Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 10:57:42 -0700 From: David Johnson <djohnson@acuson.com> To: Joe Warner <jswarner@uswest.net> Cc: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org, freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Just Imagine.. Message-ID: <39CA4C16.FFB05634@acuson.com> References: <39C9F55E.E3D6917D@uswest.net>
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Joe Warner wrote: > I guess the main question is, would the BSD community benefit from big > corporate > backing? If so or not, why? I would guess it comes down to whose doing the backing. IBM for Linux was a good deal because IBM has always been a service business, with their hardware and software systems merely tools for their service. They're perfectly content to "use" open source software instead of "taking" it. From what I've heard, they are exemplary members of the Apache Group. A Microsoft, on the other hand, views partners as competitors. They would not be content with funding FreeBSD and getting no lock on something in return. I would see them doing it only as a way to get into the Unix market, then proceeding to embrace/extend Unix. To me, the size or wealth of the corporations are meaningless. IBM is still bigger than Microsoft. Rather, it's their "world view". Some corporations see competitors, partners, allies, and customers. Others just see competitors. Some see %100 market share as an unrealistic impossibility, while others see it as their sole mission. It's whether you're out to sell your product or whether you're out to see your competitor fail. So, depending on whose doing the backing, I would say yes. I would have no problem with Apple funding BSD to keep their Darwin base pumping along. But I would be very leery of Microsoft. David To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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