Red Hat is catching flak from the open-source community over a series of cease-and-desist letters the company's lawyers have sent to independent consultants that provide training and consulting for the company's Hibernate platform.

The issue of Red Hat casting its large shadow over the community caused a bit of a ripple among attendees at TheServerSide Java Symposium here, an audience made up of stalwart Java developers and also open-source aficionados.

In a blog post entitled "Red Hat Inc.: The Next Microsoft?," Ted Neward, founder of Neward & Associates, in Redmond, Wash., said, "Think that Red Hat is still the open source capital of the Internet, all happy-happy-joy-joy with its supporters and liberal-minded in its goals?" He then asked readers to look at a copy of the cease-and-desist letter he obtained from a company who received it from Red Hat, and added: "Tell me if your mind isn't changed a little."

The letter, as posted on Neward's blog, said: "Red Hat, Inc. has become aware that your company is offering Hibernate training courses. Red Hat does not allow the use of its trademarks without a written agreement."

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