Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 00:07:10 +0530 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> To: "Jason C. Wells" <jcwells@nwlink.com> Cc: Arun Sharma <adsharma@sharmas.dhs.org>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Sun's web site Message-ID: <20000818000710.A7279@physics.iisc.ernet.in> In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.96.1000817104908.5054A-100000@utah>; from jcwells@nwlink.com on Thu, Aug 17, 2000 at 10:58:19AM -0700 References: <20000817220802.A6830@physics.iisc.ernet.in> <Pine.SOL.3.96.1000817104908.5054A-100000@utah>
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Jason C. Wells said on Aug 17, 2000 at 10:58:19: > On Thu, 17 Aug 2000, Rahul Siddharthan wrote: > > > Yes, but one needs a good desktop environment for desktop use, and > > twm doesn't cut it. One has to either accept GPL'd software for > > such things, or duplicate that entire effort with a BSD license. > > But FreeBSD is a server OS. > > Most everything the hackers is do is server-centric. I would not ask them > to change. Just let the KDE folks do their thing and let our port > maintainers do their's. > > In other words, we do have perfectly good desktop if you want one. In > fact, we have two. We have as many window managers as are existent. > > And so what about the GPL. Do you (you rhetorically speaking) use tar? Do > you use bash? Do you use gzip? I don't reject using good functioning > software based on license. I even pay for software that fits my needs. > > The license _is not_ the software. Raul, didn't you start this thread > with a complaint against license zeal? I did, and I still say that. I think what you say above is exactly what I am saying except the bit about it being a "server OS" -- it is, but it is also a fine desktop OS. I just have the impression that the FreeBSD "advocacy" effort doesn't push the desktop aspect enough because the nicer desktop software doesn't come from the BSD project. Strictly speaking KDE, GNOME etc aren't part of the "core Linux OS" either, if there's any such thing. Debian doesn't include KDE, and till recently many distributions didn't include Gnome. But linux news sites (eg linuxtoday, lwn) regularly report developments on all these things, and on other things like Staroffice, Mozilla, anything that's relevant to using linux, and increasingly they're also covering BSD news which isn't at all linux-related. BSD news sites like daemonnews tend to ignore anything which is not part of the "core BSD system" or a commercial software port specifically for BSD. My point was just that when even a commercial company like Sun can splash GNOME all over their main web page, eclipsing everything else on it, there's no harm if the BSD web pages, documentation, and especially the packaging and install take a little more notice of non-BSD free software that works on BSD -- the "it's in the ports/packages, go find it" attitude isn't friendly to new users. Rahul. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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