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Date:      Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:03:56 -0600
From:      Sam George <tech@dracoquies.us>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Lennart Poettering: BSD Isn't Relevant Anymore
Message-ID:  <4E25C70C.8000308@dracoquies.us>
In-Reply-To: <20110717071059.25971662@scorpio>
References:  <20110717071059.25971662@scorpio>

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On 7/17/2011 05:10, Jerry wrote:
> While I usually consider Slashdot nothing more than a bunch of
> juveniles ranting against Microsoft; however, I did find this rather
> interesting post this morning.
>
> "Lennart Poettering: BSD Isn't Relevant Anymore"
>
> <http://bsd.slashdot.org/story/11/07/16/0020243/Lennart-Poettering-BSD-Isnt-Relevant-Anymore>;
>
> Interestingly enough, a great deal of it is true. It might be
> interesting to know how others feel about it. Obviously, asking that
> question on this forum is like playing against a stacked deck; however,
> it still might prove interesting.

Having come to BSD from Linux less than a month ago, I find it 
interesting that the very thing, which Mr. Pottering is encouraging in 
Linux development, is what has lead me to search for other options 
besides Linux.  Of late Linux has been loosing the 'plays well with 
others award'.  First they cut the .AppleDouble support from the 
appletalk drivers, then they refused to let the ReiserFS code into the 
kernel, and I suppose their lack of implementing ZFS is possibly same 
motivation (given that they _do_ have the man power to port the code).

If they feel that they are an end-all and be-all and don't need to 
support "legacy" systems, obscure hardware, or other ways of doing 
things, well, I'll find another way.  This thing is about Freedom, if 
they cut that from their development plan, then it's time to say farewell.

Pottering seems to have forgotten, or perhaps he is too young to 
remember? Linux was a 'toy OS'.  And if it's too big a burden to support 
'toy OS'es then Pottering is no different from the people who worked at 
the big companies twenty years ago.

Getting back to the message I'm replying to, I disagree with mr 
pottering's basis statements: "If Debian was my project I'd try to focus 
on making (or keeping) it _professionally relevant_"  -- I'll translate 
this as: If it ain't business and making money, drop it.  "...we want to 
make sure Linux enters the mainstream all across the board."  --  This 
sounds like desktop systems to me, but there is much more to the world 
than the shrinking market share of the desktop.  UNIX was born in the 
research world as a pet project to have fun -- written after hours.  BSD 
continued that journey toward freedom recoding the parts of UNIX that 
had been stripped out by unscrupulous business dealings.  Hopefully 
Linux won't turn out to be an evolutionary miss-step, but...

If Kerningham and Richie were focused on staying 'professionally 
relevant' UNIX would never have /existed/, and as its decedents, neither 
would have BSD or Linux.  Is BSD relevant?  Looks like it's /essential/ 
given the context of the question.

Live Free.

Sam George



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