Oracle Criticizes Red Hat and IBM Over RHEL Source Code Restriction
Oracle has joined the chorus of criticism aimed at Red Hat and IBM for their decision to restrict access to the source code of their Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution. Red Hat’s move to limit access to paying customers has sparked condemnation from the open-source community and is seen by many as a violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
In a blog post, Oracle positioned itself as a champion of open-source principles and vowed to never impede access to its own source code. The company highlighted the differences between its approach and that of Red Hat and IBM, accusing the latter two of being bad open-source citizens. Oracle claimed that its Oracle Linux distribution has always been freely available, with no subscription agreements that restrict users’ rights to redistribute the software.
Referring to Red Hat’s justification for the restriction, Oracle questioned IBM’s reluctance to release the RHEL source code publicly. Mike McGrath, Vice President of Core Platforms Engineering at Red Hat, had claimed that restricted access was necessary to compensate Red Hat engineers for their work. Oracle countered by pointing out that Red Hat had publicly released the source code and paid its engineers for many years prior to IBM’s acquisition of the company in 2019.
Oracle also criticized IBM for effectively ending support for CentOS, a popular free alternative to RHEL. The company suggested that IBM’s decision to withhold the RHEL source code was directly aimed at eliminating competitors, such as the emerging alternatives AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux. According to Oracle, fewer competitors would mean more revenue opportunity for IBM.
Despite the dispute, Oracle affirmed its commitment to maintaining compatibility with RHEL, at least until release 9.2 of Oracle Linux. While acknowledging the possibility of compatibility issues arising after that point, Oracle pledged to work diligently to address any problems that may affect customers or independent software vendors (ISVs).
In a show of support for open-source development, Oracle promised to continue publicly and freely distributing the binaries and source code for its Linux distribution. The company also extended a warm welcome to downstream distributions, both community-based and commercial, expressing a willingness to collaborate with distributors and ensure compatibility with Oracle software products.
This latest controversy surrounding RHEL has united the Linux community and rival companies in their condemnation of Red Hat’s actions. However, it remains to be seen whether the backlash will compel Red Hat and IBM to reconsider their restrictive policies.
Overall, Oracle’s critique emphasizes its commitment to open-source principles and the importance of maintaining transparency and accessibility within the Linux community. The company’s stance aligns with that of SUSE, another major player in the open-source space, which has also emphasized its dedication to open-source values.
