*BSD News Article 1662


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From: wjolitz@soda.berkeley.edu (William F. Jolitz)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: Honesty with 386BSD 0.1
Summary: Release 0.1 and Perspective on 386BSD.
Keywords: 386BSD 0.1
Message-ID: <12adcaINNiuc@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 24 Jun 92 18:02:50 GMT
References: <1992Jun24.025455.3548@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg>
Sender: Lynne Jolitz (ljolitz@cardio.ucsf.edu)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 102
NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu

Lynne Jolitz responds to article 1964 regarding Mr. Ahmads "open letter"
to William Jolitz and the 0.1 beta testers:

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Dear Mr. Ahmads (and all the 386BSD Users),

Firstly, I urge anyone concerned about the status of 0.1 or any other
items that I can answer please send email to me directly, instead 
of plastering it all over netnews. I do try to respond to email
appropriately. However, I will respond this way, if so demanded.
Please, though, anyone who is interested in discussing 386BSD 
can always send me email at ljolitz@cardio.ucsf.edu, as mentioned 
in the reg file and read.me file of 0.0. I have also supplied my
fax number, if that is more convenient. It helps also if you register
so I know who you are, as we are quite inundated, and I spend several
hours a day now on 386BSD mail alone.

Release 0.1 is in beta test right now at several sites. We hope to
have it out very shortly. We are doing the best we can, given the
circumstances.

I think it is time to put some things regarding 386BSD in perspective.

For the last 7 months Bill and I have dedicated our entire full-time 
personal resources (which means we don't have a company or granting 
agency) to getting these releases out the door. Bill and I are not 
a university, non-profit organization, or commercial company, nor
have we ever claimed to be. We are just two people using a few borrowed 
PCs and a laptop and essentially doing the impossible -- putting together 
a complete 100+ MB source release with binary and installation floppy,
documenting, debugging, and enhancing it, completing the release engineering 
and asking nothing for it, except the goodwill of other volunteers. 

We had always intended CSRG to handle this, which is why we worked
for three years and contributed for no consideration the port to UCB 
(of which I am an alumna) -- however, when they decided to take it private,
we found the only way we could counter this aberrant situation was to
complete the system ourselves and release it as should have been
done by CSRG years ago.

There have been a lot of great people who have volunteered their
time to work on this system since release 0.0 (which Bill had
to do entirely himself). They have contributed fixes, tested
software, and generally worked on pieces of the puzzle.

However, it has ultimately come down to one man who has had the vision
to see this through to completion. Bill has worked on BSD releases
for over 12 years, and he is trying to continue the technical direction
of Berkeley UNIX, so that if anyone uses this system, IT WILL BE BERKELEY 
UNIX, and not some motley or proprietary substitute. He will accomplish 
this, not on the basis of arrogance, as others often do, but with a firm
understanding of what must be done. 

While he is both brilliant and determined, this project is not easy 
or trivial. Most people get overwhelmed at the sheer size and complexity. 
He is not daunted.  He will quietly continue and complete each task, 
enduring the slings and arrows flung by others. After all, the final 
victory is realized by accomplishing a goal, not just by talking about it.

I can empathize with the frustration expressed from 386BSD users.
Everyone would like more -- better and faster. However, it may be
instructive to try to see it from the other side.  So I ask each of you
to honestly search your conscience and ask the following question:

Would you honestly be willing to put everything you personally have,
sacrificing your own personal gain, time with your children, even
a normal life, to keep to a commitment and vision without any
real expectation of gain? Would you do this over an extended period
of time, just because it is the "right thing to do"? And finally,
would you continue to put your own resources into this project, 
knowing that others are looking to you to supply the leadership and 
vision required, but also knowing that there are many other things
you could be doing in the small time alloted in a lifetime?

This is where 386BSD and Berkeley UNIX now stand. There are many
dedicated and bright people out there who need to focus on their
particular area of expertise, not plan for where 386BSD should 
head. That is the responsibility of the developer.

So using 386BSD does have it's price. For us, for all the
users, for the larger community. Nothing is free. In this case,
it requires cooperation, teamwork, respect, support, time and 
consideration -- all of which can be avoided by giving USL (AT&T) money 
for a commercial system.

As to commercial comparisions, I find them inappropriate. I ran a systems
company for many years, and, quite frankly, no one gets
the turnaround on release times from a paid effort that is now demanded
from an unfunded effort. Expressions of frustration in this manner
are unrealistic and counterproductive.

As I look on the list of contributors which will appear with
Release 0.1, I can only say that I am grateful that so many
have been willing to give something to make things better. 
We're all working on this together, so we must show a little
patience, generosity, and respect to each other. 

After all, genius is not a commodity, and 386BSD is not an entitlement.
Both are hard-earned and sweeter for it.

Lynne Jolitz.
ljolitz@cardio.ucsf.edu