money talks, even in open source. I'm not sure if I would call it a conspiracy though. Perhaps an open willingness to add a hook into everything for certain eyeballs. Either that, or simply cannot conduct a proper conspiracy, in secrecy. Or is it a distraction from something more? Never know, but I do know RHL is too big for Linux -in general- anymore. I love Fedora too, go figure.
SIGINT Goals for 2012-2016 2.1.4 (TS//SI//REL) Influence the global commercial encryption market through commercial relationships, HU MINT, and second and third party partners Source: Official NSA SIGINT Strategy 2012-2016 Document