Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 01:19:38 -0800 From: Brent Kearney <brent@kearneys.ca> To: Konrad Heuer <kheuer@gwdu60.gwdg.de> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org>, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Observations from Germany Message-ID: <19991218011938.A5150@kearneys.ca> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9912162114590.21150-100000@gwdu60.gwdg.de>; from kheuer@gwdu60.gwdg.de on Thu, Dec 16, 1999 at 09:34:44PM %2B0100 References: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9912162114590.21150-100000@gwdu60.gwdg.de>
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On Thu, Dec 16, 1999 at 09:34:44PM +0100, Konrad Heuer wrote: > > I see that SuSE does a good job in Germany. SuSE Linux is nowadays offered > by large purchasers and mail-order-houses like Comtech (a large ><snip> > seemed to move exclusively to the Windows systems. On the other hand, I > would much more like to see FreeBSD in that context than SuSE Linux The primary reason why SuSE, RedHat, etc, enjoy commercial success is because they are commercial enterprises with those goals in mind. Riding the wave of Linux hysteria, these companies produce significantly different Operating Systems, although because they all use the Linux kernel, tag "Linux" on the end of their corporate identities, and reap the efforts of the open source community to produce the products that they market. How can FreeBSD maximize the benefit from the Linux hysteria? The approach so far seems to be largely "grassroots" campaigning. With more and more techies discovering the benefits of FreeBSD, it squeaks into the scaffolding of the Internet. I think the latest media blips about FreeBSD, "Even better than Linux?", etc., are exactly what the FreeBSD community needs. The media loves mystery and hype. Were a company to evangelize FreeBSD the way that SuSE and RedHat do for Linux, this hype might reach similar proportions, and the OS could gain similar popularity. This is all, of course, purely speculative. I know nothing about gaining the support of hardware vendors. Just a little armchair philosophy =) -Brent To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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