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Date:      Sat, 12 Apr 1997 12:17:22 -0700 (MST)
From:      Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
To:        dennis@etinc.com (dennis)
Cc:        scrappy@hub.org, pgiffuni@fps.biblos.unal.edu.co, hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Commercial vendors registry
Message-ID:  <199704121917.MAA15567@phaeton.artisoft.com>
In-Reply-To: <3.0.32.19970412114405.00a714d0@etinc.com> from "dennis" at Apr 12, 97 11:44:12 am

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> >> Then perhaps there is a different reason that commercial vendors
> >> stay away from FreeBSD?
> >
> >	Because its a free, non-commercially supported product with nobody
> >to rant and rave at if there is a problem?
> 
> Nice excuse, but I doubt it. You get a lot more response ranting at
> the hackers than you do ranting at microsoft or SCO, unless you're
> a REALLY BIG vendor.

Yeah, if you're *really* big, then they will politely blow you off
instead of impolitely ignoring you.  8-) 8-).


> I think it has more to do with:
> 
> 1) Its a tiny market due to no promotional effort  (ala LINUX)

#1 on my list of reasons, too.

> 2) Lack of commitment to stability of key components, particularly networking


#2 lack of commitment to an open architecture (modular components
so that dicking with one module won't often damage another -- this
also makes it robust in the the areas your #2 refers to; I think
your #2 is an effect, not a cause...).

> 3) Most of the key people are running/using/developing under
> -current rather than the releases. How can there be a perceived
> commitment to the releases when so much development time is
> already focused on 3.x?

OK, you lost me here.

If I hack on a release, it's no longer a release, it's a -current.
All new work following a release must be, by definition, done against
a -current, not against the release.


> 4) Lack of focus as to what FreeBSD is (jack of all trades, master
> of none)

What is the focus for Windows 95?  NT Workstation?  NT Server?

What is the Focus for Linux?

What is the Focus for SCO?

BSDI... OK, they have focus, but they don't seem to be winning because
of it.

How about Sun?  Is JAVA a focus, or is it a difraction grating?  It's
definitely SOME kind of grating...  8-).


					Regards,
					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.



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