Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 19:52:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael Lucas <mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org> To: advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Emulation Message-ID: <200007092352.TAA68433@blackhelicopters.org>
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Okay, I'm going to get all icky and dirty here, but I can't help but jump in: A big selling point I find in FreeBSD is the "we can run it" aspect. We provide SVR4 and IBCS2 ABIs in addition to the Linux and Wine ABIs. More than once, I've had a client who has a product dying on, say, a SCO box. By putting that same product on my laptop under the appropriate ABI and getting the office back in production, and then saying "Okay, let's find the *right* fix for the job," I pique their interest in FreeBSD. (I keep two NICs in that laptop for the same reason -- it makes a dandy emergency firewall.) Of the three times I've done this, twice we wound up with a FreeBSD machine running that software. A decent ABI with a solid back end can outperform the native platform. Occasionally, they've even bought different software because it would run on FreeBSD, simply because my stupid little $2K laptop outperformed their $10K Compaq server. The third time, they ripped UNIX out and put in NT. I sent videos of the results off to Clive Barker for inspiration. But that's another story. What this is leading to: I think it would hurt us if Linux had FreeBSD ABI compatability. Our "I don't care what it was compiled for, we can run it" flexibility is a strong, strong selling point. It's called the "can-do" attitude; that's what I look for in employees and operating systems alike. Anyway, I'll shut up now. We now return you to your regularly scheduled flamewar. ==ml PS: So, is anyone interested in *advocating* BSD on this list? I've gotten one person interested in a Southeast Michigan BSD group; it seems like the Lansing folks are hitting it off. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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