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Date:      Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:27:10 +0200
From:      Sheldon Hearn <sheldonh@uunet.co.za>
To:        Johnathan Meehan <jmeehan@easynet.co.uk>
Cc:        hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Is FreeBSD dead? Well, not in theory... 
Message-ID:  <5137.952691230@axl.ops.uunet.co.za>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 10 Mar 2000 13:00:20 %2B0100." <005501bf8a88$35905520$030000ac@scully> 

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On Fri, 10 Mar 2000 13:00:20 +0100, Johnathan Meehan wrote:

> That is not fair, Sheldon. Didier has some concerns, and I cannot
> blame him.

I guess what I wrote makes for a very harsh comment in isolation from
the grin I had on my face while I was typing. :-)

> I find it difficult to believe that a group of people who have worked so
> hard for so long to produce a superior product will walk away from it, or
> see it corrupted.

What are their alternatives?  Think about how the world is waking up to
Open Source.  Think about how companies are realizing that a small group
of paid engineers simply can't keep up with a world-wide organization of
contributors.  What would you do if you didn't feel you could keep up?

If BSD Inc. were to "buy out" FreeBSD with the sole purpose of reducing
competition, they'd be a bunch of idiots.  The volunteers that make
FreeBSD great now would move on to something else and _that_ would soon
become the new threat.

However, if BSD Inc. were to use FreeBSD as the base platform and sell
extra toys and service along with it, they'd benefit directly from the
volunteer energy of the project.

I think that there is only cause for concern if the folks at BSD Inc.
are a bunch of idiots.  Thus, I'm not concerned. ;-)

> I'm sure you chaps know what you are doing, but some of us believe
> that Eris is great friends with Murphy.

I only contribute to FreeBSD because it's an Open Source project and
because FreeBSD has the most impotus in the BSD family.  If FreeBSD
stops being free, I'd reconsider my willingness to contribute.

I think BSD Inc. have acknowledged the impotus the FreeBSD Porject has
and are looking to jump on the bandwagon.  Looks like a really good
thing for both BSD Inc. and the FreeBSD project. :-)

Ciao,
Sheldon.


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