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From: terry@cs.weber.edu (Terry Lambert)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: I hope this won't ignite a major flame war, but I've got to know!
Date: 21 Jul 1994 21:34:21 GMT
Organization: Weber State University, Ogden, UT
Lines: 113
Message-ID: <30mpkt$gin@u.cc.utah.edu>
References: <1994Jul18.093302.19670@wmichgw> <30g0af$bfv@u.cc.utah.edu> <MYCROFT.94Jul20041518@duality.gnu.ai.mit.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.weber.edu
In article <MYCROFT.94Jul20041518@duality.gnu.ai.mit.edu> mycroft@duality.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Charles M. Hannum) writes:
Me> The upshot of all this is that the FreeBSD team has been extremely
Me> conservative in its mode to 4.4-Lite; specifically, they have taken
Me> a 4.4-Lite source tree and basically duplicated William Jolitz's
Me> initial effort in 386BSD 0.1 to provide newly coded replacements for
Me> any file which USL has deemed questionable. The NetBSD effort has
Me> been a bit more avantgarde, porting the 4.4 code into their tree,
Me> with the confidence that they have rewritten sufficient code to
Me> render their tree legally safe anyway.
] The above is just flatly untrue, Terry. The only kernel code we've
] kept from our Net/2 and 386BSD days is parts of the i386 port and
^^^^
] kernel modules that we wrote ourselves. That's it, and had *anyone*
] in the FreeBSD group bothered to ask before they started randomly
] flaming, we would have said that.
"Kept" implies a portation/integration order. There is no "FreeBSD
cabal intent on persecuting Charles", or if there is, I am denied
membership. And *I* wrote the NetBSD kernel module loader, which was
then improved by Chris. Any flaming that you see by ascribing me
membership in the FreeBSD core team is delusional, if you will check
their roster for my name (my choice, based on legal considerations).
I suggest you reexamine your own articles on the nature of you porting
process; since neither the NetBSD or FreeBSD groups has yet made the
BSD4.4-Lite derived source trees they have available (and have only
announced plans to do this at the end of July), I can only go by what
each group has claimed (much in the same way I can only judge 386BSD
1.0 by the rantings posted by various people claiming to have seen it).
Members of the NetBSD group have claimed an import of the BSD4.4 code
into their source tree, as opposed to the creation of a BSD4.4 source
tree in which vetted code from the previous system has been integrated
(the claims of the FreeBSD group). If this is incorrect, they should
retract their claims, and you should feel free to correct me IN A
CIVILIZED MANNER.
Both integration procedures could, in fact, result in identical code. But
the former could more easily be interpreted to fit the legal definition
of "derivative work" unless you were very sure of the status of the
previous code base before you started. Thus the adjective "avantgarde";
I admit to my assumption about your confidence on this point.
1avant-garde \,a^:v-,a^:n(t)-'ga^:rd, ,av-, ,a.v-; e-'va^:nt-,; ,av-,o^-n-', ,av-,o[0xC7]n(t)-'\
[F, vanguard]
:an intelligentsia that develops new or experimental concepts esp.
in the arts
-- avant-gard-ism \-'ga^:rd-,iz-em\ n
-- avant-gard-ist \-'ga^:rd-est\ n
2avant-garde adj
(1925)
:of or relating to an avant-garde <avantgarde writers>
This is hardly an insult, and refers to the fact that your group appears
to have accepted more risks (look up "experiment" yourself) in order
to achieve higher rewards (better portability, etc.). If anything, this
was a compliment.
This view of the developement process is further bolstered by your own
postings regarding the portability of the FreeBSD relative to NetBSD.
Given the same source in both camps, one would expect the portability
to be equal.
] If anyone has been more `cavalier', it's almost certainly the FreeBSD
] people, who basically imported the entire VM code from their 1.1*
] release (though I'm sure they've done work on it since then).
This is not a word which I used, nor is it a word I would choose to use
regarding NetBSDs developement process. I chose my words *very* carefully,
and you would do yourself and everyone else a favor by reading them that
way.
1cav-a-lier \,kav-e-'li(e)r\ n
[MF, fr. OIt cavaliere, fr. OProv cavalier, fr. LL caballarius horseman,
fr. L caballus]
(1589)
1: a gentleman trained in arms and horsemanship
2: a mounted soldier: KNIGHT
3 cap :an adherent of Charles I of England
4: GALLANT
2cavalier adj
(1641)
1: DEBONAIR
2: marked by or given to offhand dismissal of important matters:
DISDAINFUL
3a cap: of or relating to the party of Charles I of England in his
struggles with the Puritans and Parliament
3b: ARISTOCRATIC
3c cap :of or relating to the English Cavalier poets of the mid-17th
century
-- ca-va-lier-ism \-,iz-em\ n
-- cav-a-lier-ly adv
It is apparent that you were referring to definition 2/2... clearly
not a synonym for avantgarde.
] Please keep your misinformation to yourself.
Please do me this very favor relative to your OPINION of the meaning of
words.
Best regards,
Terry Lambert
terry@cs.weber.edu
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.