Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 07:20:54 -0400 From: "Stuart Krivis" <stuart@krivis.com> To: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD advocacy Message-ID: <199807301127.HAA24756@smok.apk.net> In-Reply-To: <199807292219.SAA23567@shell.monmouth.com> References: <199807292109.RAA10511@server.computeralt.com> from "Scott I. Remick" at Jul 29, 98 05:09:09 pm
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On 29 Jul 98, at 18:19, Bill/Carolyn Pechter wrote: > However, Linux has an evangelical bunch of GNUites that are pushing > hard for their "GPL'd everything" mindset. There's also Caldera and Red Oh, get off it! Everybody is slamming GNU all of a sudden. GNU has provided an excellent set of tools that an awful lot of people use daily. People push GPL because it is better than something like the MS EUA. And it _is_ better. There's no point in slamming a whole group of people who feel they are doing good when the real enemy is the group of people who are _against_ open standards. I agree that some people turn GNU into a religion. And I don't like zealots of any stripe. But then some BSDers go just as far in terms of zealotry and devote a lot of time to being anti-GNU. A zealot is a zealot. If you don't like the GPL, then don't use their code in your projects. And maybe you should work on coming up with a catchy abbreviation for the BSD license so it gets some press too. (The BS-L? hehe) > Hat offering "PAID SUPPORT" which counts in the business market. (Read > that as someone to blame, sue and fight if something does not work as > advertised). Accountability is worth a lot when dealing with suits. > wonder if Caldera ever made back the investment with Sun... I've got No. Wabi is no longer considered a current product. They're still selling it, but not actively doing any development. And it is still broken in some ways. (It's inexpensive though...) > Geez. I cursed the Red Hat 5.0 install last week. I've been loading > Linux since SLS and I hadn't seen a Linux install I prefer to sysinstall. RH 5 and 5.1 have decent install routines. I can bring up a Linux box just as fast as a FreeBSD box (faster actually, because installing packages is dog slow in FreeBSD). > > I think FreeBSD's PR team needs to send some emails, make some calls, > > and start kicking some major butt ;) In the Linux world there are several companies that make a profit from selling and promoting Linux. It will be extremely hard to compete with that. They have advocacy and promotion built into their business model and it's a full-time thing for them. They have VARs and co-op advertising plans. I have a RH bumper sticker, an SSC t-shirt, and a Caldera plaque in the lobby. With FreeBSD I just have an OS that quietly sits there and works. :-) > I really think a common binary and installer for Free/Net/OpenBSD might > work if we could unify enough to get this done in the name of commercial > apps. We'd have to lock down this format to NOT change, though. This was the cry of the ISVs when they were originally asked why they didn't port to Linux. "Too many versions and distributions!" Obviously, that has changed somewhat. What FreeBSD needs is more time in the spotlight. Get people using the better mousetrap and the vendors will beat a path to your door. (To mangle an old saying...) -- Stuart Krivis stuart@krivis.com [Team APK] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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