Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2011 08:18:16 -0500 From: Jorge Biquez <jbiquez@intranet.com.mx> To: "'freebsd-questions@freebsd.org'" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: A quality operating system Message-ID: <3396691193-1338588389@intranet.com.mx>
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Hello. Very interesting... let's see the answers from the experts.... By the way.... maybe answer me off topic... so then.... what was your choice of OS? Jorge Biquez At 11:47 p.m. 19/08/2011, you wrote: >Hi, > >I make decisions about hardware and software for those who work with me. > >Talking with my second in command this morning, we reached a quandary. >Ron is completely pro-Linux and pro-Windows, and against FreeBSD. > >What is odd about this is that he's the biggest UNIX fanatic I know, >not only all types of UNIX (dating back quite some time) but also all >Unix-like OSen. > >I told him I was considering FreeBSD because of greater stability >and security. > >He asked me a question that stopped me dead: > >"What is a quality operating system?" > > >In his view, and now mine, a quality operating system is reliable, >streamlined and clearly organized. > >Over the past few years, FreeBSD has drifted off-course in this >department, in his view. > >Let me share the points he made that I consider valid (I have deleted >two as trivial, and added one of my own): > >(1) Lack of direction. > >FreeBSD is still not sure whether it is a desktop OS, or a server OS. >It is easy for the developers to say "well, it's whatever you want," >but this makes the configuration process more involved. This works >against people who have to use these operating systems to get anything >done. > >In his view, a crucial metric here is the ability to estimate time >required for any task. It may be a wide window, but it should not be >as wide as "anywhere from 30 minutes to 96 hours." In his experience, >FreeBSD varies widely on this front because in the name of keeping >options open, standardization of interface and process has been >deprecated. > >(2) Geek culture. > >Geek culture is the oldest clique on the internet. Their goal is to >make friends with no one who is not like them. As a result, they >specialize in the arcane, disorganized and ambiguous. This forces >people to go through the same hoops they went through. This makes them >happy, and drives away people who need to use operating systems to >achieve real-world results. They reduce a community to hobbyists only. > >(3) Horrible documentation. > >This is my specialty and has been since the early 1980s. The FreeBSD >documentation is wordy, disorganized, inconsistent and highly >selective in what it mentions. It is not the product of professionals >but it also not the product of volunteers with a focus on >communication. It seems pro-forma, as in, "it's in the documentation, >so don't bother me." The web site compounds this error by pointing us >in multiple directions instead of to a singular resource. It is bad >enough that man pages are separate from your main documentation tree, >but now you have doubled or trebled the workload required of you >without any benefit to the end user. > >(4) Elitism. > >To a developer, looking at some inconsistent or buggy interface and >thinking, "If they can't do this, they don't belong using FreeBSD >anyway" is too easy of a thought. Yet it looks to me like this happens >quite a bit, and "this is for the elite" has become the default >orientation. This is problematic in that there are people out there >who are every bit as smart as you, or smarter, but are not specialized >in computers. They want to use computers to achieve results; you may >want to play around with your computer as an activity, but that is not >so for everyone. > >(5) Hostile community. > >For the last several weeks, I have been observing the FreeBSD >community. Two things stand out: many legitimate questions go ignored, >and for others, response is hostile resulting in either incorrect >answers, haughty snubs, and in many cases, a refusal to admit when the >problem is FreeBSD and not the user. In particular, the community is >oblivious to interfaces and chunks of code that have illogical or >inconsistent interfaces, are buggy, or whose function does not >correspond to what is documented (even in the manpages). > >(6) Selective fixes. > >I am guilty of this too, sometimes, but when you hope to build an >operating system, it is a poor idea. Programmers work on what they >want to work on. This leaves much of the unexciting stuff in a literal >non-working state, and the entire community oblivious to it or >uncaring. As Ron detailed, huge parts of FreeBSD are like buried land >mines just waiting to detonate. They are details that can invoke that >30 minute to 96 hour time period instantly, usually right before you >need to get something done. > >(7) Disorganized website. > >The part of the FreeBSD project that should set the tone for the >community, the FreeBSD website, reflects every one of these >criticisms. It is inconsistent and often disorganized; there is no >clear path; resources are duplicated and squirreled away instead of >organized and made into a process for others to follow. It is arcane, >nuanced and cryptic for the purpose of keeping the community elitist, >hobbyist and hostile to outsiders. > >In addition, huge portions of it break on a regular basis and seem to >go unnoticed. The attitude of "that's for beginners, so we don't need >it" persists even there. With the graphic design of the website I have >no problem, but the arrangement of resources on it reflects a lack of >presence of mind, or paying attention to the user experience. > > >All of this adds up to a quality operating system in theory that does >not translate into quality in reality. > >You alienate users and place the burden upon them to sort through your >mess, then sneer at them. > >You alienate business, professional and artistic users with your >insistence on hobbyism. These people have full lives; 48 hour sessions >of trying to configure audio drivers, network cards or drive arrays >are not in their interest. > >Even when you get big parts of the operating system correct, it's the >thousand little details that have been forgotten, ignored or snootily >written off that add up to many hours of frustration for the end user. >This is not necessary frustration, and they get nothing out of it. It >seems to exist because of the emotional and social attitudes of the >FreeBSD team. > > >Sadly, Ron is right. FreeBSD is not right for us, or any others who >care about using an operating system as a means to an end. FreeBSD is >a hobby and you have to use it because you like using it for the >purpose of using it, and anything else will be incidental. > >That is the condition of FreeBSD now. If these criticisms were taken >seriously, I believe the situation could change, and I hope it does. > >Fondly, >Evan >_______________________________________________ >freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list >http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions >To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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