Date: Sat, 4 Jul 1998 16:35:06 +0000 From: "Frank Pawlak" <fpawlak@execpc.com> To: "Jan B. Koum " <jkb@best.com>, Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> Cc: advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Advocates, speak up! (re: just something to say) Message-ID: <980704163506.ZM2462@darkstar.connect.com> In-Reply-To: "Jan B. Koum " <jkb@best.com> "Re: Advocates, speak up! (re: just something to say)" (Jul 3, 9:42pm) References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980703213823.8899B-100000@shell6.ba.best.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Juat a few short comments that quickly came to mind as I have been following this thread. The ideas and participation are looking great. I agree that we need a listing as well as some intimate detail on the major players that are using FreeBSD in profitable enterprise. We also can use the the "individual success stories", if for no other reason than they can form a base for further write-up to be posted on the web page, and/or published in ezines or hardcopy publications. Both of these are critical to the success of our efforts. A combined effort will provide a lot of fodder for other projects to compete for publication space, that will get the word aout about FreeBSD. So if you are involved in projects such as replacing an NT server, NetWare server, Linux or any of these kinds of things, and you have the time to keep some copious notes listing the planning issues, gotchas, and other issues that were resolved, an foreward these on to the group, the writers among us can use this as publication material. We really need a lot of that kind of stuff. I also think that we should refrain from using pejoritives when referring to the suits. Why do I feel that I am taking on the alter-ego of Jordan Hubbard here? I agree with your intent and feelings about them, that's not the issue. We must remember that they are the very people that we are trying to attract, and when they make decisions they often are putting their jobs on the line. To quote Jordan, the way to attract the suits is to stop chasing them with fire axes. We should tend to view them as potential business partners. Enjoy the holiday. Regards. Frank On Jul 3, 9:42pm, Jan B. Koum wrote: > Subject: Re: Advocates, speak up! (re: just something to say) > > Here is my list of companies which would appeal to suit wearing > droids. Lets add to it and make it biger: > > www.yahoo.com > www.hotmail.com > www.ebay.com > www.best.com > www.whistle.com > www.pluris.com > www.linkexchange.com > > If you have a 4 cpu PPro SMP machine with 1Gig of RAM sittig on > the T3 serving a lot of traffic it won't make it on the list. We need > companies which actually make money.. and A LOT of money (Yahoo, best, > etc) from using FreeBSD. > > -- Yan > > Jan Koum jkb@best.com | "Turn up the lights; I don't want > www.FreeBSD.org -- The Power to Serve | to go home in the dark." > ---------------------------------------+----------------------------------- > ICMP: What happens when you hack into a military network and they catch you. > > On Fri, 3 Jul 1998, Wes Peters wrote: > > >My hidden microphone recorded Jan B. Koum (jkb@best.com) saying: > > > >% > >% Hi all, > >% > >% I just wanted to say something here since this list has been quite > >% lately. Basically, many of you already know this, but anyway. > >% Whenever I have to convince someone who is not very technical why > >% they should use FreeBSD, I usually try not to bore them with how great our > >% vm is, or why is it better to have centralized and hence better controlled > >% code. I usually tell people something like this: > >% "Look, here is an example: yahoo. Their stock is skyrocketing and > >% they are doing excellent. Yes, they are using FreeBSD. They have in house > >% support for it, but still, they must know what they are doing - their > >% whole operation is FreeBSD based. Another example is Hotmail. Even though > >% they got bought by MS, they are still using FreeBSD on the front end to > >% run their servers since NT couldn't' handle the load. Want another > >% example? Take a look at Best Internet -- they jut filed for IPO". > >% Something in the lines of the above paragraph usually gets a > >% message through to the suits that to have successful company you don't > >% need NT or Solaris. You just need to have people with a clue. But that is > >% another subject. > > > >Frank Pawlak called me yesterday to chat about what is happening, and > >what isn't, in FreeBSD-Advocacy. As we talked, we decided success > >stories like the above are *exactly* what we need to convince business > >people (i.e. "suits") that FreeBSD is a suitable choice for *their* > >business. > > > >Managers may not be the smartest people in the world -- if they were, > >they'd be kernel VM developers -- but they are extremely risk averse. > >In other words, they don't want to stick their necks out. In order > >for them to say yes to using FreeBSD, they want to see two things: > > > >1) A business case. How will using FreeBSD improve their bottom line, > > versus say NT or Linux on a server, or Linux, VxWorks, QNX, LynxOS, > > etc. in an embedded system? > > > >2) A success story (or 20). They want to make sure they're NOT breaking > > new ground; that is "risk taking," which is severely punished in most > > (US, at least) companies. > > > >Frank and I agreed that an outline for a prototypical success story would > >be helpful to this group, and an EXAMPLE success story would be even more > >helpful. Since I volunteered to write one a while ago, he *encouraged* > >me to get on with it. ;^) > > > >I'll be doing that this weekend, as long as my life doesn't intrude. > >(See below). > > > >Please, folks, if you have any contributions to make in this discussion, > >hop in now. Take the initiative like Frank did - find another Advocate, > >or someone who should be an Advocate, call him or her on the phone, send > >direct email. > > > >% Anyway, happy 4th to those who celebrate (I don't, I just enjoy > >% the day off) and lets make some noise on this list. > > > >*I* spent the afternoon riding a steam train with my family, including my > >two-year-old daughter, who walked up and down the train several times going "choo > >choo choo." She charmed the other passengers nearly as much as she charmed > >me; they would make whistle sounds "woo woo" as we passed. We also got to > >meet Karl Malone, of the Utah Jazz NBA (pro basketball) team; he had rented > >the caboose for a family outing. > > > >We learned a bit of American history, too: the rail route for this train, > >through Provo Canyon in north-central Utah, was first surveyed by the US Army > >Corps of Engineers as a possible route for the transcontinental railroad in > >1839, by a young engineering officer named Jefferson Davis. Mr. Davis was > >later the first (and only) president of the Confederate States of America, > >near whose capitol I was born, as was my father and older brother. > > > >Happy Birthday, America! > > > >-- > > "Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?" > > > >Wes Peters Softweyr LLC > >http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr wes@softweyr.com > > > > > > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message >-- End of excerpt from Jan B. Koum 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?980704163506.ZM2462>