From owner-freebsd-chat Mon Feb 22 15:13:14 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from cheddar.netmonger.net (cheddar.netmonger.net [209.54.21.140]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3F1AA11380 for ; Mon, 22 Feb 1999 15:13:04 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from chris@cheddar.netmonger.net) Received: (from chris@localhost) by cheddar.netmonger.net (8.8.8/8.8.8) id SAA11240; Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:13:03 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <19990222181303.A758@netmonger.net> Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:13:03 -0500 From: Christopher Masto To: chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: San Jose Mercury News References: <000301be5e61$32179ec0$6a6c4cd1@jackv.pacbell.net> <000301be5e61$32179ec0$6a6c4cd1@jackv.pacbell.net> <19990222144214.B25682@netmonger.net> <4.1.19990222134234.0400ce70@mail.lariat.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.91.1i In-Reply-To: <4.1.19990222134234.0400ce70@mail.lariat.org>; from Brett Glass on Mon, Feb 22, 1999 at 01:44:26PM -0700 Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org On Mon, Feb 22, 1999 at 01:44:26PM -0700, Brett Glass wrote: > At 02:42 PM 2/22/99 -0500, Christopher Masto wrote: > > >Does it ever occur to these reporters that Linux's success just might > >have something to do with the fact that Microsoft products simply do > >not work, and Linux does? > > If it were merely that, then FreeBSD would be equally successful -- > more successful, in fact, as it it smore reliable. Timing, PR, and > advocacy (though done largely by fanatics) allowed Linux to gain a > foothold and eclipse the technologically superior BSD derivatives. While timing is certainly a factor in Linux's mindshare vs. BSD, Linux would have a significantly harder time gaining acceptance among corporate types if Microsoft products actually worked. I did not say "merely", I said "something to do with". Linux came along at a time and in such a way that large numbers of people were motivated to work on it and spread it to their friends. This was well before it became "Linux vs. NT", but by the time that issue arrived, Linux had accumulated a huge base of followers and was able to gain the perception of a support mechanism. Even then, in my experience, Microsoft's products are tried first, and Linux (or FreeBSD) is only an option when NT has caused colossal amounts of loss. My experiences may not be typical, but I've certainly had a lot of them when it comes to people trying to use Microsoft products for Internet servers. They have been uniformly negative. -- Christopher Masto Director of Operations NetMonger Communications chris@netmonger.net info@netmonger.net http://www.netmonger.net "Good tools allow users to do stupid things." -- Clay Shirky To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message