Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 23:12:49 +0100 From: "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@freebie.atkielski.com> To: "Brian Raynes" <brian_raynes@dnr.state.ak.us> Cc: <freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Prevalence of FreeBSD and UNIX among servers Message-ID: <013b01c17d10$cf9c99e0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> References: <00ef01c17cda$6b419760$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3C0D0426.BEC515D7@dnr.state.ak.us> <010001c17cf4$954228d0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3C0D21CD.7F89C40A@dnr.state.ak.us>
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Brian writes: > More small organizations may be getting into > networking and so the higher availability of > MCSEs over Unix administrators probably does > play a part too. I don't understand all this talk of MCSEs. You shouldn't need an MCSE to run a Windows intranet; if you do, then there's far less reason not to just go with UNIX. One of the putative advantages of Windows is that it requires no expert care and feeding; the moment that ceases to be true a huge advantage of Windows over UNIX is lost. Additionally, even if you have someone running the Windows intranet full time, he doesn't have to be a MCSE. MCSE just means that he expects you to pay him more for memorizing the answers to questions on a multiple-choice test during a five-day workshop. > I don't think Linux will become too much that > way, although there are signs that some of the > free software companies are starting to try and > make money and differentiate themselves by > producing proprietary components (see recent > articles on Ximian, the GNOME guys). It can only get worse. There's no money in free software, by definition, and so no company--no matter what noble claims it might make--actually intends to give anything away. The goal is always the same: Come up with something you can make people pay for, and lock them into it. And if you can do that by repackaging something that is 99% the free work of someone else, so much the better. > If one of these companies was to grow to dominating > status, we could see something like that. Like Red Hat? > It would be tough to take the Linux operating > system itself and try to dominate. Linux itself (which includes only the kernel, right?) is useless for anything worthwhile, though, so anyone using must usually acquire additional software somehow. The fact that one component of a product is free software will not prevent companies from finding a way to charge lots of money for as little as possible and locking customers into their product line. Today's Red Hat is tomorrow's Microsoft. > It gets more difficult to imagine what that might > be, but it'll be interesting to see what happens > next... My worry is that the entire concept of free software is inherently unstable and cannot endure forever. As nice as it sounds, it's just not possible to do things for free, or to get something for nothing. And once you start charging, greed tends to take over, and it's a slippery slope. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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