Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 19:18:58 -0400 From: "Jason" <kib@poboxes.com> To: "Atipa" <freebsd@atipa.com>, "Josef Grosch" <jgrosch@superior.mooseriver.com> Cc: "Jonathan M. Bresler" <jmb@FreeBSD.ORG>, "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com>, <fpawlak@execpc.com>, <hasty@rah.star-gate.com>, <kline@tera.tera.com>, <freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Enough already! (Re: Why we should support Microsoft...) Message-ID: <00c401bd850e$e3bb9640$023aa8c0@kib.kib.net>
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Its about time some of you decided to get to the real point of this thread! Bravo! Jason -----Original Message----- From: Atipa <freebsd@atipa.com> To: Josef Grosch <jgrosch@superior.mooseriver.com> Cc: Jonathan M. Bresler <jmb@FreeBSD.ORG>; Jordan K. Hubbard <jkh@time.cdrom.com>; fpawlak@execpc.com <fpawlak@execpc.com>; hasty@rah.star-gate.com <hasty@rah.star-gate.com>; kline@tera.tera.com <kline@tera.tera.com>; freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG <freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Date: Thursday, May 21, 1998 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Enough already! (Re: Why we should support Microsoft...) > >> They are in volation of US anti-trust laws, yes, The justice department is >> setting a bad presidence trying to tell microsoft how to write software, >> yes. All these things are true, so what were you planing on doing about >> this? > >Make better software? :) > >[... snip ...] >> In theory they are employees of "We the people". Go out and _WORK_ to >> change things. If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the >> problem. (Now my past is beginning to show) > >Actually, if you are not part of the solution, you are a precipitate. >(Sorry for that Chemically inert pun... now _my_ past is beginning to >show!) > >> What is really pissing me off about this entire thread is all of you have >> missed the fact this this is a golden opportunity to advance FreeBSD. In case >> you have not noticed, FreeBSD is in microsoft's cross-hairs. > >Well, I got yelled at profusely when I mentioned this topic in -advocacy. >But I agree with you wholeheartedly. > >> So, rather then spend all out time theorizing about anti-trust and >> Objectivism (or what ever they are calling Ann Ryan's bullshit these days) >> lets focus on how we can make the FreeBSD the OS of choice for the ISP and >> server market and fuck microsoft & the horse they rode in on. > >I agree. I started this thread to let people know that we need to be just >as cautious w/ Unlce Sam as we are w/ Uncle Bill, but you are right that >the point was lost along the way. > >Here are my suggestions for advancing FreeBSD, and what I think we need to >do to get cut into the MS pie: > >1) Provide professional support. >-------------------------------- > > Many companies are very weary of software that does not have >on-demand, fully capable support facilities. Although those of us in the >community are familiar with the "support system" (emails, web pages, >newsgroups, friends, etc.), the whole deal looks very second-rate to >companies accustombed to on-site OS experts and 24-hour tech support >hotlines. > > This service would need to be provided by a 3rd party support >network. I see this support segment not only as a valuable service to the >Project, but a great business opportunity. I tried to register the domain >for freebsd-support.com, but it is already taken, and the web site is a >disgrace. > > NetBSD has found its way into some good situations solely on its >support. FreeBSD would benefit greatly from such a service. > > After speaking with several commercial companies, their number one >problem with supporting the "Free" OSes was support. They saw a big >potential liability for customer support at the application level since >the OS level support was not readily available. > > Professional support would increase the confidence of clients and >developers, and offer a good money-making opportunity for those involved. > >2) Market Thyself! >------------------ > We all complain about how MS sells w/ marketing instead of >substance, and are too PROUD to "stoop" to their level. That is a bit >harsh, since they have gargantuan financial backing and financial motives, >but the essence remains: the market needs a shrink wrapped, advertised, >clean-cut product. Walnut Creek has done a good job with the content and >delivery, but tuning in the masses is not really their concern. > The only way I see to spread the word without dropping millions of >dollars is to have a PR team that just produces media-ready info (Press >Releases, product comparisons, benchmarks, reviews, etc.). I know this >has been discussed, but I think the level of promotion is still relatively >low. > Being pragmatic and looking at "the Powers that Be", I have >decided that marketing is more important than the actual content and >technical merit of a product. This is not romantic and perfect, but it is >the way people work. They are not logical, but they _are_ predictable. > It appears to me that FreeBSD work is about 99.5% technical >(kernel updates, ports, packages, features, security, etc.), and about >0.5% "fluff" (documentation, marketing, promoting, graphic designing, >etc.). We need more "fluffers". > The biggest enemy as far as Press is concerned is Ziff Davis. They >are my second most hated company (behind US West), and they are bigger >sluts than MS. They totally flaunt their heavy-hitting advertisers and >have NO REGARD for the truth. And they have so many trash rag magazines >that their sphere of influence in computing is very large. I'll need to >think about infiltrating ZD, since coming up w/ big bucks is not an easy >option... > >3) Fix Threads and Java Support >------------------------------- >These are the only technical problems I feel are holding down progress. >There are always knick-knacks and do-dads, but those (related) problems >are hurting fairly badly. > >As far as networking, security, stability, hardware support, etc., I feel >FreeBSD is about as good as it gets. I think the techincal merits of >FreeBSD are many, and we can make a bigger impact immediately just by >investing in Problems 1 and 2. > >But I see the only way to beat MS will be to get commercial developers >away from MS binary compatibility. Java is the best way so far in my >estimation. > >These are only my opinions, and please nobody take any of these criticisms >personally. There are no personal criticisms whatsoever. And for those who >say, "Well, easy for you to say!", let me know where to sign up. I am >serious about making things better. > >Regards, >Kevin > > > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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