Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 11:59:53 +1030 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: What Linus said about FreeBSD Message-ID: <20000209115952.I41453@freebie.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <4.2.2.20000207163850.00cf03c0@localhost> References: <4.2.2.20000207163850.00cf03c0@localhost>
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X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.2 [Format recovered--see http://www.lemis.com/email/email-format.html] On Monday, 7 February 2000 at 18:16:32 -0700, Brett Glass wrote: > A number of people have stated that Linus disparaged FreeBSD at > LinuxWorld. Here, for the purpose of discussion, iswhat he actually > said. At 41:59 in the video at > http://www.technetcast.com/tnc_play.ram?stream_id=207&stream_type=2&play_http=1&play_Real5=1, > Linux has the following exchange with an audience member who has > walked up to the mike to ask a question. > > Audience member: When I first heard of Linux, I thought it was, well, "This > is just another FreeBSD." But obviously, Linux has far overshadowed > FreeBSD, and FreeBSD had, like, a lot of really good people working on it. > What have you guys learned from FreeBSD? Why have you guys done so much better? > > Linus: I think that the one thing you should always remember is that it's > not just all about technology. Technology is important; what's equally > important is -- is just the kind of community you build up around it. And > it happened -- probably mostly by mistake, certainly by luck, not by > planning -- that the Linux community was just so much more vibrant, so much > friendlier, so much more open than the BSD communities used to be. And > that, I think, was the deciding factor. It was timing; there was luck; I > think what happened was that there was a real need for SOMETHING like > Linux. And people didn't necessarily want it to be Linux. They just wanted > an alternative. Something that was stable, freely available, and that was > good.... And Linux just had all the right attributes at the right time. The > BSD projects are certainly ongoing, still, but it's also clear they're > still limited to thinking that it's JUST about technology. They don't want > to, kind of, build up more of a community and user-friendly issues at all. > > Thoughts? I accept that. He doesn't have to be right, but what he's describing is the way he sees it, and I don't think he's lying. Remember also that this response was, at best, only partially prepared. If we want to get something out of this statement, we should try to understand his viewpoint and decide whether it means we should change in some way. Greg -- When replying to this message, please take care not to mutilate the original text. For more information, see http://www.lemis.com/email.html Finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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