Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 11:58:47 -0700 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: Steve Price <sprice@hiwaay.net> Cc: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com>, Zippy <seth@freebie.dp.ny.frb.org>, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Netscape browser Message-ID: <4.1.19990319114734.00b794b0@localhost> In-Reply-To: <Pine.OSF.4.02.9903191204290.22761-100000@fly.HiWAAY.net> References: <4.1.19990319103804.00a8ec60@localhost>
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At 12:41 PM 3/19/99 -0600, Steve Price wrote: ># Again, to increase the size of the market. Another big incentive: ># they can include tested, BSD-licensed code in their commercial ># applications without giving away the farm due to the GPL. > >That's exactly my (counter)point. They don't believe the >market exists, so writing it doesn't gain them anything in >their minds. If it is pointed out that FreeBSd has an installed base that is, by some measures, 66% that of Linux, they'll be interested if they otherwise have nothing to lose. And they have a LOT to gain if they can use BSD-licensed code verbatim in their apps. This is a tremendous selling point that has not been properly promoted. We need to say: "Want your app to do FTP? Fine -- here's the code from FreeBSD's FTP client, and it's ready to go so long as your binary is compiled for FreeBSD. If you want to compile for Linux, uh, well, there are a few changes you'll need to make -- plus more testing. So it's better to target FreeBSD. Your app will still run on Linux perfectly well via the emulator." ># >Your FreeBSDulator for Linux idea will only work if we convince ># >them there is a market for FreeBSD and that more people will want ># >to use FreeBSD than Linux. ># ># I disagree. If that were true, the emulator wouldn't be needed ># at all. > >I will be needed so that the Linux advocates can run FreeBSD >binaries. Yes, but at that point it would be a secondary concern. ># You don't seem to get it. Emulation of a more popular platform ># is not a positive; it's a negative! Sales into the FreeBSD ># installed base are seen as sales into the Linux installed ># base, and native ports never exist. This is what killed OS/2 ># Warp. We must learn from history: he who emulates is in a ># weaker position, not a stronger one. > >I do get it and I'm not advocating emulation. I'm advocating >that we pound on their door and let them know that there is a >market in FreeBSD. I agree that this is a good idea. Let's do that too! But let's also get FreeBSD emulation into Linux. If we don't, we're missing a huge opportunity. >Yes there is a catch-22 here >in that us supporting Linux emulation can be a hindrance but >we have to find some way to convince them that FreeBSD does >have market share while at the same time convincing people to >use FreeBSD in the first place. We need to do more than that. We need to provide them with a practical strategy for application development that allows them to compile and ship native code for FreeBSD with the assurance that they'll be able to get good sales volumes. The FreeBSD emulator for Linux is the selling point that will close the sale. ># We can do that as well. But they won't unless they see native ># FreeBSD versions of software selling. (Remember, marketroids are ># completely blind to anything other than sales figures.) > >Which is why I have offered my services to several companies >to do a port for them. They almost always come back with >NDAs (which I have no problem with) and prices in the 5-digit >range to buy in. That's why it's so important to get the company to develop its INITIAL version for FreeBSD, not Linux. After that, doing a port may seem too expensive to them, especially if Linux emulation is available on FreeBSD. Only if FreeBSD emulation is available on Linux can we capture that first port. --Brett Glass To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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