From owner-freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Apr 2 12:24:57 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [8.8.178.115]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D42B9141; Wed, 2 Apr 2014 12:24:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail.iXsystems.com (newknight.ixsystems.com [206.40.55.70]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-CAMELLIA256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A705B9FC; Wed, 2 Apr 2014 12:24:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from localhost (mail.ixsystems.com [10.2.55.1]) by mail.iXsystems.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id EEE8172FEB; Wed, 2 Apr 2014 05:24:56 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail.iXsystems.com ([10.2.55.1]) by localhost (mail.ixsystems.com [10.2.55.1]) (maiad, port 10024) with ESMTP id 81635-03; Wed, 2 Apr 2014 05:24:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [10.8.0.6] (unknown [10.8.0.6]) (using TLSv1 with cipher AES128-SHA (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mail.iXsystems.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 4057972FDA; Wed, 2 Apr 2014 05:24:35 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; d=ixsystems.com; s=newknight0; t=1396441482; bh=PMYtpkl2xekWGOoOA+i+4RlaQq+PZYSlQWYTkJ1cFiQ=; h=Subject:From:In-Reply-To:Date:Cc:References:To; b=HCcgtPb04uLq4WrZ3EMVy6pn1yBnyVft9AqQANRxZIsOvEyVDmP2Y5/FoX1G7CEyR Kti+y1BhPH7m87CTHKmGXk4ptySIZ6+G+VGby4KSBdWxd4AbuIuylPfyfvcZ7X4Bkn G8/1GDkEGH1EfIljboKWzB0V4qRFqE2dxmKokVZg= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 7.2 \(1874\)) Subject: Re: Leaving the Desktop Market From: Jordan Hubbard In-Reply-To: Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2014 17:24:28 +0500 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: <7217E584-D21A-4C50-96EB-ED280575BFFD@ixsystems.com> References: To: Matt Olander X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1874) Cc: hackers@freebsd.org, current@freebsd.org, freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.17 Precedence: list List-Id: FreeBSD Evangelism List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 12:24:58 -0000 On Apr 1, 2014, at 10:11 PM, Matt Olander wrote: > This is like trying to predict automobile technology and dominant > car-makers by 1905. There's always room for competition. Take a look > at what's happening right now in the auto-industry. Tesla came out of > nowhere 125 years after the invention of the automobile and is doing > pretty well. I think you=92re kind of making my point for me, Matt. :-) Tesla benefitted entirely from deep pockets on the part of its = investors. Over $160M went into starting the company, of which $70M = came from the personal checking account of Elon Musk, the current = visionary and CEO, and to quote the wikipedia page: "Tesla Motors is a = public company that trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol = TSLA.[5] In the first quarter of 2013, Tesla posted profits for the = first time in its ten year history.=94 Yep, in other words, Tesla has been losing money for over 10 years and = only just started turning a profit, after raising a =93mere" $187M in = investment and $485M in loans from the US DOE. Your tax dollars at = work! On top of all that Tesla has only managed to make money at all = by focusing exclusively the highest end of the luxury car market, where = profit margins are also the highest (the first car, the roadster, would = set you back $110,000). Getting back to computer operating systems, it would make most readers = of these lists choke on their Doritos to know how much Apple had to = invest in Mac OS X before it became a viable desktop operating system = and of course you=92ve already seen folks screaming about how Apple gear = is too expensive and they=92ll never buy it. You just don=92t get a consumer-grade desktop Unix OS, or a practical = all-electric sedan, without serious monetary investment and a luxury = marquee to match, assuming you=92d like to actually make any of that = money *back*. So, back to BSD on the desktop. Anyone got a spare $200M they=92d like = to just throw away? That=92s what it=92s going to take! :) Don=92t believe me? Go ask someone who knows first-hand then. Ask Mark = Shuttleworth: = http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/08/why-ubuntus-creator-= still-invests-his-fortune-in-an-unprofitable-company/ :-) - Jordan