From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG  Mon Feb  7 11:47:20 2005
Return-Path: <owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG>
Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org
Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125])
	by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB0BF16A4D1
	for <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>;
	Mon,  7 Feb 2005 11:47:20 +0000 (GMT)
Received: from rproxy.gmail.com (rproxy.gmail.com [64.233.170.196])
	by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2CE9943D55
	for <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>;
	Mon,  7 Feb 2005 11:47:20 +0000 (GMT)
	(envelope-from joseph.koshy@gmail.com)
Received: by rproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id z35so705571rne
	for <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>;
	Mon, 07 Feb 2005 03:47:19 -0800 (PST)
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws;
	s=beta; d=gmail.com;
	h=received:message-id:date:from:reply-to:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:references;
	b=oATpC/ayEHIqDUYHgkmHsuu2vzaItmwRBJSp9DWzp1SWFq3S2YMas/WXd4X2EorWhnMux+pI9qZrzPE9aj0BRHa+Uwbczjh/cZonX5xwhMmbMmUYHKxuw7kqyk1Th63CSNEsdUJoHt6vqf1hpDkhhwPCY6NbrN0KEUddc1y8/7s=
Received: by 10.38.97.78 with SMTP id u78mr300081rnb;
        Mon, 07 Feb 2005 03:47:19 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.38.209.12 with HTTP; Mon, 7 Feb 2005 03:47:19 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <84dead7205020703474f9add1@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:47:19 +0000
From: Joseph Koshy <joseph.koshy@gmail.com>
To: Robert Watson <rwatson@freebsd.org>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1050206132109.55669F-100000@fledge.watson.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
References: <4205F382.8020404@freebsd.org>
	 <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1050206132109.55669F-100000@fledge.watson.org>
cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org
cc: Scott Long <scottl@freebsd.org>
Subject: Re: The case for FreeBSD
X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1
Precedence: list
Reply-To: Joseph Koshy <joseph.koshy@gmail.com>
List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current
	<freebsd-current.freebsd.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-current>,
	<mailto:freebsd-current-request@freebsd.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current>
List-Post: <mailto:freebsd-current@freebsd.org>
List-Help: <mailto:freebsd-current-request@freebsd.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-current>,
	<mailto:freebsd-current-request@freebsd.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 11:47:20 -0000

rw> -- your list of features would make the great beginnings of a white paper

White papers are an excellent idea.  

These are some of the questions that I have faced when talking about
FreeBSD:

The initial set:

  * What is FreeBSD?  What is it being used for?  What kind of products are
     being built  with it?  Which organizations are using FreeBSD?  Why should
     we choose FreeBSD over other alternatives?

     Most folk haven't heard about FreeBSD.

Then:

  * How does one *use* FreeBSD?   How does one architect a solution
     around it?  What are its strengths, and what weaknesses should we
     be aware of?  What hardware is supported?

And then when people look at the long-term, along comes another bunch
of questions:

  * How does the project work?  How do users get heard?  
     Who supports us?   Is the "free" support any good?
     Is there a way to pay someone to support us?  

Another set:

  * Where do we find FreeBSD savvy developers?  Is there training
     available?  Is there anything like FreeBSD certification for developers?
     Is a FreeBSD based product maintainable?

It would be great to be able to hand over people a bunch of PDFs instead
of having to talk :).

-- 
FreeBSD Volunteer, http://people.freebsd.org/~jkoshy