A cylindrical active component is traditional for the He-Ne and other gas-discharge lasers. The form of gas discharge and easiest fabrication technique determine its choice. However, more than 40 years ago He-Ne lasers with elliptical and rectangular cross-sections started to be researched and even produced by the industry. At the same time the publications on active components with the changeable longitudinal geometry occurred. But the industry did not respond to them. In our report we are going to show that apparently it was an error which should be corrected.