Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 00:29:18 -0800 From: "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com> To: "Rahul Siddharthan" <rsidd@online.fr> Cc: Josh Ockert <torstenvl@gmail.com> Subject: RE: GPL vs BSD Licence Message-ID: <LOBBIFDAGNMAMLGJJCKNKEJJEPAA.tedm@toybox.placo.com> In-Reply-To: <20041102072729.GA11077@online.fr>
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> -----Original Message----- > From: Rahul Siddharthan [mailto:rsidd@online.fr] > Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 11:27 PM > To: Ted Mittelstaedt > Cc: Josh Ockert; chat@freebsd.org > Subject: Re: GPL vs BSD Licence > > > Ted Mittelstaedt said on Nov 1, 2004 at 21:03:45: > > > > Most of us come from Linux > > > > That is a rather illogical view don't you think? The majority of users > > of computers out there start out as Windows users, this is pretty well > > proven by innumerable marketing surveys. Therefore it stands to reason > > that of the newbiews to FreeBSD that Windows users, not Linux users, > > are going to be the majority, purely because of the numbers. > > Actually, I very much doubt that argument. Most windows users have > never heard of FreeBSD and, even if they have encountered the name > somewhere, would not be motivated to go out and try it. An increasing > number are getting interested in linux though. It is linux users (and > users of other unix machines, dwindling in number) who may go out and > try FreeBSD, because they have a better appreciation of what it may > offer them. > Anyone who started on Linux is going to say that because of brainwashing by the Linux crowd. But you need to pay more attention to what people are saying on Usenet, not just the mailing lists. There's also a growing number of MacOS X crossovers to FreeBSD. There are, after all, more MacOS X desktop users than Linux desktop users. ( I wouldn't say the same thing about server users, though. Lots of Windows users are on UNIX servers and don't realize it) You have to face it, despite what the Linux crowd wants people to believe, there just isn't that big a penetration of Linux into the desktop market at the current time. Lots of people are betting that this isn't going to stay this way, and there's a lot of software out there people have written for Linux to try to attract those desktop users. And of course, there's serious penetration into the server market which is why Microsoft is fighting it so hard - they sell far fewer server products than desktop products, at a much higher unit price, and penetration into this market by Linux impacts their bottom line much harder than equivalent penetration into the desktop market does. > It's like saying most people who listen to Schoenberg come from the > rock world rather than the classical music world, because there are so > many more rock music listeners than classical music listeners. > Well, perhaps it is, but as a matter of fact, most classical music listeners DO come from rock music listeners, didn't you know that? You think I'm joking, go to http://www.arbitron.com and read their reports. Classical is the most popular for adults 55-64 and rock is most popular for 35-55. Arbitron has a simple explanation for this "after age 35 format preferences start to change" In effect, their research shows that people may grow up on rock but they grow out of it and grow into classical. As Arbitron is equivalent to the Nielsons for radio, I think they do know what they are talking about. Just keep in mind that the world often doesen't follow the simplest and most obvious explanation. Ted
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