Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 14:51:02 +0000 From: Paulo Cesar Pereira de Andrade <fisco.dev@sul.com.br> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> Cc: FreeBSD hackers <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Commerical applications (was: Development and validation tools...) Message-ID: <32DF91D6.2781E494@sul.com.br> References: <26206.853421885@time.cdrom.com>
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/* XXX Please, if you do not understand something I have said,
* feel free to ask me. I can write a new version or send a
* portuguese text (if you want), because I know I am not so
* good writing english.
*/
Jordan K. Hubbard wrote:
>
> > I really think what FreeBSD needs right now is a tremendous push in the PR
> > arena. For a lot of Sun-heads (a generic term I use for anyone who won't
>
> Absolutely! Not enough FreeBSD users are willing to write about their
> experiences with the OS, and Unix Review, Unix World, Dr. Dobbs
> Journal and ;Login would *love* to have articles of that nature
> submitted. In the last ;Login issue was, in fact, an editorial
> bemoaning the fact that the readership just didn't seem to be into
> providing good articles anymore, and maybe it was time for USENIX to
> stop publishing the newsletter if its readers weren't going to avail
> themselves of it.
>
> So I guess the point I'm making is this: You walk into any technical
> bookstore on the planet, it seems, and you've got your Linux books
> fairly leaping off the shelves, pictures of Linus on the front cover
> of Time Magazine, 10-foot tall penguins pointing you at stacks of
> Linux "Internet Starter Kits", you name it. How did this happen? Who
> wrote all these goddamn books and magazine articles? The users did,
> that's who.
>
> To be sure, one or more of us core team members will eventually have
> books of our own in those bookstores as well as occasional magazine
> articles in the UNIX press, and it's definitely necessary that we try
> to set good examples for constructive evangelism, but still - we can
> hardly have a PR stampede just by ourselves. :-)
>
> We need more user participation, more people out shaking the bushes
> and organizing user group meetings. It's not hard! Hell, in most
> cases you can just go speak at some existing local PC users group
> meeting and get the 4 or 5 UNIX enthusiasts who are there to talk to
> you after the meeting. Tada! You now have the nucleus for a local
> UNIX user's group! :)
>
> There are also high schools and colleges who'd love to have someone
> come by and explain FreeBSD to them, and I always make a point of
> dropping by the local CS department with a stack of CDs if I'm ever in
> a new town with a good-sized college or university. It wins converts.
>
> "Oh sure," you say. "That's easy for you to do when you can play
> Johnny Appleseed* with free promo CDs!"
>
> Not a problem. If you spot a good opportunity to get FreeBSD started
> at a local campus or research center, just drop me an email with
> address info, desired quantities and contact information (who the CDs
> go to) and I'll do the rest - all you need to do is identify the
> opportunity.
>
> Magazine articles are also an excellent way of reaching a large
> audience and some FreeBSD users have already done some pretty
> impressive FreeBSD features for national magazines (like Tatsumi
> Hosokawa, who got what looks to be most of the November 1996 issue of
> UNIX User/Japan devoted to FreeBSD related material - way to go
> Tatsumi! :-). This is good! Keep doing a lot more of that, guys, and
> we won't have a thing to worry about! :-)
>
> Jordan
These are some comments of someone that uses FreeBSD and really
likes it. I think, this is good for somebody trying to make FreeBSD
more known by people.
I am an at home user of FreeBSD, I started using it about two
years ago. I went to a local bookstore and find a 2.0 BSDisc CD-ROM,
and resolved try it. By that time I really have never tried Unix, but
I was making simple C programs with TC and I remembered that C was
developed in Unix (or Unix in C). I am "yet" learning Unix/FreeBSD,
so I think I am not so good as an advertiser, but, when I have the way,
I speak to friends about it; and, if some day I need a confiable OS
for an ISP or a multiuser environment, I know, I will use FreeBSD.
Actually, we are using Linux at work (on our internet connection),
sorry, it was not my choice, but people here think Linux is better
because there are more people using it, and they come to me with the
Linux CD-ROMs and a Linux book, but, I self use FreeBSD on my
machine.
I think, if we want FreeBSD more known, we need make some
advertisement; FreeBSD is freeware, and so, the advertisement must be
as cheap as possible, and, the public must be intelligent people that
can be found on colleges and bookstores.
And, if we want *really* make people see FreeBSD is great (and
exist), it could be a good ideia to have a separate mailing list to
discuss this ideia. Also, users that really like FreeBSD should
*feel free* to colaborate with it. I expect to have a 2 hours by day
internet connection next month, at home, and I am thinking about donate
one to two hours each day, to colaborate with this great OS, so, to
avoid waste time, if someone could lead me to a nice [free] way to
colaborate...
Paulo.
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