Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Sun, 10 May 1998 20:42:10 +0300
From:      Anatoly Vorobey <mellon@pobox.com>
To:        "Jan B. Koum " <jkb@best.com>
Cc:        freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Linux as a Mozilla total reference platform
Message-ID:  <19980510204210.12446@techunix.technion.ac.il>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980510041824.12972B-100000@shell6.ba.best.com>; from Jan B. Koum  on Sun, May 10, 1998 at 04:25:50AM -0700
References:  <199805101104.EAA01553@rah.star-gate.com> <Pine.BSF.3.96.980510041824.12972B-100000@shell6.ba.best.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
You, Jan B. Koum , were spotted writing this on Sun, May 10, 1998 at 04:25:50AM -0700:
> 
> 	You have a point. Hence we now have two views to take.

No, I think we are free to remember that the world isn't a
black-and-white movie.

> 1. Linux people are our friend. We are both here for the same reason. We
> both love free software and we are both against MS.

This is mostly, but not entirely, true.

The next view, however, is inane:

> 2. Linux peple are not our friend. While they also hate MS, the want to
> replace shitty MS products with only their shitty OS. 

However strongly you feel about technical superiority of FreeBSD over
Linux (and I do feel so strongly), calling Linux a shitty OS and 
equating it with MS OSes is neither wise nor smart. Linux is a good
kernel; it is not 'hacked up' although is less clean and stable than
FreeBSD's. Linux userland is a good and powerful collection of programs,
too. Maybe you should admin some mixed NT/95 networks for living to
learn the difference between MS products and Linux.

> They fear
> competition for their weak, hacked up together OS and would like to see
> *BSD go away.

This is also incredibly silly and paranoid. Linux pushers push Linux
because they LOVE LINUX. Not because they hate you, jkh, Berkeley or
userland ppp. Is that so hard to understand? Yes, they often exhibit
characteristics of mindless groupies. Yes, they're too often less
intelligent than I would like to see them. But where on Earth did
you find that 'fear of competition...'? The simple fact is that nearly
all Linux fans are absolutely _ignorant_ of FreeBSD and have no idea
whether it's superior or inferior or even that it exists. To 
paraphrase an old Murphy law: "Never attribute to malice what can be
adequately explained by ignorance."

When Mr. Andresseen does his PR rant about importance of Linux, etc.,
he doesn't _think_ of FreeBSD. It's not in his mind as another viable
and important platform for Netscape. That's probably not too good, but
it's stupid to envision him, for example, planning to kill FreeBSD
with his carefully planned omissions.

-- 
Anatoly Vorobey,
mellon@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~mellon/
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" - G.K.Chesterton

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?19980510204210.12446>