Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:59:19 -0500 From: DAve <dave.list@pixelhammer.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: corporate backers of freebsd Message-ID: <47793C07.30803@pixelhammer.com> In-Reply-To: <10f7864f0712311010x2497409ava350991ccebf3ae2@mail.gmail.com> References: <10f7864f0712311010x2497409ava350991ccebf3ae2@mail.gmail.com>
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Gary Smithe wrote: > Good Day All and Happy New Year, > > I'm not looking to incite anyone, but here comes a BSD vs Linux > question. Yes, I tried searching the archives and found nothing. > > I used FreeBSD back in 2000 for a few firewalls, but due to certain > influences I switched to Linux after a couple of years. > > I'm interested in getting back to the BSD's but have just one big concern. > > As most users Unix and it's clones, I prefer the "free as in beer" > licensing model, but want to know that someone else is paying the big > bills. > > In short, here's my question: > > Canonical, RedHat, IBM, Novell, and a slew of others are funding / > supporting Linux development and pushing some of that development into > the free community, so that all can benefit from full-time developers > and the money that supports them. > > I've seen where Cisco and Juniper are using FreeBSD, and assuming > there are other big names, do they directly fund or contribute to the > community? > > I guess my big concern is that I'd like for development to continue, > with new features and hardware being supported. The best way for this > to happen, IMHO, is for the developers to have full time jobs > essentially devoted to FreeBSD and that some, if not most of that work > is then sent back to the community. > > I'm not saying that I should contribute nothing, as I have contributed > cash via CD's, T-Shirts, and other venues, but that doesn't provide > nearly the revenue that a good corporate backer can. > > And just to throw more gasoline on the fire, I'll also assume that the > BSD's are going strong and that there are no concerns of them suddenly > disappearing if I make the change over. > Can't answer the rest of your questions but I can say we are a large Midwest ISP and we use the best tool for the job. Sometimes it is Server 2003 (Windows media streaming), sometimes it is Linux (ISCSI initiator), sometimes it is NetBSD (old Sparc boxes), more often than anything else it has been FreeBSD (mail, web, SQL, ftp, QT Streaming). There has never been any concern with using FreeBSD as a production OS either towards it's stability, ability, or it's future. If FreeBSD suites your needs, by all means switch over. DAve -- Google finally, after 7 years, provided a logo for veterans. Thank you Google. What to do with my signature now?
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