Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 10:59:23 -0500 (EST) From: Zippy <seth@freebie.dp.ny.frb.org> To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> Cc: advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Netscape browser Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.10.9903191054460.40753-100000@freebie.dp.ny.frb.org> In-Reply-To: <4.1.19990319082724.03f70100@localhost>
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On Fri, 19 Mar 1999, Brett Glass wrote: > I think it would. As we have learned both from OS/2 and from current > experience with FreeBSD, he who emulates is in a bad position to > get native ports. He who is emulated, on the other hand, is in a > good one. So, why not introduce FreeBSD emulation for Linux and > maintain it? FreeBSD would by no means grab all of Linux's market share, > but Jordan could then say, "Develop for FreeBSD and you'll run on Linux > too." A much better message. Such an effort would also tap the zeitgeist > in Debian and on Slashdot, where people are proposing various combinations > of Linux and the BSDs. > Doubt this would work. The reason the present system works (Linux emulation under FreeBSD) is because it's in FreeBSD's interest to support the linux emulation. The reverse isn't true, unfortunately. Telling a vendor to make a native port to FreeBSD because the FreeBSD folks are maintaining an emulation package for Linux won't fly. The company would be putting its trust in the FreeBSD community to maintain that package. If the maintainers decided to drop the package, the company would lose its linux market base. Why would they do that when they can port directly to linux and tap the market directly? I don't think there's much we can do to convince vendors to provide native ports unless we start growing our userbase -- which we're doing. (However, the latest graphs show FreeBSD usage slipping a bit relative to other OS's.) Unfortunately, hype works in the real world. We need some of it. SB To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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