from a different version of this, re Alma and Rocky the loaded words "freeloader" and to a lesser extent "copycats" .. misses an important aspect of the real l

from a different version of this, re Alma and Rocky the loaded words "freeloader" and to a lesser extent "copycats" .. misses an important aspect of the real lifecycle of GNU/Linux software.. maybe you have heard of a book about tech markets called "crossing the chasm".. one part of that book says that there are easily four layers to participation and customers with tech in some markets.. you can imagine those four yourself because there is more than one valid diagram, but basically developers and their employment or income is innermost, their immediate dependencies for inputs, and their most rabid consumers are second, most customers and business relations of varying flavors third, and then "the Chasm" .. a catchy term to say that getting to those outside the regular channels, is very challenging. So in the RedHat so-called "copycat" case, the immediate downstream fill an important role in getting to the fourth+ layer.. there are more informal, unexpected, temporary or otherwise oddball cases than anyone can imagine. So in a growing and evolving network, the full, paid product from the original brand name source is aided and abetted by these immediate downstream distros. That's not the same as simply counterfeit on black markets. Neither is it low effort, since these two distros Alma and Rocky, show long-term commitment and good skill levels. Those are valuable growth themselves. What this "squeezeplay on the copycats" does is remove growth at the edges for lots of people, and consolidate revenue in the center, at RedHat. This is common knowledge among MBAs, and they do it all the time.