Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 07:53:56 -0600 From: Joe Warner <jswarner@uswest.net> To: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> Cc: freebsd newbies <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: FreeBSD vs CISCO Message-ID: <39560EF4.C3383FB3@uswest.net> References: <3954BAF5.29652D7B@uswest.net> <20000624182238.A808@hades.hell.gr>
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Giorgos Keramidas wrote:
> On Sat, Jun 24, 2000 at 07:43:17AM -0600, Joe Warner wrote:
> > If you can take an old 386 or 486, install FreeBSD on it and turn it
> > into a cost effective,secure and highly configurable router, why then do
> > company's continue to pay the big bucks for CISCO routers?
>
> FreeBSD is an open source solution to the problem. CISCO's routers are
> supported by a commercial company. All the reasons that apply to the
> question "Why do companies still use closed source solutions, when we
> have {Free,Net,Open}BSD and Linux?" can be applied to this question too.
>
> Oh, and then there is support. I myself, being a FreeBSD user for
> almost a year now, know that the support from the BSD lists and the web
> sites dedicated to FreeBSD is excellent. What IT people want though is
> a company, a brand, a name that they can write in their agendas beside a
> phone number and rest in peace that when they have a problem, they will
> call that phone and get support. I am not arguing for IT people here, I
> strongly disagree with the way they take some decisions. But this is a
> fact, and I can not pretend that it does not happen.
>
> Another good reason is that CISCO's routers are dedicated machines built
> exactly with their role sas routers in mind. FreeBSD will be usually
> installed on a general purpose PC, and someone ought to decide what
> hardware to choose, etc. etc. All these decisions have been made for
> their customers by CISCO, and the time and research this saves them is
> what CISCO's customers pay the major bucks for.
>
> As an example consider this case. When you buy a CISCO 2500 router, you
> don't have to worry if it's IDE controller supports the UDMA hard-disk
> that you bought from your vendor. In fact, apart from some simple
> checks, you don't have to worry about hardware incompatibilities, and
> other suchs beasts, at all.- Yeah but isn't this what NetBSD is for? And
> also, doesn't the fact that most IT managers believe that you get what you
> pay for? In other words they might be thinking: "How can installing a free
> OS on one of our old 386s or 486s be a good solution?" "Historically,
> software that is free can't be that good." "We need to pay more for a brand
> name solution and the support that comes with it, and since it's covered
> under the support contract, if anything goes wrong, we only have to contact
> one entity for help." In response to this kind of thinking, if a company's
> main concern is support, what about the Technical Support Programs currently
> being offered by BSDI?
> http://www.BSDI.COM/services/support/freebsd-programs/
>
>
> Ciao.
>
> --
> Giorgos Keramidas, < keramida @ ceid . upatras . gr >
> For my public key: finger keramida@ceid.upatras.gr
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<p>Giorgos Keramidas wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>On Sat, Jun 24, 2000 at 07:43:17AM -0600, Joe Warner
wrote:
<br>> If you can take an old 386 or 486, install FreeBSD on it and turn
it
<br>> into a cost effective,secure and highly configurable router, why
then do
<br>> company's continue to pay the big bucks for CISCO routers?
<p>FreeBSD is an open source solution to the problem. CISCO's routers
are
<br>supported by a commercial company. All the reasons that apply
to the
<br>question "Why do companies still use closed source solutions, when
we
<br>have {Free,Net,Open}BSD and Linux?" can be applied to this question
too.
<p>Oh, and then there is support. I myself, being a FreeBSD user
for
<br>almost a year now, know that the support from the BSD lists and the
web
<br>sites dedicated to FreeBSD is excellent. What IT people want
though is
<br>a company, a brand, a name that they can write in their agendas beside
a
<br>phone number and rest in peace that when they have a problem, they
will
<br>call that phone and get support. I am not arguing for IT people
here, I
<br>strongly disagree with the way they take some decisions. But
this is a
<br>fact, and I can not pretend that it does not happen.
<p>Another good reason is that CISCO's routers are dedicated machines built
<br>exactly with their role sas routers in mind. FreeBSD will be
usually
<br>installed on a general purpose PC, and someone ought to decide what
<br>hardware to choose, etc. etc. All these decisions have been made
for
<br>their customers by CISCO, and the time and research this saves them
is
<br>what CISCO's customers pay the major bucks for.
<p>As an example consider this case. When you buy a CISCO 2500 router,
you
<br>don't have to worry if it's IDE controller supports the UDMA hard-disk
<br>that you bought from your vendor. In fact, apart from some simple
<br>checks, you don't have to worry about hardware incompatibilities, and
<br>other suchs beasts, at all.<i><font color="#3333FF">- Yeah but isn't
this what NetBSD is for? And also, doesn't the fact that most IT
managers believe that you get what you pay for? In other words they
might be thinking: "How can installing a free OS on one of our old 386s
or 486s be a good solution?" "Historically, software that is free
can't be that good." "We need to pay more for a brand name solution
and the support that comes with it, and since it's covered under the support
contract, if anything goes wrong, we only have to contact one entity for
help." In response to this kind of thinking, if a company's main
concern is support, what about the Technical Support Programs currently
being offered by BSDI? <A HREF="http://www.BSDI.COM/services/support/freebsd-programs/">http://www.BSDI.COM/services/support/freebsd-programs/</A></font></i></blockquote>;
<br>
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><i><font color="#3333FF"></font></i>
<p>Ciao.
<p>--
<br>Giorgos Keramidas, < keramida @ ceid . upatras . gr >
<br>For my public key: finger keramida@ceid.upatras.gr</blockquote>
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