Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 11:37:28 +0900 From: "Daniel C. Sobral" <dcs@newsguy.com> To: Joe.Warner@smed.com Cc: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Some questions re: FreeBSD Message-ID: <39541EE8.EBD5BDDF@newsguy.com> References: <85256907.0054D783.00@Deimos.smed.com>
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Joe.Warner@smed.com wrote: > > Here's where I'm having some trouble --- Some of the most frequent > questions I'm getting are: "If you can do all this with FreeBSD and get > everything for free, why isn't everybody using it?" * Because people who responsible for software purchase are usually ignorant of software, so they only authorize use of Big Name software companies (Microsoft, IBM, etc). * Because Big Name software companies usually make deals that exchange discount prices for non-use of competing products. * Because you go to a bookstore and that's not what you see in the bookshelves. * Marketing. * Because it isn't as easy to use as Windows. * Because it isn't as forgiving of errors as Windows. * Because, sometimes, other software present better solutions. > Another one is: "This > is an excellent OS but if people can get it for free, how do the people > that produce it make any money?" Notice that we do not produce the applications that come with FreeBSD. Other people do that, and the reasons are similar. There are four categories of people who work on these software projects: 1. Those who do it for a hobby. 2. Those who are students, for whom the chance of getting their names known world wide presents a great chance of future opportunities. 3. Researchers of public institutions. 4. Those who use that software for their work. They use the product because it solves their problems best of all competition. They work on the product to make it solve their problems better. They donate their code back because sharing code this way increases it's quality, and removes the need of retrofitting the code in each new version. In other words, their jobs get easier. The origin of these projects can be found in all of the above. Apache Web Server, for example, was created because, simply put, all other solutions sucked. So the people who NEEDED a good web server went ahead and created one. I think Diablo, the news server created by Matt Dillon, has the same origin. And, right now, it is being worked on by people who *need* a good news server. FreeBSD, being an OS instead of a application, has volunteers from all of the above classes. People who's work is made easier by it, researchers for public and private institutions, CS students, high school students, and even some hobbists. > or.."How can they produce such an > excellent product and support it without any profits?" Now, there is a NEW class of people involved with Open Source. Those who sell SUPPORT for the product. By leveraging on the man power of the other classes and the technical advantages of having the source open for all to see (and fix, and add new features), they earn money by selling integrated solutions or technical support for that software. Contributing back to the project helps make sure it grows and earn more market share, thus increasing their potential market. That's essentially the deal between BSDi and FreeBSD. BSDi employs many people whose job is address weaknesses of FreeBSD. They make money by giving technical support for FreeBSD as well as selling solutions; for example (hypothetical), a "plug-and-play" web server, including hardware, OS and software all configured to attend to the client's needs. > I'm having trouble > addressing these questions because my understanding of the current Open > Source Movement is a bit limited and the topic seems fairly complex to me. Open Source Movement is a huge social phenomenum, which will give birth to many, many thesis in psychology, sociology, philosophy and economy. And, possibly, law. > I would be so grateful if someone could help me provide some good answers > to these questions or point me to a related site? You can search for the writings of Eric Raymond (esr), the documents of the Free Software Foundation, and rebuttals of these writings by, for example, Bertrand Meyers. You can look up the "ask slashdot" questions on, well, slashdot. But, honestly, I dislike most of the above references because, simply put, they assume a particular cross-section of the Open Software movements is _all_ the open software movement. By ESR accounts, you would think FreeBSD wasn't part of it. By Bertrand Meyers angry attacks on ESR and FSF, you would *also* think FreeBSD wasn't part of it. :-) The reason for this is that FSF, whose contribution to the Open Source movement can hardly be understated, has behind it a very radical leftist philosophical position. While they deny accusations of being "communists" and state their embrace of free markets, this applies to everything but software. :-) Software, for them, MUST be free and shared. They are radicals, their followers are radicals, and the people most offended by their position are radicals. The rest of us, just trying to live and let live, tend to get ignored by both camps. :-) So... well, see the answers I gave to your questions. If you think through them, you ought to be able to answer most questions about the Open Source movement. -- Daniel C. Sobral (8-DCS) dcs@newsguy.com dcs@freebsd.org capo@the.great.underground.bsdconpiracy.org Windows works, for sufficently small values of "works". To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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