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Date:      Mon, 22 Mar 1999 16:55:52 -0700
From:      Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>
To:        jgrosch@MooseRiver.com
Cc:        "B. Adkins" <adkins@iwaynet.net>, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Is Red Hat a mini Microsoft?
Message-ID:  <36F6D888.231A8379@softweyr.com>
References:  <4.1.19990322121713.00fe8920@mailbox.iwaynet.net> <19990322151738.B75109@ontario.mooseriver.com>

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Josef Grosch wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Mar 22, 1999 at 12:17:59PM -0500, B. Adkins wrote:
> > "Conceived as a computing underdog, Red Hat Software Inc. cut its teeth
> > battling heavy-handed moves by the likes of Microsoft. Now it may be
> > borrowing a page straight from Redmond."
> >
> > http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0%2C4586%2C2229091%2C00.html
> 
> More FUD from microsoft via their lapdog in the media, Ziff-Davis.

Not my take on it.  Talk to anyone who's been heavily involved in Linux
for more than a year, and they have a very arms-length relationship with
Red Hat.  Moreover, many of them are mulling the question of whether all
the media and commercial attention will be good for Linux.  I have the
same reservations about FreeBSD, and have written about them informally
a few times.  Perhaps I should do so more formally.

So, here's an invitation.  Let's discuss the pros and cons of the current
Linux explosion.  How do you think this will improve Linux, and how do
you think it will hurt Linux?  In what ways might FreeBSD be improved and
hurt by similar, or indeed ANY level of media and commercial attention?

I'd like to write a Daemons Advocate on this, and to present the viewpoints
of the community, not just myself.  Please invite your NetBSD and OpenBSD
friends to join in.

Here's an example discussion point:  Now that Red Hat is being paid lotso'
dollars to support and develop Linux for large commercial customers, how
likely is a small user with one aging 386 box to get any attention at all
when RH 6.0 won't run on his machine?  Are the "little guys" going to get
left in the dust, as they were with Windows NT and Solaris x86?  What
about support for 1MB video cards, etc., ad nauseum?

-- 
             Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?

Wes Peters                                                     +1.801.915.2061
Softweyr LLC                                                  wes@softweyr.com


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