Date: Fri, 06 Nov 1998 12:53:45 -0500 From: "Mike.Jeays" <mike.jeays@statcan.ca> To: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: On advocating FreeBSD and the Halloween memo... Message-ID: <364337A8.D9B5C992@a.statcan.ca> References: <XFMail.981106155024.asmodai@wxs.nl>
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Why does Linux get more attention than FreeBSD? I think it is a VHS/Beta avalanche, which is caused by positive feedback in a situation of unstable equilibrium. A pin balanced on its point falls in essentially a random direction. VHS won even though it was the inferior product. Linux is getting the attention at the moment, at the very moment that there is a groundswell against monopolistic practices by Microsoft. Microsoft is in its current dominant position for similar reasons; partly because it has bundled disparate items together to lock out competitors, but partly because its very success has caused others to jump on the bandwagon. Now a new niche has opened up for an alternative operating system, not least because Microsoft is beginning to cash in on its de-facto monopoly by raising licence fees. For many corporations, there is seen to be no alternative, and for private individuals, costs are becoming prohibitive. One of the things that is needed is a free equivalent to Office 97. A workstation equipped with easy to use email, net browsing, word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation-preparer forms the core of many office needs. The more it uses open file formats, the better. FreeBSD's ability to run Linux binaries is an essential asset, in my opinion, so that the two free OSs can share a base of applications. I would simply hate to see FreeBSD go the way of Beta videotapes, and I think that the present resentment against Microsoft gives us an excellent opportunity. Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai wrote: > On 06-Nov-98 David O'Brien wrote: > >> (Do I dare?) In contrast with the state of the Linux universe, > >> there few enough BSD's that I can count them on one hand. it is diffucult > >> to recall all of the different Linux distributions I have seen or > >> encountered. There's Slackware, Cladera, Red Had, Yaggsdrill(sp?), > >> Debian, etc... > > Caldera, Red Hat and Yggdrasil > > > And if we look back 5 years for Linux too, we also get > > > > SuSE, SLS, Bogus > > Stampede. > > But anyways, that doesn't all matter ;) > > Fact is, how can we beat all of those distributions again and again? What > makes Linux, apart from the attention it now gets, so attractive to newbies? > > --- > Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven/Asmodai > asmodai(at)wxs.nl > Junior Network/Security Specialist > FreeBSD & picoBSD: The Power to Serve... > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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