Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Mon, 22 Mar 1999 13:36:10 -0700
From:      Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
To:        "Jasper O'Malley" <jooji@webnology.com>
Cc:        "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com>, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Netscape browser 
Message-ID:  <4.2.0.32.19990322132103.03f66150@localhost>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.02.9903221014320.32402-100000@mercury.webnology .com>
References:  <4.1.19990321150512.03f85d40@localhost>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
At 10:25 AM 3/22/99 -0600, Jasper O'Malley wrote:

>I disagree. If you can substantially build the FreeBSD userbase for the
>product under emulation, and then get that userbase clamoring for a native
>app, you'll have a chance of getting it. 

I wish this were true; I really do. But in reality, the marketing people
at the company will probably engage in a conversation something like this:

Marketroid #1: Hey, I hear this FreeBSD operating system is really going
great guns. A lot of their users are using our product now. Why don't we 
do a port to FreeBSD?

Marketroid #2: If we haven't ported to FreeBSD yet, how can they be using
our product?

Marketroid #1: They're using the Linux version. FreeBSD emulates Linux.

Marketroid #2: In that case, why should we invest any money in doing a
port? They're already using the Linux product. If we spend the money,
we'll get no new sales and we'll have to support another OS; that's
like pouring big money down the toilet! Let's devote more money into 
pushing Linux. And what's this about an OS called "Be?" I hear it's based 
on Linux too. (*)

Sound far-fetched? It isn't. When I recently talked to the people who do
marketing at TripWire Security, they told me that their thinking was
very much like the above. FreeBSD is NOT EVEN ON THEIR LIST of planned
ports, thanks to Linux emulation.

--Brett

(*) Yes, you know and I know that BeOS uses only the LILO loader and some
Linux device drivers. But recently, Be has been touting this as a way
of trying to leverage Linux's flash-in-the-pan popularity.



To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?4.2.0.32.19990322132103.03f66150>