Dear Yasha

[...]

>>
> From a query I posted on this matter to the SL list:
> 
> 2.  Evidently, Singh and other "core" CentOS team members actually are
> Red Hat employees,
> just as the core SL team have been Fermilab or CERN employees
> (presumably in some cases
> actually paid by the research collaborations funded by various
> government agencies through
> various universities -- e.g., in the USA, NSF or DOE with each PI
> typically holding a
> tenure-stream faculty position at a university).  Will the core SL team
> or the core CERN linux
> team likewise become Red Hat employees?

CERN linux team is and will be CERN employees: Our only relationship
with Red Hat is that we are customers. To clarify little bit: Our
primary mission at CERN is to provide support for linux platform for
our customers - experiments and working groups - not to build linux
distribution. (yes - we did it in last 10 years since in 2004
this was the "only" option)

> 
> End question.
> 
> Are Jerek Polok et al. now Red Hat employees, or still CERN "employees"?
> 

Yes we are CERN employees: the fact of using this or that linux version
does not change it - why would it ?

> Additional questions:
> 
> A.  Will the SL/SLC source tree for RPM builds be a separate copy from
> the CentOS git, downloaded therefrom?

I am speaking for SLC here: no: we are going to use CentOS.

> 
> A.1  Will the SL/SLC source tree be compared to the original SRPMs that
> CERN seems to have under license from Red Hat to verify
> that the CentOS git source is in fact "unadulterated" RHEL 7 source,
> other than for obvious Red Hat logos and the like?
> 

Speaking for SLC here: yes, we could do it (so could SL and anybody
else), but please note: this does not change anything for everybody else
on this list: if somebody decides to distrust Red Hat and CentOS ... why
would that person trust us ? ...


> B.  Jarek states above:  Whatever the case, there will continue to exist
> a linux of production quality and of free or affordable cost. 

That was actually a quote from Konstantin's post- but
I fully agree with it.

> What is
> "affordable cost" and to what is this "cost" to be paid?  Red Hat? 
> CERN?  Fermilab (technically, the consortium responsible for operating
> Fermilab as USA federally funded research facility) for USA-based
> university sites using SL 7?

For us at CERN the affordable cost is dedicating some
resources (manpower/hardware/network bandwidth/ .. etc)
towards support/maintenance (and development only if needed)
of a freely distributable linux version matching our
computing platform requirements.

I do not fully understand your question about the cost
to be paid I'm afraid:

What is your current "cost" of using SL ?

Why would that "cost" change if you use CentOS (or SL
built with CentOS sources) ?

Best Regards

Jarek

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