I think the decision to make their own Debian-ized distribution is
incredibly clever on Corel's part. It wouldn't surpise me a bit if a
lot of the decision was based upon the high potential of apt.
It seems to me that Corel has decided that instead of fight Microsoft on
their terms, to make new terms of their own. Think of the similarities
that now exist between a Debian/KDE/Corel machine and a Windows/Office
machine. Both can be updated over the internet (which would be a huge
boon for Corel, allowing them to effortlessly apply patches, etc), but
only one requires a reboot. Both allow for installation and
uninstallation of software, but only one will give a detailed analysis
of what files are installed, are going to be intstalled, or need to be
installed first. Both have a full fledged Office suite, but only one
has additional "built-in" access to such things as TeX, Postscript,
SGML, etc. Both are under constant development, but only one allows you
to upgrade completely over the internet, and without cost.
I think this decision by Corel is more of gauntlet throwing than
anything else. And of course, by picking Debian, they have insured that
any arguments about proprietary OSes will be completely baseless. While
some are seeing this as some kind of commmercial takeover of Debian, I
think this is one of the best things that could have ever happened to
Debian. Debian as a distribution will not be changed by Corel, as that
would defeat the entire purpose of using the distribution. Updates to
the distribution will undoubtedly not always be in sync with updates to
the WordPerfect Suite, so it would be to Corel's immense benefit to make
sure that their software stays in compliance with Debian's development.
They benefit this way by the OS remaining stable, and Debian benefits by
financial and political backing by a powerful software company.
Anyway, not that anyone really cares about what I think of all this.
Just thought I'd throw in my 2-cents.
Sean
--
... relaxed in the manner of a man who has no need to put up a front of
any kind.
-- John Ball, "Mark One: the Dummy"
