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Date:      Wed, 08 Sep 1999 09:32:27 -0600
From:      Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
To:        Rod Taylor <dark@idiotswitch.org>, chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Looking for the actual proposal...
Message-ID:  <4.2.0.58.19990908091226.047c96f0@localhost>
In-Reply-To: <99090807163506.00470@a11.idiotswitch.org>
References:  <4.2.0.58.19990907215517.047c9880@localhost>

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At 07:12 AM 9/8/99 -0400, Rod Taylor wrote:

>Ok... Now I understand what you see are problems.  I agree to some, while
>others I'm not sure of.

That's fine. Disagreement is always OK; it's attempting to silence dissent
that's bad.

>   Anyhow.  Doesn't matter.  After that you continued to
>defend yourself from the others on the list.  Personally, I couldn't care less
>about how well you defend from attacks.  

There was more to it than just "defense." There's a lot of philosophy in
there, as well as a healthy dose of pragmatism and reality.

>The only valued point was that you though BSD wasn't yet a good enough product
>to compete with Linux.

Actually, I did NOT say that. (FreeBSD has some technical deficiencies, but
IMHO Linux has at least as many.) What I said -- and the distinction is important --
is that FreeBSD is lacking in good memes, which are more important than good
code.

>   Now I ask, how can I, as the user help out in the
>cause.  You threw out names, and problems, but still haven't even hinted at the
>solution of which so far you claim to know and have investors to fix.

I did more than hint: I stated explicitly that what's needed is a distribution
that's memetically fit. So, I'm putting out a call for generalists: like-minded 
people who feel comfortable with a foot in both the technical and social/marketing
worlds. And, hopefully, who know at least something about memetics and why its 
concepts are key to an operating system's success. If I get the funding, I'll
be able to hire at least some folks as consultants and perhaps a few full-timers.
We then go into a huddle and flesh out our plan -- which will be based on the
principles I've outlined but will assume its final shape as we learn what works
best.

>This is the only thing I'm interested in.  I suggest you put your efforts into
>explaining whats in that basket rather than everyone elses. 

Here's what's in the basket: A faster-growing user base, jobs, recognition,
and fun for developers, a greater feeling of community, and a way to beat back
the destructiveness of the GPL. We get there by looking at FreeBSD's problems
from the perspective I've already laid out, creating the new distribution (which
will share much with the existing ones but add unique value), and starting the
evangelism process.

What I need, right now, is for like-minded people to e-mail me privately about
playing specific roles on the team.

--Brett



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