Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 10:43:54 GMT From: jak@cetlink.net (John Kelly) To: esr@thyrsus.com Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Open Source Products Message-ID: <353538b4.1537692@mail.cetlink.net> In-Reply-To: <19980413201541.65522@snark.thyrsus.com> References: <199804131719.LAA21122@narnia.plutotech.com> <35326353.4E30451B@xylan.com> <19980413201541.65522@snark.thyrsus.com>
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On Mon, 13 Apr 1998 20:15:41 -0400, "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@snark.thyrsus.com> wrote: >if anyone can spin a plausible scenario under which the BSDs >survive the next three years, I'd really love to hear it.) As DG pointed out, FreeBSD gets many converts from Linux, but few go back to Linux after using FreeBSD for more than a few days. I switched because of Linux' problems with disk/network/serial I/O all at the same time. Linux handles a load poorly while FreeBSD handles it very well. That's not just a technical aesthetics argument, it has practical application for everyday usage. Linux is accumulating public mindshare, but Linux users who need better performance will look around and find FreeBSD. Even if that's only a minority of perhaps 10% to 15%, Linux growth will cause more FreeBSD growth, not kill it. I think some people are comparing Linux vs. FreeBSD to what happened with Windows vs. OS/2 -- mostly because Linux has a big lead today. But FreeBSD is not a proprietary product sold by a declining company with inept management who are out of touch with a changing software market. As long as the source code remains "free," I expect FreeBSD to thrive. I think it has attracted more highly talented developers, and that's more important to me than having the largest user base. Users will never make my OS run better, only the developers will. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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