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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!munnari.oz.au!constellation!news.uoknor.edu!ns1.nodak.edu!netnews.nwnet.net!oracle.pnl.gov!osi-east2.es.net!cronkite.nersc.gov!dancer.ca.sandia.gov!overload.lbl.gov!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!gatekeeper.us.oracle.com!barrnet.net!Reason.cdrom.com!news.cdrom.com!jkh From: jkh@freefall.cdrom.com (Jordan K. Hubbard) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc Subject: Re: Why *BSD's have smaller user base ? [WAS: Can we quit with "Linux Sucks" ?] Date: 15 Nov 1994 12:58:48 GMT Organization: Walnut Creek CDROM Lines: 58 Message-ID: <JKH.94Nov15045849@freefall.cdrom.com> References: <3a9205$bqj@mall.sinica.edu.tw> <BENJY.94Nov15074901@blackjack.ai.mit.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: freefall.cdrom.com In-reply-to: benjy@ai.mit.edu's message of 15 Nov 1994 12:49:01 GMT In article <BENJY.94Nov15074901@blackjack.ai.mit.edu> benjy@ai.mit.edu (Benjamin B. Thomas) writes: 1) Linux is much easier to install. You just pop in the disks and you have binaries for not only the system, but every program you would ever want to run. *BSD people seem to have the attitude that it is so easy to compile it yourself, why waste space on precompiled binaries of programs like ghostview, xdaliclock, etc. Hey! Please, don't tar us all with the same brush! Have you *looked* at the FreeBSD 2.0A install? I think you'll agree that we're at least moving in the right direction. Likewise, have you looked at the history with FreeBSD packages? We're _very much_ interested in providing precompiled binaries, thank you, and I've personally invested quite a bit of work into this area! It's hardly accurate to say that I share this attitude, and I'd like to at least think that my attitude has at least some visible impact on the direction of FreeBSD. 2) Linux has very good postscript documentation. Sure there are plenty of books which cover *BSD just fine, but even if new users knew this lots of folks would rather just print it out. Linux has us here, but we're certainly working on this. 3) Linux people seem to be rabid evangalists; They push their OS very hard. From taking the time to put together and advertise easy install distributions to forming an international Linux consortium, they beat *BSD hands down on the PR front. *BSD seems to take the approach of "If we build it, they will come." Again, not all of us. Do you know how many free CDs I sent out (at great personal time, effort and some cost) when 1.1 was being closed down? Thousands. Do you think it was easy or fun? No. I did it strictly for the PR benefits, and I do many many other things in a similar vein. 4) Visibility. Look at how many articles there are in the Linux newsgroups. Now, look at how many articles there are in the BSD news groups. When a newcomer does this he says, "Wow! Linux is an active Can't say much here - get busy posting, folks! :-) program anyone would ever want to run. Make sure that binaries of the newest versions of these programs are announced on the bsd.announce. Already doing that, yes. About as much as the moderator will stand, anyway :-) 2) Make NOISE and let people know BSD is ALIVE! Contact magazines and get stories on BSD. How many times have you seen Linux featured? How many times have you seen *BSD featured? 'nuff said. Do whatever other rabid evangelicalizing it takes to tell people that *BSD exists. I try, we try. I do understand that your heart is in the right place WRT the points you're trying to make here, but I think you're being a little unfair to the existing degree of effort. It's not easy doing all this in one's spare time! :-( Jordan