Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 13:19:23 -0400 From: Bill Moran <wmoran@iowna.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: [OT] Spam from Windriver - how should I react? Message-ID: <3B337E1B.65DBBAAA@iowna.com>
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I recently got an email from Windriver. The more I try to forget about it, the more I think about it. And the more I think about it, the stranger it seems. I'd be interested as to what others think. First off, the message technically falls into the UBE category, since I never opted-in to receive general messages from Windriver, or FreeBSDMall (which is what the message is about). The first paragraph reinforces this image of SPAM because it reads like a press release - and I never signed up to receive press releases from Windriver. Secondly, the return address is "FreeBSDCustomerRelations@windriver.com" which seems a little odd to me. Since when is Windriver in charge of FreeBSD Customer Relations? Technically, are they anything other than another supporter of the project? The email then goes on to say "Wind River picked up two software product lines from BSDi: the proprietary BSD/OS and the open-source FreeBSD." While the email later explains that Windriver does not (and can not) _own_ FreeBSD, the intial sentence seems rather ominous. The message originated from a server that still retains the bsdi.com name, which seems to indicate that the message came from a department that is in the process of moving from BSDI to WindRiver. That makes sense, considering the email purports to be about FreeBSDMall. The third paragraph seems to be to be touchy-feely bullsh*t. If Windriver wants to sell FreeBSD products and make a profit off it, that's fine by me. Isn't that what the BSD license is all about? Maybe they should take a lesson from Red Hat Inc, who seems to have finally figured out how to make money off of Open Source. This paragragh seems like a lot of corporate bullsh*t to me. I remember Bank One promising things like this over and over to hide the fact that they were secretly planning to do the exact opposite (to avoid pissing people off). Maybe I'm over-paranoid, but Bank One was a *BAD* job experience for me. The penultimate paragraph is the only part of the message that does not fall into the SPAM category. Since I am a FreeBSDMall customer, it would be appropriate for FreeBSDMall to contact me if they weren't sure who all had been affected by product delays. The fact that things could be so confused that they can't figure out who was affected and who wasn't is disturbing, but mergers and acquisitions can be disturbing so I guess it's par for the course. The fact that they've attached the rest as a "rider" is what I'm objecting to, I suppose. The message can't seem to end without *one*final*promo* which is what the last paragraph is. I guess the reason I'm upset is not so much that I got this message, but that others got it as well. This is VERY BAD PR for Windriver if you ask me. Pauline Shulman should be smacked for letting this go out. The statement I quoted above should have never gotten out. This goes along with much poorly-written information early in the buy-out that stated that Windriver had purchased FreeBSD. Also, a message from FreeBSDMall should not be burdoned with a bunch of Windriver promo-bullsh*t. Maybe I'm over-reacting a lot with regard to this subject, but it sure looks like Windriver has compromised FreeBSDMall's contact information to spam me, and hidden a brief FreeBSDMall message inside the spam to make it seem legitimate. Like I said, the more I think about it, the more I'm upset (that's not what I said, is it? Well, I'm saying it now.) I intend to complain to Windriver/FreeBSDMall about this email. Before I do, I'd like some opinions from people more closely involved with Windriver. If I'm going to complain, I'd like the complaint to reflect positively on the FreeBSD project and community. -Bill To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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