Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 10:56:27 +0100 From: Nik Clayton <nik@freebsd.org> To: Kevin Lyons <klyons@corserv.corserv.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSDi acquisition of Telenet Message-ID: <20000609105627.A49205@catkin.nothing-going-on.org> In-Reply-To: <200006090054.TAA01053@corserv.corserv.com>; from klyons@corserv.corserv.com on Thu, Jun 08, 2000 at 07:54:15PM -0500 References: <200006090054.TAA01053@corserv.corserv.com>
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On Thu, Jun 08, 2000 at 07:54:15PM -0500, Kevin Lyons wrote: > Is anyone concerned about the impact of BSDi's acquisition of Telenet > systems? Ordinarily, I doubt it would matter, but taken in conjunction > with the merger of BSDi and Walnut Creek, one wonders if hardware > manufacturers such as Dell, Micron, etc. will be as willing to provide > FreeBSD Inc. with sample/development hardware. I suppose it's a possiblity, but that wouldn't be in their best interests. Assume that you're Dell, and you're getting requests from customers who want to use your hardware with FreeBSD, and they want to know that your hardware runs FreeBSD well. Now, are you going to make it harder for those customers (who generally have the freedom to go elsewhere for their hardware), or are you going to try and make it easier for them? Dell don't seem to be too hostile to VA Linux, who are in a similar position. > I guess from Kirk's standpoint at BSDi, I can't blame him. BSDi was > trying to sell BSD/OS and Internet Super Server for umpteen thousand > dollars when FreeBSD is essentially free and supports more hardware > with an incredible hardware expansion program going on. BSDi may feel > that the only way they can make money and stay viable is to start selling > hardware. But the merger between Walnut Creek and BSDi is still puzzling. > Jordan and friends at FreeBSD Inc. would, I hope, reject any interference > in licensing or distribution attempts made by BSDi. Yes. This has been said many times since the merger, by Jordan and others. I've spoken with Jordan about this a few times on the phone -- at the moment, the only *possible* concern for FreeBSD at the moment is that BSDI currently own the trademark "FreeBSD" in the US and a few other countries. So, if BSDI were to turn to the dark side (and, in my dealings with the people at both Walnut Creek and BSDI I've seen no evidence of this whatsoever) and we upped and moved the project, we'd have to call it something else (again, you have to assume that BSDI are capable of doing something quite so mind-bogglingly stupid). In a few [weeks|months] the paperwork for the creation of the FreeBSD Foundation will be complete, a non-profit entity in the US. It's my understanding that at that time the FreeBSD trademark will be transferred to the Foundation. > After all, FreeBSD > is composed of multiple independant developers who could easily move from > Walnut Creek's CVS servers and distribution (as evidenced by NetBSD) if > forced to. Exactly. > Am I the only one wondering about this? Maybe someone higher up in the > BSD kingdom and familiar with the politics can illuminate the merger and > acquisition. This was discussed quite extensively when the merger was announced. The archives for -chat (and, IIRC, -advocacy) would probably be a good starting point. N -- Internet connection, $19.95 a month. Computer, $799.95. Modem, $149.95. Telephone line, $24.95 a month. Software, free. USENET transmission, hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Thinking before posting, priceless. Somethings in life you can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard. -- Graham Reed, in the Scary Devil Monastery To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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