Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 20:40:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@clunix.cl.msu.edu> To: racerx@makeworld.com (Chris) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Think outside of the box (Gawd, I hate that term) Message-ID: <200308100040.h7A0eSc8010191@clunix.cl.msu.edu> In-Reply-To: <200308090347.55304.racerx@makeworld.com> from "Chris" at Aug 09, 2003 03:47:55 AM
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> > Guys (and gals) > > As great as the *BSD's are - why are we not thinking ahead of the curve? > Outside of the box? What do I mean? Well - why not develope our OS's to run > on an arch. that isn't out yet - MAKE that new arch. just like Gates did so > many years ago. He defined the x86 market - why can't we do the same? > > With all the thinkers out there (Jordan, Theo) wouln't that be thebetter way > to go? > > Just a thought - and willing to confess, I have zero clue how to get there. > But, we need to get there. Wonderful thought, but the thing that made Gates big was clout in the marketplace that was given to him by sleeping with Big Blue (IBM) who, at the time was the "undisputed" 10 ton gorilla in the computer market. Remember there were no "PCs" up to that point and only a smattering of microcomputers of various sorts, none with any sales power behind it (not even Apple really). Everyone in the business world was waiting to see what IBM was going to do. So, when IBM made a deal with Gates and MS to throw together as OS for the PC they were long rumored to be coming out with, it made him and MS. That cabal (including Intel, also at the time not the biggest cheese in the cooler) was able to take controll of the marketplace because of IBMs clout as the main seller of computing for businesses (and business managers only cared about business computers). It had little to do with the quality of the thinking, design or implementation of machines which have never been the superior technology available at any time, although they did tend to be packaged better than any of the other early microcomputers currently on the market (except the Apple but that was much too wimpy and already underpowered at the time). Although it is possible for genius software developers to work on a thin budget and get amazing things done, the current state of hardware makes it a necessity to invest very large sums of money (100's of millions of $) to create each next generation (each of which is a slight evolution of the previous rather than revolutionary). So most brilliant hardware developers are finding it necessary to sell their souls to the few hardware development giants. Or they are working in some University research program and having to spend most of their creative energy fighting for grants. It is also, not just the availability of development money. It is also the ability to make an impact in the marketplace. The current players are not going to lie down and let some some other product roll over them merely because it is superior. The techie burial grounds are littered with the remains of companies and individuals who had a better product (in some way or other) but could not work up enough clout in the marketplace to stay. A few of those products are supporting stacks of books and papers in my house. So, yup, FreeBSD and the other BSDs have good - brilliant thinkers but what horse can they ride to significant enough place in the marketplace to be able to afford the cost of development. Gee, it would be wonderful if the next generation could be some sort of open system project. I'd probably even buy one myself, but. ////jerry > Best regards, > Chris
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