From owner-freebsd-chat Sat Oct 3 06:52:50 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id GAA10017 for freebsd-chat-outgoing; Sat, 3 Oct 1998 06:52:50 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from prince.essential.org ([216.0.124.11]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id GAA10012 for ; Sat, 3 Oct 1998 06:52:49 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from love@cptech.org) Received: from cptech.org (jl@ppp-3.essential.org [216.0.125.3]) by prince.essential.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id JAA25377; Sat, 3 Oct 1998 09:48:59 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <361626E6.5B29F812@cptech.org> Date: Sat, 03 Oct 1998 09:30:14 -0400 From: James Love Organization: http://www.cptech.org X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.06 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.0.34 i586) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Greg Lehey CC: Brett Glass , dmorrisn , Wes Peters , "Jordan K. Hubbard" , chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Device Drivers for Linux and Intel's annoucement References: <23307.907176696@time.cdrom.com> <4.1.19981002190913.040f3b60@mail.lariat.org> <36158AD6.811BD16E@u.washington.edu> <4.1.19981002202119.040f7c30@mail.lariat.org> <19981003123016.W2176@freebie.lemis.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Allow me to offer a few comments on the FreeBSD/Linux thing. First, we plan to test a FreeBSD machine in our office. We initially planed to test Linux/FreeBSD/BeOS all at once, but it became clear this was a bit much, given my time and the available hardware, so it is taking some time. Second, I think it is quite possibly the case the the rise of a linux as an alternative is a story that users can understand better than the rise of 3 or 4 alternatives. As a first step, it is important to make people understand that MS isn't the only option. Third, I would imagine if people can learn to use Linux (not that simple for Windows users, it seems to me), then it is far far easier to try FreeBSD, which basically works the same way. I use a FreeBSD manual to figure out how to do a lot of things in Linux right now. Speaking as a user and not an advocate for a moment, I find the learning for one platform pretty useful for the other. Maybe this is why Sun is supporting Linux, even while it wants to sell Solaris. Fourth, I think many Linux users are supportive of FreeBSD and rather agonistic about the licensing issues. Probably a minority of users (but a majority of advocates) care a lot about the licensing issues. Jamie Love -- James Love Consumer Project on Technology P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 http://www.cptech.org love@cptech.org 202.387.8030, fax 202.234.5176 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message