IIRC you have stated that Red Hat issues advisories on not only the operating system itself, but also on any services, applications, windowing system, etc. that may be included on their setup CD's. You have further stated that these services, applications, windowing systems, etc. are not technically part of the operating system and are optional. Did I get that right?
I can say the same of Microsoft. The Microsoft advisories included not just the operating system (and even at that Microsoft has two operating system branches which it supports), but also SQL Server, Exchange Server, MDAC, IIS, Internet Explorer (part of the OS, but when not used the user isn't vulnerable), Media Player (part of the OS, but when not used, the user isn't vulnerable), MSN/Windows Messenger, Microsoft Office, among other things.
So, yes, the Red Hat number include more than just the operating system, but then so do the Microsoft numbers. In fact, the Microsoft numbers include advisories for stand alone products purchased separately from the operating system (the server products and Microsoft Office).
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