From owner-freebsd-advocacy Mon Apr 20 15:47:46 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id PAA15602 for freebsd-advocacy-outgoing; Mon, 20 Apr 1998 15:47:46 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from dns.mail.ida.net (mail.ida.net [204.228.203.1]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id WAA15205 for ; Mon, 20 Apr 1998 22:45:53 GMT (envelope-from muck@ida.net) Received: from falcon.hinterlands.com (tc-pt1-31.ida.net [208.141.181.40]) by dns.mail.ida.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id QAA19413 for ; Mon, 20 Apr 1998 16:35:58 -0600 (MDT) Message-ID: <353BCF31.794BDF32@ida.net> Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 16:41:53 -0600 From: Mike X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04 (X11; I; FreeBSD 2.2.5-RELEASE i386) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Should we approach Redhat, Debian et al. References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Jason C. Wells wrote: > > Let me say that I am against the "FreeBSD Inc" organization going > commercial. Much discussion has been made about what I feel is a > semi-commercializing process with respect to FreeBSD. This I do not > like. > > In the interest of advocacy, the point has been raised that business > won't use free software because "Free=not there when you need it." To > attract more businesses to FreeBSD someone needs to be "there when you > need it." > > Which brings me to my point. > > The FreeBSD Inc organization might consider soliciting Caldera, SuSE, > Redhat, et al to produce a commercically supported version of FreeBSD. > > Advantages: > Wider distribution. > Commercial support to entice businesses. > A spot next to Linux on university store bookshelves. > The first commercial adopter can increase its offerings to customers and > get an advantage on other Linux resellers. > Commercial adopters already have UNIX expertise. > > Disadvantages: > Funds being diverted to competitors from loss of Walnut Creek sales. > Maybe some loss of control over releases > > I think there may be a net gain to be had by this proposal. > > Have fun, | Stop warning me about the latest virus. Learn more... > Jason Wells | http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html > I think that about a month ago Jordan posted in comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc something about providing paid support for FreeBSD. So, maybe there is already a plan in the works. I assume the O.S. would still be free, just the technical support would be charged for. Correct me if I'm wrong. Mike To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message