The new Red Hat Challenge is extremely disappointing as a message.The message is: "we don’t need ideas from technical people; we need ideas from idiot MBA-ers".
You should read the Official Rules: the contest is open to any... "full-time, part-time, or executive student attending graduate business school or a graduate design school in pursuit of a Masters in Business Administration or similar degree".
I know personally a number of guys having an MBA, and they’re all having a low IQ. A lame college plus an MBA can’t compete with graduates from a reputed University, being your graduation in Physics or in Law.
While this is supposed to be "your opportunity to help solve a real-world business challenge", Matthew Szulik seems to forget that seeking ideas only from business people is what makes nowadays products and services suck.
This has absolutely nothing in common with challenges like Google’s Summer of Code!
Wrong message.
The second blunder, the list of qualifying countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Excluding Quebec is a stupid discrimination. How can a Mexican be better than a Quebecois?!
Then, the geographical coverage doesn’t have any identifiable rule: