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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!munnari.oz.au!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!pipex!uknet!EU.net!uunet!mdisea!mothost!lmpsbbs!louisb From: louisb@comm.mot.com (louis bertrand) Subject: Applications, please! (was Re: Linux or FreeBSD?) Organization: Motorola Land Mobile Products Sector Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 21:40:00 GMT Message-ID: <1994May30.214000.4735@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> Summary: Support for things for people to _do_ with their free OS References: <2s937t$7sp@acmex.gatech.edu>> <JKH.94May29093959@whisker.hubbard.ie> <2sao1v$guc@acmey.gatech.edu> Sender: news@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com (Net News) Nntp-Posting-Host: 145.20.100.28 Lines: 49 In article <2sao1v$guc@acmey.gatech.edu> gt8134b@prism.gatech.edu (Robert Sanders) writes: >You know where I'd really like to see a coherent development effort? I'd >like to see some good people get together and write a Unix word processor. >More so than the many competing flavors, that issue is killing Unix. >FreeBSD, NetBSD, and Linux are all very competent operating systems, >but you've got to give people something to *do* under them. > I browsed Jordan and Robert's exchange on the relative merits, and Robert's comment may be the most significant spark to come out of it. I followed the original Jolitz port of 386BSD on usenet and in the Dr.Dobb's series and was very curious about setting it up on a machine at home. The fervor of the Linux supporters made me wonder about the Linux vs. BSD controversy. On the one hand, BSD is written by computer professionals and academics based on a very sucessful OS but mainly as a platform for advanced research. On the other hand, Linux is written by a gifted anarchy and widely touted as the OS for the masses. IMHO, both camps (sects?) should look at each other's intentions: Linux: Don't lock yourself out of alternative design decisions; Don't let religion cloud your judgement and lighten up a little. *BSD: Don't alienate your users, as their momentum and enthusiasm gives you an outlet for your efforts. There are many systems that have gone by the wayside despite technical merit because of lack of support. This said, if I was to invest the time to set up one of these systems at home, the question I should ask (before friends and relatives do) is, what can you do with it? Yeah, you can send e-mail via uucp (big deal, I can do that from DOS); You can read usenet news (Some days that's not an advantage); You can edit text (what? with vi or emacs? Leave the 70's behind); I do electronics at home. Is there a circuit board layout package that's affordable? How about a simple mechanical CAD package? How about a spreadsheet? Before you flame me for asking annoying questions, think about what I said about fine technical achievements that linger in a backwater because nobody but a small group of hackers (in the good sense of the word) saw any value in them. Here's looking forward to a bright future for free software! --Louis -- Louis Bertrand, Toronto Design Centre, Motorola Canada LMPS. 3125 Steeles Ave. East, North York, Ontario, Canada, M2H 2H6 +1.416.756.5855 louisb@comm.mot.com #include <std_disclaimer.h>