Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 01:39:52 +0530 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> To: Dann Lunsford <dann@greycat.com> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: ((FreeBSD : Linux) :: (OS/2 : Windows)) Message-ID: <20000702013952.C8634@physics.iisc.ernet.in> In-Reply-To: <20000701124530.A36442@greycat.com>; from dann@greycat.com on Sat, Jul 01, 2000 at 12:45:30PM -0700 References: <20000701124530.A36442@greycat.com>
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I think the big difference is that FreeBSD is very much a user-supported thing -- it didn't grow because of marketing by IBM and doesn't depend on things like that -- so it will survive, for the same reasons linux will. But the linux compatibility definitely helps it attract more users. I have persuaded at least two people to use it who would not have done so if it couldn't run linux versions of matlab and acrobat reader. As the user community grows, more native versions of software may happen. But right now I don't think FreeBSD is in a position to reduce quality of linux support and say "give me a native version, linux emulation isn't good enough"... very few vendors will listen, and a lower quality of linux compatibility won't be good for users. Dann Lunsford said on Jul 1, 2000 at 12:45:30: > I've been thinking about the Linuxulator a bit lately (trying to get a > DVD player from Linux on my FreeBSD laptop), and the analogy in $SUBJECT > hit me. It has always seemed to me that one of the worst things that > IBM did was make the Windoze subsystem of OS/2 too good; there was no > need for anyone to produce OS/2 stuff, since OS/2 people could simply > use the Windoze version of Product X (I can recall being told *exactly* > this from >10 vendors). This despite the fact that native versions > would perform better, be able to have more features, etc. > > Now I'm worried. We all know what happened to OS/2; is there a danger > of the same thing happening to FreeBSD? I think there is. I recently > saw that Applix was considering dropping FreeBSD as a platform, in > favor of Linux only; I wrote them a polite protest, as I'm sure a lot > of you did, and was pleased to see later that Applixware-FreeBSD would > continue. However, that announcement was lukewarm, and left, in > my mind, at least, a distinct impression that they would prefer to > just concentrate on Linux. I saw precisely the same attitudes from > vendors wrt OS/2 vs Windoze. > > Now, I freely admit to being a bit paranoid; but, as the saying > goes, paranoids can have real enemies, too. > > Thoughts? > -- > Dann Lunsford The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil > Idann@greycat.com is that men of good will do nothing. -- Cicero > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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