Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 14:59:02 -0800 (PST) From: "JULIAN Elischer" <julian@ref.tfs.com> To: cat@ghost.uunet.ca (Cat Okita) Cc: current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Advice/Recommendation needed Message-ID: <199604012259.OAA05385@ref.tfs.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960401143608.9710x-100000@ghost.uunet.ca> from "Cat Okita" at Apr 1, 96 02:39:56 pm
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
I'm involved with three companies that are using BSD as integral parts of high-end systems (as a non-customer-visible compnent) or in embedded products. in each case the decision has been that the support available from the vendors is not timely enough or reliable enough for the systems in question.. (in some cases processing 100's of millions of dollars per day) and the large number of people familair with the inside of BSD, and the fact that the sources are easily available lead to the oppposite conclusion to that you draw. The general experience has been that companies such as SUN and HP are very unresponsive to unexpected problems (we waited for 2 months before SUN would admit a problem exeisted recently) and that their beaurocracy simply serves to wear-down the customer until only the persistant are left.. BSD in it's various forms has allowed us to create systems that could easily be tailored to the task at hand with the ultimate in "warm fuzzy feelings.." the source code, and am email alias with hundreds of people who can give productive advice on what ever your problem might be.. These companies I mention are not always small fry.. you'd be surprised at where BSD turns up... to recap.. we've found we get better response by using FreeBSD and friends, than by trusting SUN and HP to hold our hands.. If we had commercial packages in greater abundance, it would be perfect.. > > > Marc writes: > > Main thing to consider is that I have a partner that is against > > FreeBSD (cause its free) and would like to get our main server as rock-solid > > as possible so that she can't use instability as an argument against me :( > > ...and his partner responds: > > It's not the stability/lack thereof (although running a production environment > on the latest and greatest always makes me nervous - couldn't possibly > imagine why...). Much of my quibble has to do with responsiblity and > support. > > I *need* to know that I've got a support contract for the OS, and have > someone to hang out the window if things aren't working. (Hell - someone > to sue, if it comes to that). > > Free OS's are a wonderful thing - they let people use UNIX that might never > otherwise be able to afford to do so; they offer source so that people can > learn about how things work...but they don't offer a place for the buck to stop. > > Cat >
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199604012259.OAA05385>