On 07/23/2011 05:54 PM, Alec T. Habig wrote:

> Yasha Karant writes:

>> Although the future is unclear for Fermilab with the imminent

>> decommissioning of the Fermilab accelerator, this professional status

>> currently is correct.

>

> Correction - one beamline (the tevatron) and associated experiments are

> ending.  The rest of the accelerator complex and associated experiments

> (not to mention the non-accelerator based stuff) are humming right

> along, new experiments coming online, etc.

>



I believe there is some danger of what the lists term a "flame war" from 

this discussion -- that is not the point nor my intention.



With no disrespect (and not being a Troll -- the decision of which Linux 

operating environment and distribution to use is one that requires data 

or, lacking that, anecdotal experience), Wikipedia states the following:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermilab



Current developments

[edit] The end of the Tevatron Run



On January 10, 2011 it was announced that the Tevatron Accelerator had 

failed to find additional funding to continue operation beyond the close 

of fiscal year 2011 (October 2011).[10]

[edit] Financial situation



The Fermilab budget has been continuously below inflation over the last 

several years, and Fermilab failed to attract more funding sources and 

this resulted in reducing staff levels (by 100 in 2005).[11] The new 

director of the lab and the new management are working hard to bring the 

International Linear Collider (ILC) to Fermilab. However, the decision 

by Congress to fund the ILC at only a quarter of the requested $60 

million significantly reduces the chances that Fermilab or any other 

U.S. research facility will host the ILC. Due to Fermilab's financial 

situation, on December 20, 2007, director Piermaria Oddone announced the 

planned layoffs of 10% of Fermilab's staff.



End quote.



Although the experimental facilities you mention are ongoing, the issue 

of long term funding of fundamental physics (or fundamental science 

without immediate practical application -- the genetic science and 

engineering fields are fundamental biology and medicine, but are also 

have immediate practical application -- going beyond/fixing the Standard 

Model lacks such applications) is highly unresolved in the USA under the 

Republican Tea Party model -- and has been declining for a number of 

years.  This issue is not a SL or Linux issue, but merely a comment on 

the longer term stability of SL as being developed by paid professionals 

(from Wikipedia:  this resulted in reducing staff levels (by 100 in 

2005)).  The situation at CERN is less bleak, even given the financial 

problems of the EU and Euro/Eurozone, from colleagues I know in various 

EU nations, some of whom are in CERN collaborations.



This list is not the appropriate place to attempt to convince Tea Party 

Republicans and Social Program Democrats to maintain public funding 

(investment) in fundamental physics.  However, the practical 

ramifications of such de-funding may have implications for the Fermilab 

portion of SL support.  I am not trying to be grim, negative, 

derogatory, Troll, or anything else -- merely discussing the present 

facts and a possible several year future.  I certainly hope that 

Fermilab/CERN will continue to assign / allow to work with pay 

professionals to redistribute RHEL and to support both enhancements and 

bug fixes to RHEL, rebadged as SL.