Red Hat has just launched a new portal at opensource.com – for information and articles about open source. The site uses the Drupal open source content management system and it looks like Red Hat has been working on the site since at least October.
With opensource.com, Red Hat is following in the footsteps of the Linux Foundation with Linux.com which launched in 2009. Frankly I’m not sure that it’s a good idea.
Red Hat has been a leading voice in open source since its creation and leverages open source for both technology and marketing purposes. With this new portal, Red Hat has yet another medium to push their message, which is good for them.
But it’s not a broad open source as an industry message is it? It’s more of a Red Hat as a leader message.
If you’re looking for open source as a movement and as a licensing approach, you need to look no further than opensource.org which is run by the Open Source Initiative — the people that actually define what is and isn’t open source. Red Hat has always had strong representation on the OSI.
The current president of the OSI,Michael Tiemann is also Vice President of Open Source Affairs at Red Hat — so there is a direct connection.
I don’t know what direction opensource.com will take, but let’s hope that it evolves to become more than just a marketing mouthpiece.
