way to profit (since that ceiling is only going to drop…).
I agree with much of what he has to say. I've posted multiple times on what I think about RHEL pricing, so I won't get into that again. I've had considerably better luck than Brian with Debian it would seem and I would _never_ recommend you run Fedora on a production server (ever). I've also been meaning to take a closer look at rPath, and when I get a chance to I'll post an update. The fact that a MySQL employee is so openly willing to try a Linux distribution from a substantial competitor (I know, MySQL AB officially claims they are not competing with Oracle… I obviously disagree ;) really says a lot about the mentality of the average Open Source enthusiast. It's not just about squashing your competitors and creating your own silo, it's about technology, innovation, tinkering and curiosity. It's about creating genuine value and breaking down barriers, not holding clients captive and creating artificial barriers.
–jeremy
Linux, Open Source, Oracle, Red Hat, MySQL, rPath