Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 13:23:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Marty Cawthon <mrc@ChipChat.com> To: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Device Drivers for Linux and Intel's annoucement Message-ID: <Pine.OS2.3.96.981003125443.82K-100000@MRC-Tiger.chipchat.com> In-Reply-To: <4.1.19981003103041.042f3460@mail.lariat.org>
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On Sat, 3 Oct 1998, Brett Glass wrote:
<CHOP>
> ... Part of my purpose here
> is to see whether Walnut Creek actually WILL get off its duff and
> do something, or if the investment must come from without and be
> financed by the sale of an alternative release of the software.
<CHOP>
It is impertinent for any of us to preach to Walnut Creek
"How to run their business", unless we are an investor
or an officer or possibly an employee of that company.
I am grateful to Walnut Creek for publishing Mr Lehey's book
and the CD-ROMs. That and the "cute catchy BSDaemon logo" convinced
me to pursue FreeBSD.
The attention paid to Linux is a good thing for BSD.
Consider: In a world dominated by Microsoft with DOS/Windows, as it
is now, how difficult is it to convince:
A) A vendor to write a commercial application for BSD?
Difficult: Win32 is much different than Unix.
B) A corporate IT person to implement a BSD server?
Difficult: Administration is different, non-MS software is 'risky'.
C) A user to load and learn to use BSD?
Difficult: Windows is "where it is at" (gasp, choke, cough)
Consider those same questions in a world where, let's say 30% of
computers use Linux, and maybe 5% run BSD.
A) Easy for vendors to build a BSD version, code is similar.
B) Easy for Corporate IT people to try BSD: Similar to Linux
C) Easy for individulal users: X, BASH, etc is the same.
Rather than kick and scream about the attention being paid to Linux,
be happy about it! It stirs up the pot, draws attention to Free and
Open Software (GPL and Berkeley and (?) style licenses) and gets
people to think "Maybe there is something other than Microsoft".
It really is good for BSD.
Linux enthusiasts and BSD enthusiasts should think of each other as
allies. Not clones of each other, but allies. Each camp can have
different philosophies, yet still learn from the other, and help each
other. Of course, each will feel superior to the other, but let's
encourage moderation with these feelings.
Marty Cawthon
ChipChat
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