From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Dec 13 16:37:11 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AD7F91065672 for ; Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:37:11 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from corky1951@comcast.net) Received: from QMTA09.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net (qmta09.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net [76.96.62.96]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 55C778FC08 for ; Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:37:11 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from corky1951@comcast.net) Received: from OMTA14.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net ([76.96.62.60]) by QMTA09.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net with comcast id qfEe1a00j1HzFnQ59gdAjC; Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:37:10 +0000 Received: from comcast.net ([98.203.142.76]) by OMTA14.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net with comcast id qgco1a0031f6R9u3agcoFG; Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:36:49 +0000 Received: by comcast.net (sSMTP sendmail emulation); Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:37:09 -0800 Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:37:09 -0800 From: Charlie Kester To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20081213163709.GA17550@comcast.net> Mail-Followup-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20081212002813.GD32300@kokopelli.hydra> <20081211170011.777236f8@gom.home> <20081212015814.GB32982@kokopelli.hydra> <20081212120437.B3687@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <20081212181258.GE36348@kokopelli.hydra> <20081212203202.H4803@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <20081212150228.520ad7f8@scorpio> <20081212212931.F5072@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <20081213094403.GH39031@kokopelli.hydra> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20081213094403.GH39031@kokopelli.hydra> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.3i X-Mailer: Mutt 1.4.x/FreeBSD 7.0 X-Composer: VIM 7.2 Subject: Re: Why FreeBSD not popular on hardware vendors X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:37:11 -0000 On Sat 13 Dec 2008 at 01:44:03 PST Chad Perrin wrote: > >I rather suspect that a much stronger, and more common, reason for >obstinate refusal to open specs is the short-sightedness and general >ignorance of daycoders and pointy-haired bosses -- all of whom think Java >is the best programming language around because that's what "most" >programmers use and have some vague, unsupported (but stubborn) notion >that secrets are good for business. At least it *seems* they all think >so. There's no need to impute any insidious or lazy motive to them. If they can sell their product without documenting any API's, they will tend to do so, as a way of cutting costs and thus increasing their profits. As for their "obstinate refusal", I think they often have a reasonable fear that if they do provide documentation, it will create an ongoing demand for support. No matter how much effort you put into documentation, there always seem to be some questions you haven't answered, and people will be pestering you for the answers. More costs! But once you've opened the door by publishing the documentation, it's hard to close it gracefully. So they probably figure it's better to just say no at the outset. (None of this has much of anything to do with FreeBSD, and I apologize for replying to something off-topic. But I felt I had to speak out against an all-too-common prejudice.)