Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 21:24:06 -0500 (EST) From: "John S. Dyson" <toor@dyson.iquest.net> To: hasty@rah.star-gate.com (Amancio Hasty) Cc: m230761@ingenieria.ingsala.unal.edu.co, andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: My opinion about freebsd (fwd) Message-ID: <199707130224.VAA00649@dyson.iquest.net> In-Reply-To: <199707130015.RAA00448@rah.star-gate.com> from Amancio Hasty at "Jul 12, 97 05:15:14 pm"
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> >From The Desk Of Pedro Giffuni : > > IMO, FreeBSD and the GNU systems will win over M$ on the long run: > > mercenaries just can't beat organizations that don't depend on > > Big-Bucks(TM) :-). > > > > It is not clear to me that FreeBSD will be free from the > influence of Big-Bucks(TM) :( > (These are my opinions ONLY). Nor will Linux or any other OS or project that is adopted to be used by companies who "like" the free product. FreeBSD has done well when being influenced by lots of small companies, and will be doing better by having works folded into it from the large organizations and companies. One advantage of free, unencumbered software, is that you don't have to pay a significant incremental cost for simply copying it and including it into your codebase. Additionally, using FreeBSD, you are not forced to upgrade to the latest version because of obsolesence issues (e.g. Office 97.) Of course, it is sometimes easier to use the latest, greatest versions. However, with source code and the rights to redistribute objects built using the source without costly encumberances -- the person/company creating the various products has ultimate control when using FreeBSD whether or not to upgrade. At ANY time, companies like Microsoft can turn off the WinNT 3.51 spigot, and force you to upgrade your distributions to 4.0 SPn. This is not a problem at all with FreeBSD, or a problem even with GPLed software. I believe some of the important factors that will ensure FreeBSD's future include standards adherence, quality, and making sure that the core of the system is free to be redistributed in binary and source form, and people/companies do not loose signifcant freedom as a tradeoff for incorporating FreeBSD into their product or service. John
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