Date: Tue, 06 Oct 1998 09:19:21 -0600 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> Cc: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>, Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>, FreeBSD Chat <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: RMS on UDI Message-ID: <4.1.19981006085836.0424cba0@mail.lariat.org> In-Reply-To: <17310.907659813@time.cdrom.com> References: <Your message of "Mon, 05 Oct 1998 22:55:17 MDT." <4.1.19981005224616.042d51d0@mail.lariat.org>
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At 12:43 AM 10/6/98 -0700, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote: >This example also illustrates why it's been such a heated issue >between Brett and I when he's then turned around and basically used an >entirely different set of standards for us, I haven't "turned around" or applied any different standard to you or anyone else. I'm evaluating the market situation, and -- basically -- it sucks. Linux is getting all the press, all the third party support, all the hot new stuff. FreeBSD isn't. That's just the way it is. Sorry, Jordan, but anyone who denies this has his head buried in the sand. >essentially damning us all >to hell for failing to achieve perfection in the face of some of those >very same real-world constraints You know perfectly well that this is NOT what I'm doing. (Perhaps you're saying so because it makes it easier to deny or dismiss what I say?) I'm not "damning" everyone for failing to achieve "perfection" (as if Linux were perfect!). However, Linux's runaway success, and FreeBSD's relegation to "also-ran" status, shows that something is indeed lacking. >and attacking the works of those few allies we have I haven't attacked any of FreeBSD's allies. Again, you seem to be making this assertion as a way of dismissing what I *am* saying. >rather than focusing his hostility on those who are genuinely against us. Well, there are only two groups that are genuinely against FreeBSD. The first consists of the Linux zealots and the companies that publish versions of Linux for profit. They consistently put FreeBSD down and claim that it's worthless. I've watched them do it. What's the second? Not Microsoft, as some might think.... Microsoft has never disparaged the BSDs as it has Linux, and in fact has used BSD code in its own operating systems. The second is, alas, the group of people who bury their heads in the sand and say that the current situation -- in which Linux precludes third party software development for FreeBSD -- is somehow a good thing. Linux's popularity is NOT a rising tide that floats all boats; it's the ship that swamps the other boats with its wake. >I'm quite sure Brett doesn't see it that way, >but you can take it as god's honest truth that I and many other people >cannot see it any other way and it's also an attack with no >conceivable purpose, In other words, a serious evaluation of the situation by someone who's out there and watching the market is threatening to you, and you cannot see it as anything but an attack. >from where we're sitting, since being abused has >never inspired and never is going to inspire us to achieve greater >things than we would have tried to achieve anyway. As a "wake up >call" or attempt at inspiration, it fails utterly. Again, you seem to be "tuning out" what I say by labeling it as "abuse" rather than acting. This is a convenient form of denial, but it will make the situation worse -- not better. >This is made all >the more painful by the fact that Brett has frequently been a great >help to us, yet during those times where Brett has flipped-over and >gone on the attack, Jordan, you're only making yourself look like an ostrich with all this "attack" stuff. Crying, "Mommy, mommy, Brett's attacking me" is not particularly productive, especially since you really know (and, yes, I'm convinced you do) that I'm not attacking you; I'm reporting the status quo and sounding the alarm. >It's frankly not the kind of duality we need in our lives. A Brett >one minute doing a really kick-ass job of advocating FreeBSD and the >next minute kicking me and a lot of other hard-working people square >in the nuts is not a Brett who can be trusted since it's just a bit >too much like being raised by an alcoholic parent: You never know what >kind of shit is going to come down on a given day, you just know that >it's going to be random, unpredicable and very nasty. What I'm saying is not at all "random," Jordan, and you know it; I've been completely consistent AND upfront in everything I've said. The truth, I'm afraid, is that you don't like what the messenger is saying, so you're attempting to kill the messenger via weak attempts at character assassination like the above. What you should be doing, Jordan, is listening and acting. Denial, and personal attacks on those who dare to mention what's really going on, do not show you in a positive light. --Brett Glass To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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