Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:12:55 +0100 From: Brad Knowles <blk@skynet.be> To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>, Doug Barton <Doug@gorean.org> Cc: Paul Richards <paul@originative.co.uk>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The Merger, and what will its effects be on committers? Message-ID: <v04220800b4f25ecce482@[195.238.21.237]> In-Reply-To: <4.2.2.20000312160425.00b16e80@localhost> References: <Pine.LNX.4.20.0003112034290.431-100000@theory8.physics.iisc.ernet.in> <4.2.2.20000312122651.00b1e880@localhost> <4.2.2.20000312144558.04190e80@localhost> <4.2.2.20000312160425.00b16e80@localhost>
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At 4:30 PM -0700 2000/3/12, Brett Glass wrote: > This would be due to the use of the words "Red Hat" rather than the > use of the word "Linux." In fact, Red Hat -- in response to a scandal > involving CDs sold on eBay -- has agreed that anyone can sell their > Linux as-is and call it Linux; they just can't call it "Red Hat." And you would wish that the FreeBSD team do something different?!? You can take the code as-is and do whatever the hell you want with it, you just can't call it "FreeBSD". Sounds pretty much the same to me. > Exactly the opposite is true. FreeBSD is starting as a "dark horse." To > prevent MANY people from using the name is to hurt its chances to rise to > prominence. Take a look at this situation again. The name of the merged company is "BSD, Inc." There is a particular flavour of a freely available version of BSD Unix called "FreeBSD". However, these are two separate and distinct issues. Anybody who wants to take the name "BSD" and apply it in a positive way to a product or a service will almost certainly be warmly welcomed into the family -- Just as Linus has done with the term "Linux". The only difference is that there is another part of the BSD community that will jealously guard the name "FreeBSD", and they have every right to do so (and in fact, have every fiduciary obligation to do so), just as Red Hat does with the name "Red Hat", Debian does with the name "Debian", etc.... > In short, EVERY FREEBSD USER AND DEVELOPER has an > interest in seeing the mark used broadly, just as the Linux > trademark is today. You're equating "Linux" with "FreeBSD". This is a fallacy. You should instead equate "Linux" with "BSD". They are both families of closely related OSes, but with various different versions that have been created. Just as there are various different versions (or "distributions") of "Linux", there are various different versions of "BSD". Of these various different versions of "BSD", there is one known as "FreeBSD", and I would expect the FreeBSD core team and the FreeBSD Foundation to protect that name every bit as jealously as Red Hat does with theirs, Caldera does with theirs, Corel does with theirs, etc.... -- These are my opinions and should not be taken as official Skynet policy ========================================================================= Brad Knowles, <blk@skynet.be> Sys. Arch., Mail/News/FTP/Proxy Admin Note: No Microsoft programs were used in the creation or distribution of this message. If you are using a Microsoft program to view this message, be forewarned that I am not responsible for any harm you may encounter as a result. See <http://i-want-a-website.com/about-microsoft/twelve-step.html>; for details. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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