Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2001 20:08:51 +0100 From: j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org> To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org, grog@lemis.com Subject: BSD direction/Damonnews article Message-ID: <20010604200851.A65559@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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I haven't done any searching on where this thread might have started, but i thought maybe i would add my thoughts. I have been very nervous about both the BSDi merger and now the Wind River merger. I do not have negative thoughts about the companies as much as i do the future of (Free)BSD. I recently asked if the Wind River acquisition would affect the release schedule for FreeBSD. One -chat reply was "why would it ?" Well, the reason i thought it might would be that decisions by the new 'parent' company could add or take away from full-time BSD developers. Additionally, having more or less direction could affect the pace of current projects. Lastly, a company with potentially hostile or at least purely selfish intentions could hardly help the project. Any or all of these factors could cause core members to resign, committers to become frustrated, and interest to decline. On another angle, i agree that the Open Source model lacks and clearly needs a better management model. Witness the plethora of Yet-Another-Window-Manager and Me-Too email clients, and contrast that with the glaring lack of good CAD, circuit design, desktop publishing, and other such special application tools. Disclaimer: if i am unaware of a tool that fills one of these needs to the degree that it is or can be professionally accepted and used as well as an existing commercial product, by all means, i stand corrected. But i would dare say the exceptions are few and far between. Lastly, like Greg said, much of the problem stems from the fact that the contributors are voluntary. Very few of them have the time to help design and implement (for example) a professional FreeBSD CAD package. And understandably so, if their time is not compensated in some way. We work for a living X hours a week, and divide the remainder between necessary chores and personal choices to spend free time. It is quite difficult to undertake a huge project, IMHO, and spend much less than a full-time job's worth of time on it. Those with the experience, often lack the free time, while those with the free time, often lack the experience. But then again, what do i know? I'm just a lowly student who loves computers and hopes to make a living writing software. :-) jcm -- "I drank WHAT ?!" - Socrates To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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