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Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.misc:2190 comp.os.linux.misc:12271 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!foxhound.dsto.gov.au!fang.dsto.gov.au!yoyo.aarnet.edu.au!news.adelaide.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!yeshua.marcam.com!MathWorks.Com!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!ieunet!news.ieunet.ie!jkh From: jkh@whisker.hubbard.ie (Jordan K. Hubbard) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: Impressions: FreeBSD vs Linux Date: 04 Apr 1994 01:50:00 GMT Organization: Jordan Hubbard Lines: 32 Distribution: world Message-ID: <JKH.94Apr4025000@whisker.hubbard.ie> References: <CMzw69.92K@tower.nullnet.fi> <2neomp$k5t@clarknet.clark.net> <2nf0fo$76u@sbus.entropic.com> <2nm6tb$m6u@klaava.Helsinki.FI> <2nmeb4$ro@menudo.uh.edu> <JKH.94Apr3184442@whisker.hubbard.ie> <MAGNUS.94Apr3194958@haukugle.ii.uib.no> NNTP-Posting-Host: whisker.hubbard.ie In-reply-to: magnus@haukugle.ii.uib.no's message of 3 Apr 1994 17:49:57 GMT In article <MAGNUS.94Apr3194958@haukugle.ii.uib.no> magnus@haukugle.ii.uib.no (Magnus Y Alvestad) writes: J> without public help and support. If we get fed up and go away, J> where will that have gotten everyone? Well, everyone will be using Linux. This one goes on my refrigerator along with the wonderful `People Unclear On The Concept' Herman cartoons! :-) They _won't_ be using Linux if exactly the same things hold true for Linus Torvalds and his band of merry volunteers! We're all human, and if ANY group of free software volunteers starts getting that Seriously Unappreciated feeling, or are left to carry all the work without some `new blood' coming in to periodically take pieces of the load off their shoulders, the project eventually falls apart. "Oh no!" you say "that could never happen to Linux! There are too many of us!" Balls. Keeping any project like this afloat, and with consistent quality (time and technology don't stand still, no matter how dedicated and skilled your team of ENIAC engineers might have been!) takes work, and it takes a large number of people willing to stay actively involved. It's easy to pledge allegiance for a week, or a month, but try it for a couple of YEARS and then you'll start to get the picture of what's required to take these things to the near-commercial quality level that people are beginning to essentially demand. Otherwise, the next Big Thing comes along and everybody jumps ship. I remember when the be-all and end-all of operating systems was CP/M (and that was commercial, with a lot of support and money behind it). I don't know too many people who still run it today. Jordan -- Jordan K. Hubbard FreeBSD core team Raving lunatic