Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 19:09:42 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: Licia <licia@o-o.org> Cc: Drew Baxter <netmonger@genesis.ispace.com>, Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>, Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>, kkennawa@physics.adelaide.edu.au, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD certified software (was: WordPerfect 8 for Linux) Message-ID: <36367CE6.BFF12693@softweyr.com> References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.981027174135.8243A-100000@o-o>
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First let me say I'm glad this is taking off -- we're generating some
good ideas here.
Licia wrote:
>
> Would the software have to pass quality tests?
>
> Would the logo/certification be available for
> software specifically designed to run native,
> without the emulators?
I initially proposed two logos, but apparently nobody saw that message.
The two logo programs are "Designed for FreeBSD" and "Works with FreeBSD."
The first, "Designed for FreeBSD," is for software that offers FreeBSD-
native ports. An excellent example of this is the version of Netscape
4.5 I'm using right now. This would also be offered for hardware that
companies commit to supporting FreeBSD in almost any way, from developing
and release drivers themselves all the way to just offering development
hardware or even manuals to driver developers. Say for instance Mike
Smith wants to write a FreeBSD driver for a PCMCIA T1/E1 card. He calls
the card vendor, tells the person on the phone what he's doing, and this
person says "That's great! We can't do a driver ourselves, but we'll
send you our Windows driver source, all the internal documentation we
have, datasheets on the chips, and a card to use for 6 months." Mike
nominates this company for a "Designed for FreeBSD" logo, which is
awarded when his driver is ready to roll. (This is a cool idea, no?)
An off-the-cuff example of hardware vendors we'd offer this to right
away would be Cyclades and Emerging Technologies. Whistle, too, of
The second, "Works with FreeBSD," is for software that runs on FreeBSD
under emulation, and/or hardware that is known to work well with FreeBSD.
Say, for instance, I've made several workstations with a particular
motherboard from XYZ Corp., and have found it easy to configure and use.
I write up a description of the system's I've built, which XYZ Corp
motherboard(s) I've used, and submit this to the "Works" page. It's
filed, and the company is awared the "Works" logo.
Same deal for software under emulation. Linux apps, SCO apps, BSDI apps,
etc. A good example of this is the Acrobat Reader binary I have installed
on my workstation; it's a Linux binary installed with a port kit. Whoever
undertakes to do the testing would make notes on what is required to get
it to work, i.e. "needs Linux emulation pre-installed; at step 4 in the
included installation process, stop and 'brandelf /usr/local/bin/Xword'"
or something of the sort. If the person doing the testing wants to create
a 'port' that will install the product and offer it to the company, or
just post it on FreeBSD servers; so much the better.
> Would companies be allowed to use the certification in advertisements?
I certainly hope they do! Ideally, we'd want them to put the logo on their
web pages for the branded product(s), pointing to the FreeBSD web pages
talking about the testing and support of the product. We'd also want them
to stick stickers on the box, or on the hardware itself. Yeah, I'd like to
see a little "Designed for FreeBSD" sticker on the back (or front!) of the
Whistle InterJet and Pluto SPACE Platform.
> Would related logos be available, to the effect of "We support the FreeBSD
> Certification Effort"?
I think the above two pretty much cover it. We're calling more attention
to those who really work with us, and offering to do the testing, etc.,
work for the "Works with" products.
--
Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?
Wes Peters +1.801.915.2061
Softweyr LLC wes@softweyr.com
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