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Date:      Fri, 21 Mar 1997 15:13:22 -0700
From:      mike allison <mallison@konnections.com>
To:        FreeBSD-Chat@FreeBSD.org
Cc:        FreeBSD-Hackers@FreeBSD.org, jtc@NetBSD.org
Subject:   Free Systems Journal -- Philosophy
Message-ID:  <33330802.3D353BFD@konnections.com>

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Hello again:

While we're a bit busy with this conversation about newsletters and
jounals, I just wanted to stand up and lay out my philosophy in regards
to what Free Systems Journal should be.

First of all it has to be an organ (sorry bevis) for the issues that the
Free systems community faces.  That is the ENTIRE community.  Let no one
think that this community belongs any more to the Linux users than it
does to the FreeDOS or Minix users.  We're all in this together.  We
don't need to agree but we can't deal anyone out.  I said my original
desire for this sprang from Linux Journal's continued open disregard of
other systems.  That is not a negative stance for LJ, on the contrary,
it never claimed to be anything but.  On the other hand, there has
always been a need for coverage of other systems in a responsive manner,
not as an aside to some greater issue.  I assure you if LJ paid
attention to other systems, they wouldn't do it justice.  I myself
wonder how it can be done, but we'll find a pole to revolve around and
then expand or contract based on community needs.  

I don't think any one person, or group, is more qualified to contribute
than another.  A newbie might have just as pertinent a concern as anyone
else, and just as elegant a solution.  There are many more newbies out
there than gurus.  Unlike many of the people out there, a lot of us
don't have a guru to defer to.  (Except the newsgroups, and we don't
always know who's answering the mail there.)

I want this endeavor to become something useful to all of us, that we
can all have a stake in and be proud of.  If the NetBSD folks do
something cool, or pull off a major installation, like say, to the
Justice Department, we should all be proud and pull a little closer.

Our similarities are our strength our differences merely distractions. 
Our goal should be to become smarter as individuals and to make
computing a transparent part of our lives (both from a control sense,
and a cost sense).  I don't mind having to pay for good software, but I
do mind not being able to chose and bad software eventually becoming the
ONLY software.

UNIX (Sorry to whomever owns the trademark this week) was always open in
this sense.  It was the great equalizer.  It has again become that great
equalizer.  It has motivated people to create Free systems and that
includes free versions of some of the most popular, most expensive and
most controlled personal computing software.  

If you flood my office with contributions, I'll publish what I can. 
What's really good I'll pass on to others to publish.  There's no way
that we'll sit on a valuable article just to pump some imagined value
out of it.  

I'm open to any suggestions about how to provide this service.  I'm a
book guy and magazines are new to us.  But I'm become zealous about this
and I'm determined to see it through.

Your thoughts are appreciated.  I'm not a real member of these lists, so
please let me know what the right procedure is for joining.

Thanks,

-Mike Allison

  Publisher,
  Burning Eagle Books

  mallison@konnections.com



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