Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 10:31:45 -0500 (CDT) From: Jonathan Lemon <jlemon@americantv.com> To: brett@lariat.org, chat@freebsd.org, jkh@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Market share and platform support Message-ID: <199909091531.KAA27521@free.pcs> In-Reply-To: <local.mail.freebsd-chat/19990909090916$318e@fish.pcs> References: <local.mail.freebsd-chat/Your message of "Wed, 08 Sep 1999 21:52:00 MDT." <local.mail.freebsd-chat/4.2.0.58.19990908203747.0463bd20@localhost>
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In article <local.mail.freebsd-chat/19990909090916$318e@fish.pcs> you write:
>At 10:08 PM 9/8/99 -0700, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote:
Sorry to jump in here, but an objective (outside) opinion might
be useful:
>I'm not asking for an endorsement; one shouldn't need one to proceed
>with the creation and marketing of an open source operating system
>distribution. Anyone should be able to take the code and run with
>it. What I (and they) are concerned about is that the effort not be
>blocked by Walnut Creek CD-ROM, which has the power to do that because
>it controls the development process. Since I'd invest a significant
>portion of my time and they'd invest a bunch of money, this is important.
Brett, do your research. This has already been done, so there is
already a precedent. CheapBytes sells a FreeBSD distribution, you
don't see WC jumping all over them? Pacific HiTech too, although
I think they are now part of (or affilated with) WC.
I also remember hearing that there are several distributions in
Japan, where FreeBSD is popular; I'm sure that not all of them
are from WC.
I can't exactly see what you're after here. The license on the FreeBSD
code proper says nothing about WC. The fact that they employ several
committers is irrelevant. If it was a factor, you would also have to
extend that to include all the companies which various committers work
for. (Yahoo, MIT, Juniper, Whistle, etc.) I think, based on the
development history of FreeBSD _and_ Linux, it's safe to say that this
is a non-issue. I further predict that if WC ever attempted to lay
claim to the FreeBSD CVS repository, Poul, Søren, Garrett and several
others would immediatly set up an alternate site somewhere else.
What it sounds like you're asking is:
1. "I want to go off and do my own distribution based on FreeBSD".
2. "I want assurance that FreeBSD Inc. will not undercut or discredit me".
As far as I can tell, you don't need permission to do #1. #2 isn't
reasonable. Anybody who gives you a blanket assurance like that is
either lying or needs their head examined. Your business will succeed
or fail on its own merits. It strongly smells to me like you're fishing
for a "non-compete" agreeement.
Also, based on your prior arguments, you seem to be arguing things
both ways. Either a lot of the credit for increased FreeBSD popularity
is due to Jordan (who is working the trade shows and popular press), or
it is actually due to you (working behind the scenes), in which case
Jordan's efforts are irrelevant. If the latter is the case, why are you
so damned worried about his actions?
And don't wave that "But Jordan tells people that FreeBSD is for servers,
and I want to target the desktop; I want him to stop saying that!" argument
at me. From a business perspective, this should be considered a good thing.
It allows you to carve out your own niche, and have a strong selling point
which allows you to differentiate yourself from the other (WC) distribution.
In short:
1. You don't need permission or endorsements from FreeBSD, Inc.
2. WC cannot stand in your way. If you want assurances that they
won't compete with you, you won't get it.
Is this a fair summary?
In closing, I'll note that you don't necessarily need support or goodwill
from Jordan to succeed. Take a look at Etinc, for example.
--
Jonathan
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