I just lost faith in many a Slashdot reader (Score 1)

I really can't believe how some people are taking this. Honestly, why should we care if Red Hat tightens up their brand identity? The entire point of this whole Linux thing is to have the best OS possible. If Windows did everything in the world the way we wanted and the way it should, the demand for Linux would be zero.

But that isn't the case. Windows crashes, is bloated, and as a result there's this OS around called Linux, that many people (including myself) use day in, day out. If Red Hat's product is "all that", then more power to them. That's what we want, anyway -- a great product. If not, we'll buy/download something else. This is exactly why many people aren't using MS products -- they want something better.

Anyway, it's extremely unlikely that Red Hat will have the "best" distro in everyone's eyes, so the other distros will still be around, if there is demand for them.

We (the Linux using community) still have just as much choice as before. Now, the choice is just a little less vague. I mean, if I took some Caldera or Debian or SuSE code and botched it to hell, called it "Dude's Caldera Linux", and sold it for $3.99, wouldn't I be trashing up Caldera's name? And making a quick buck? And deceiving a slew of potential Linux users?

And also, there's 5 BILLION dollars invested in their NAME. Dontcha think they should tighten up a juice?