Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 14:07:23 -0800 From: Matthew Hunt <mph@pobox.com> To: pekarske_bob@burr-brown.com Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG, pekarske_bob@u2.bbrown.com Subject: Re: Y2K Message-ID: <19981228140723.A23872@wopr.caltech.edu> In-Reply-To: <072566E8.007691E6.00@coral.bbrown.com>; from pekarske_bob@burr-brown.com on Mon, Dec 28, 1998 at 02:50:01PM -0700 References: <072566E8.007691E6.00@coral.bbrown.com>
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I've moved this to -chat. On Mon, Dec 28, 1998 at 02:50:01PM -0700, pekarske_bob@burr-brown.com wrote: > I believe it would be in FreeBSD's best interests to be able to provide an > upgrade path. Sure. There are lots of things that would be in FreeBSD's best interests. The problem is that naming the problem doesn't get it solved, so the likely result is that nothing is likely to happen. There's all sorts of bug fixes, feature additions, and so on that would help FreeBSD. Some will get done because volunteers find them interesting, and some won't because nobody bothers. That's the name of the game. Most Unix people find Y2K pretty boring, because any remining problems are likely to be minor and easy to fix, so most people would rather work on interesting projects. Note that people have run FreeBSD systems with the clock set past 2000, and any remaining problems are minor enough not to have been noticed. The system's not going to explode or anything. [ NB- As I write this, David's email about the testing has arrived. Maybe that will help to reassure you a bit. My own statements are not intended to say whether the testing that has been done is adequate or not for your purposes or mine. ] I would now like to editorialize, sort of in response to some things that you wrote but not specifally directed at you. Your point seems to be founded on the notion that a more thorough Y2K audit would make FreeBSD more appealing to corporate users who are not in a position to do this work themselves. I'm sure that you're right. But on the other hand, I am of the opinion that catering to that sort of user should not be an important goal of the project. That is, I would rather see us spending our time to make life better for users who *will* contribute back to the project. Other people are likely to disagree, and want to see lots of units shipped, lots of name recognition, etc. I've never been too concerned about such things unless they lead to actual improvements in the operating system. Matthew -- Matthew Hunt <mph@pobox.com> * Science rules. http://www.pobox.com/~mph/pgp.key for PGP public key 0x67203349. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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