Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:57:11 +1100 (EST) From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Huang Min <hmin@public.cq.sc.cn> Cc: FreeBSD <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: So, FreeBSD can't be a very popular OS, why? Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971028142629.13288A-100000@zipper.zip.com.au> In-Reply-To: <32741FAA.71CA@public.cq.sc.cn>
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On Mon, 28 Oct 1996, Huang Min wrote:
> Hi, sirs,
I guess that includes me :-)
> Can any one tell me why FreeBSD can't be a very popular OS? What's its
> weakness to other UNIX OS? And what's its weakness to DOS-WINDOWS OS?
Here's my impressions, probably others will disagree.
With a unix style operating system, basically you are a user who needs to
employ a system administrator, or make other arrangements.
When this is your own computer at home, you have to be both user and
administrator to yourself.
The other systems you mentioned are restrained so that they are "easy" to
manage. One result is that almost anyone can operate the whole system.
Another is that there's lots of things you cannot do. Either the operating
system prevents you from doing them for your own safety (it's designed for
non-tech people after all), or the system has been so cut down that its
functionality is limited. If, like many people, you are using your pentium
as a typewriter, personal calculator and telephone index, that should suit
you real well.
If you want to do more with your computer, or if you want to really exploit
the quality hardware you have, then you want a full, powerful and
configurable system, like FreeBSD, Linux, etc. The next thing you need is
someone to install it, set it up, and configure it to suit your needs. Then
you'll want that person to come in and maintain it occasionally.
But it's your home computer, you don't want to pay the wages of someone with
a university degree and years of experience, do you?
So, either you relent and install a Windows Typewriter System, or you learn
to do it yourself.
Learning to do it yourself is where the fun, excitement, and tears come in.
Unix was never meant for beginners. It expects you to know what you're doing
and to take full responsibility every step of the way. So you buy books. You
go back and buy more books.
The books don't help much if you're starting as a real novice. There's a
little gap between "this is how we turn it on" and "setting up <something
complex>" that is not filled. The books expect us to already know some stuff
and to have teachers or peers to turn to.
Linux is overcoming this problem. There's a large and enthusiastic mob of
young Linux users who help each other in many ways, by email, web pages, and
writing easier books about running Linux. Linux is used by a whole lot of
people in their homes, people like you and me and our kid brothers, people
who are happy to try and fail and try again and tell their friends. These
are the same people who develop Linux. You and I can become Linux developers
too, as soon as we'd like to give it a try and distribute our attempts.
Not so many home users try FreeBSD. They think it's too hard.
Lots of very wise and experienced experts run FreeBSD because they like the
way it works. They don't need much help.
A few home users like you and me try to run FreeBSD and make lots of
mistakes. There's always someone there to help us out though. It just seems
like we're the only ones because we're always too afraid to speak up, to say
I just use it at home, I don't know much, I do silly things, but I'm here
with you people.
Slowly, more home users are coming to FreeBSD. We are the bold ones who like
a challenge, willing to learn something new, appreciating this solid and
versatile operating system. When there are enough of us, we'll speak out
more. Then the Wise Ones will write us some more tips and instructions, then
more will join, then more will speak out, then the whole thing will become
easier to approach and more popular. But with FreeBSD, we know that our
source code is coming from people who know what they're doing. It's a solid
foundation with freedom to learn and explore in our own way, at _any_ level.
I don't think my idea of this FreeBSD future is hugely popular at the
moment, but things are definitely moving in that direction.
Some people simply want to turn on their computer, have it help them to do
some work, and turn it off again having learned nothing. Those people are
probably well served by smaller, simpler, less reliable, and more costly
operating systems that don't require anything more than the occsional
automated upgrade from CD (until something goes wrong that can't be fixed)
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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