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Subject: A merge of FreeBSD and NetBSD? (Another person's opinion)
Message-ID: <haley.747858702@husc8>
From: haley@husc8.harvard.edu (Elizabeth Haley)
Date: 12 Sep 93 18:31:42 GMT
References: <1993Sep8.231610.9740@ccds3.ntu.edu.tw>
<CD190K.FwG@latcs1.lat.oz.au><CD3JII.F5w.1@cs.cmu.edu>
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Organization: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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HiHo:
All those out there who have or are administering a mixed platform
base of computers raise your hands?
(Don't really, just being catchy...)
Having run a small lab with 10 DOS machines, not to mention some
machines produced by a well known somewhat litigious company, I have
quite a bit of experience with the users of these machines. In my
experience, one could almost have an operating system to suit every
personality. Some want a system that is ever unchanging, they know the
bugs and know how to deal with them. Others want more features, more
speed, more everything, and are willing to change how they work to get
it.
Most are in-between.
Having two separate (but communicating groups) in *BSD land is a good
idea, because different priorities produce different brain storms,
which everyone can eventually benefit from. Just because the NetBSD
folks are trying to be cutting edge doesn't mean they don't want way
stable code. I know from experience that occasionally you can find an
extremely stable version of something that can be tweaked to use
platform dependent features that let it scream. That is, of course,
the reason for having all those #ifdefs.
On the other hand, the FreeBSD, is unlikely to turn down a screaming
piece of code, if it proves stable and robust.
This results in two flavors which appeal to a wider range of users.
I prefer FreeBSD because my current projects don't have to do with
kernel hacking or what not, and I want to be sure that the majority of
my time is spent in emacs hacking MY code.
Remember, quite a few of the advances in automotive design came from
things designed to go MUCH faster, like racing cars and rockets.
--
If you love your fun...
|[{(<=--=>)}]|David Charles Todd, tHE mAN wITH tHREE fIRST nAMES|[{(<=--=>)}]|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||hacksaw@headcheese.daa.uc.edu||||||||||||||||||||||||
...Die for it!