Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 22:08:30 -0700 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com> To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> Cc: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Market share and platform support Message-ID: <7196.936853710@localhost> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 08 Sep 1999 21:52:00 MDT." <4.2.0.58.19990908203747.0463bd20@localhost>
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> So, instead of dissing the discussion, add something to it! So far, > most of your comments have been to the effect that "There's no problem; Anything which I say that contradicts your gloom-and-doom assessment automatically falls into the category of "ignoring the problem" and thus, as we've more than adequately proven in this mailing list, there's really no point in discussing it with you. You've already amply demonstrated that you see only in black-and-white and thus having a discussion about color is, well, pretty pointless. Arguing with polemicists is what tires me out! > Want me to do that? Then help to ensure that I can go ahead > with plans to release a high-end FreeBSD distribution. One of the things > the investors are holding out on is that they MUST be assured that > Walnut Creek does not and will not control development. Which, There are several organizations who want to create "high end distributions" at this stage, and some of them have waved non-trivial amounts of money in my face in the discussions we've had to date - it's hardly a new or non-obvious idea, after all. Does this mean that I'm jumping for their dollar bills or "son, we'll make you a star" promises without considering what the 2nd-order effects might be? Of course not, and without knowing more about what your "investors" are thinking about, I'm certainly not going to openly endorse any such thing or make promises about whether I will or won't attempt to spike their guns if I don't like what they're doing. That's no more or less than I've told the other folks, and it's always been my policy in these matters to move slowly and carefully, doing my best to see just what each such group of people are up to and have in mind before I know if it's going to be compatible with the project's own goals. In many cases, it's best that the company in question simply work separately on its own objectives and try to share what resources they can rather than have an unhappy marriage, and this strategem has worked well for companies like Whistle and Juniper so why mess with it? The Walnut Creek CDROM relationship is one where we mostly lucked out since we didn't really know one another well before getting into it and things have gone surprisingly well despite that fact. It's not a type of luck I'd rely on again, however. Which kind of begs the question: If these folks are so serious, why haven't they even talked to any of the other people actually involved in the project? The other investor-types certainly have, and it should again be re-emphasised that I'm only interested in sincere partners with something truly of value to offer the FreeBSD Project when we start talking about this kind of thing, I'm not into participating in some clueless VC's get-rich-quick scheme or courting a set of people who aren't really sure which horse they want to back anyway; I've watched those people and they tend to switch horses a lot in mid-stream, too. I'm also not here to make my fortune and I think that's already been adequately proven by the number of insanely profitable start-ups I've passed on just to remain where I am. I and the others are here as custodians of FreeBSD to ensure that all of its technology and its partnerships are good ones. If these good partnerships also make some money for the participants then more power to them, of course, but that's a side-effect and not the primary goal. The primary goal is to make sure that the project does well, gets fed the right things and doesn't eat any poison while it's wandering around the computing landscape. Not unlike caring for a labrador retriever, I guess. :) > So, Jordan, what I'm able to do is really in your hands. You've given me far less information than any of the other people I've already put at arm's length, and I'm not talking about castles in clouds and other really attractive scenarios because EVERYBODY paints those things when they're trying to sell an idea, such scenarios often have nothing whatsoever to do with the ensuing reality or 9 out of 10 startups wouldn't fail. What determines who that lucky 1 out of 10 will be is who's involved, how much investment is being made and just how and where these investors expect to get their money BACK OUT again. What's the business model? What are the projections for profitability? Who are the principals in this company? What's their track record? Again, knowing that statistics are strongly against you and that 9/10 is pretty bad odds for survival, anyone *not* asking such questions is frankly setting themselves up for nothing more than a fall and I can't afford to let that falling body be the FreeBSD Project. If you have more to tell me than what you've told me so far, let's hear it. If not, it sounds exactly like the same story I've heard 50 times already from exceedingly dubious businessmen with dubious credentials hoping there's still enough gold at Sutter's mill to make a good strike. - Jordan To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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