Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:53:58 +0300 From: "Odhiambo Washington" <odhiambo@gmail.com> To: "Matthew Seaman" <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> Cc: Wojciech Puchar <wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl>, Glen Barber <glen.j.barber@gmail.com>, Da Rock <rock_on_the_web@comcen.com.au>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Why FreeBSD not popular on hardware vendors Message-ID: <991123400812140253k4c0fb232tef6dbab2d59f9087@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <4944E34E.1040904@infracaninophile.co.uk> References: <20081213143200.GA5026@lpthe.jussieu.fr> <20081213182336.V41178@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <87skosf02b.fsf@kobe.laptop> <20081213184751.N41297@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <94136a2c0812131010p648d1a81q54f62bb3e1a61026@mail.gmail.com> <20081213200315.A44344@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <1229234226.18610.109.camel@laptop2.herveybayaustralia.com.au> <20081214110312.V48606@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <4ad871310812140207r178560c1nf166d2adcbe5f698@mail.gmail.com> <4944E34E.1040904@infracaninophile.co.uk>
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On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 1:43 PM, Matthew Seaman <
m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> wrote:
> Glen Barber wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 5:03 AM, Wojciech Puchar
>> <wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> wrote:
>>
>>> You remind me of a tech I once worked with who thought all customers
>>>> were stupid. Maybe they were...
>>>>
>>> the difference is that FreeBSD is free software.
>>>
>>> or is not?
>>>
>>
>> How is that relevant?
>>
>>
> The tech was being paid to do a job, so he really was contractually obliged
> to be nice to the customers. FreeBSD isn't under any sort of obligation,
> contractual or otherwise to do anything.
>
> Well, apart from the exceptions where developers have been hired or given
> grants to implement bits of functionality, or companies have decided to
> task
> their employees with developing FreeBSD drivers[*]. Even so, while the
> obligation of any individual may not be directly to the FreeBSD project
> itself,
> the result is effectively just that.
>
> Not to mention the moral obligation that developers accept to debug and
> maintain
> the code that they give to the project. Sure, no one can demand that a
> developer
> drop everything and /fix/ /this/ /now/ but most developers, most of the
> time,
> will respond extremely quickly to well-formed bug reports concerning their
> areas
> of interest.
>
> The difference is the degree and nature of the motivation to work on
> FreeBSD
> related things. Ideally developers are self-motivated. They do it because
> they want to, not because they have to or because they won't get paid if
> they
> don't[+]. It's not an entirely black and white distinction -- after all,
> employees aren't slaves. If they really can't stand being nice to the
> idiot
> customers, they always have the option of seeking alternative employment.
> Cheers,
>
There being no more need to add anything, with that simple and clear
clarification from Dr. Matthew, let us all bow and say Amen! to this thread.
Amen.
--
Best regards,
Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
Nairobi,KE
+254733744121/+254722743223
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Okay guys. This is Kenya. You pay taxes because you feel philanthropic,
unlike our MPs!"
-- Kenneth Marende, Speaker, 10th Parilament.
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