Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 21:52:00 -0600 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Market share and platform support Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.19990908203747.0463bd20@localhost> In-Reply-To: <4922.936836036@localhost> References: <Your message of "Wed, 08 Sep 1999 10:24:56 MDT." <4.2.0.58.19990908100529.05259560@localhost>
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At 05:13 PM 9/8/99 -0700, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote:
> > O'Reilly has turned down several book proposals on BSD UNIX -- from me and
> > from other authors -- saying that Linux has so much more market share that it
>
>Perhaps they just didn't like you. They asked me to do a book and I
>turned them down due to too many committments elsewhere. They've also
>published 2 FreeBSD books in Japanese - I saw them the last time I was
>in Tokyo.
That was probably before I spoke to them. Alas, their concern now is that
they already haVE too MANY FreeBSD titles in print and are not seeing
sufficient profit on them relative to the Linux books.
>We are getting up on the charts
I have not noticed that FreeBSD has passed any other OS in the market
share rankings by IDC, Gartner, or any other firm that collects such
data.
>and the ports are coming. I've
>counted at least 3 new products in the last 2 months - we have the XNI
>network monitoring software (which will be demo'd at the upcoming
>BAFUG meeting), we have the Polyserve load balancing package (adding
>FreeBSD to its Solaris and Linux product line before NT even) and we
>have C-Forge (see recent press).
That's good news. Note, though, that these are already available for
Solaris, from which FreeBSD is an easy port. They're also niche
products. I want to see Quickbooks and TurboTax; CorelDraw,
CorelPaint, and WordPerfect; Borland Delphi; the Opera browser;
Eudora Pro. To name a few.
> The "buy-in" I'm also getting at
>trade-shows and other vendor-populated events more recently is also
>very heartening. Just 3 years ago, the responses I got to inquiries
>ranged from "what's FreeBSD?" to "we already support Linux" ("um,
>we're not a linux") and many vendors at COMDEX were just basically
>clueless about our very existence. Now, many trade-shows and press
>articles later, I'm getting outright statements of "I'm *really glad*
>you came to talk to us, let me introduce you to our CTO!" and
>"FreeBSD? Yes, we have a port for that already in progress. Let me
>give you my card" from some of those very same vendors.
That reaction is certainly better than before, and I hope you don't
mind if I take credit for some of the consciousness-raising behind
it. But is there follow-through? I have not seen many actual
product releases.
>In any case, we've expended many bytes in this mailing list in
>discussing the topic and frankly it's starting to become only tiring,
>not enlightening or motivating.
I think I've provided ample reason for folks to get motivated. The
gap between FreeBSD and Linux is growing; FreeBSD's market share
isn't keeping up with that of Linux; Linux-only open source programs
are appearing. FreeBSD machines are still hidden in the closet like
a dirty secret, while Linux is out in the front office. This needs
to change.
> Discussions which serve only to tire
>one out are not useful discussions in my book and nothing you're ever
>going to say will change my mind on THAT particular point,
So, instead of dissing the discussion, add something to it! So far,
most of your comments have been to the effect that "There's no problem;
all's right for the world; there's no need for any discussion." That
*is* tiresome; it throws a wet blanket on discourse that might be
productive.
>so you
>might as well save your fingers too. Rather than continue discuss the
>"memes of advocacy" and other mere conceptualizations of progress in
>all the areas you say we lack it, it's my personal choice to keep
>"feeding the PR machine" by visiting trade shows, speaking before
>audiences and press weasels of various shapes and colors, and doing
>the whole road tour thing in general since that seems like the most
>tangible way to make progress.
Want me to do that? Then help to ensure that I can go ahead
with plans to release a high-end FreeBSD distribution. One of the things
the investors are holding out on is that they MUST be assured that
Walnut Creek does not and will not control development. Which,
right now, it seems to, since it runs the primary servers and
provide income to you, Mike Smith, and (correct me if I'm wrong on
this) David Greenman. This gives it substantial control of FreeBSD's
purse strings. Legally, Walnut Creek owns the work you do on company
time, too -- so long as it pays you a salary. (If it pays FreeBSD, Inc.
for your services as a consultant, or pays you as an independent
contractor with an explicit contract provision stating that it doesn't
get all the rights, that's different.)
Ironically, Linux has a big advantage in this regard. Linus doesn't work
for Caldera, or Red Hat, or SuSE. Bob Young claimed in a recent
interview that this is important to Linux's success, and -- judging from
what I'm hearing from the investors I'm working with -- he's right.
The investors think it'd be a bad risk to dive in so long as Walnut
Creek is so much in control. On the other hand, if the development
efforts are clearly independent of Walnut Creek, and -- better still --
Walnut Creek is willing to be one of the pioneering dealers for the
new distro -- I've got a strong argument and will likely get the
funding.
If I can get this business going -- and, again, this depends on the
assurances I mention above -- you can BET I'll be at trade shows
because I will suddenly have the $500-1000 per trip I'd need to
travel. (A typical COMDEX can easily run up $1000 in travel expenses,
and going to FreeBSDCon will cost that much at least just to get there
and stay in a hotel. That's one of the reasons I've submitted several
abstracts for papers: financial necessity.) If the business gets started,
I'll have a good business reason to be at conferences to push FreeBSD,
and won't starve as a result of doing so.
Otherwise, the investors will opt for OpenBSD or just walk away, and
a big opportunity will be lost to all of us. Including Walnut Creek.
The enhanced distro, and the positive press and larger user base
it provides, could help them sell an AWFUL lot of copies of all
FreeBSD-related products. This includes its own distro, Greg's
books, and even T-shirts.
So, Jordan, what I'm able to do is really in your hands.
--Brett Glass
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