Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 16:38:26 -0700 From: "David Schwartz" <davids@webmaster.com> To: "Brett Glass" <brett@lariat.org>, "Jay Nelson" <jdn@acp.qiv.com>, <freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: FreeBSD Distributions: Leveling the playing field Message-ID: <000501befd77$e91dea60$021d85d1@youwant.to> In-Reply-To: <4.2.0.58.19990912145908.04af73a0@localhost>
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> At 01:57 PM 9/12/99 -0700, David Schwartz wrote: > > > Bluntly, if two things are not equally good, it is not > sensible to treat > >them equally. > > Would you apply that statement to human beings in general? If so, > who is to > judge the "quality" of the human being? Or to say that he or she should be > treated differently -- i.e. deprived of rights -- because he or > she is not of > sufficient "quality?" Yes, I would apply that to anyone and everything. I treat human beings differently based upon how they deserve to be treated. In fact, the virtue of 'fairness' is pretty much defined as 'treating people the way they deserve'. The virtue that you are talking about, on the other hand, is 'mercy'. That of giving people or things that which they do not deserve. This particular virtue is one I seldom practice. > In the more specific case of the FreeBSD project and creators of FreeBSD > distributions: Does it make sense to favor large companies over > small ones? > Or older ones over newcomers? Or established but less daring > distributions > over ones that try to "push the envelope?" If a distribution has > more bugs or > problems than another (perhaps because it attempted to add great > new features), > but is working to improve, should it be penalized in any other > way than by the > marketplace? The FreeBSD team is part of the marketplace. The marketplace doesn't just include consumers. It includes holders of intellectual property wielding that property to achive that particular market outcome that they prefer. It may not make any difference to you whether Coke or Pepsi sells more, and you may be entirely content to "leave it to the market", but to ask Coke to do so is absurd. > IMHO, the answer to all of the questions in the paragraph > immediately above is > a resounding "no." FreeBSD, Inc. should set a level playing field for all > would-be distributors, and then allow the marketplace to reward > or penalize the > products based on user experience. This is what is occurring in > the Linux world, > and it works fantastically. You are not asking for a level playing field. You are pretending to, but you are not. Right now, you have a level playing field. You can ask the FreeBSD team for things it owns as well as anyone else can. What you want, on the other hand, is a blank check. Permission to use another's property however you please, even against their wishes. This is where delve into the absurd. Yes, the Linux world more or less does work this way. It is part of the reason that Linux is so fragmented. Personally, I think this fragmentation is good, but the FreeBSD team (as far as I can tell) does not. They don't want to be like that, and that's their right. I don't think you'll have any success convincing them differently with arguments that basically say, "the way you are acting is inconsisten with my best interests". It's fun to try though. DS To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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