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From: orc@pell.chi.il.us (Orc)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux vs FreeBSD
Date: 13 Dec 1995 13:05:17 -0800
Organization: White Picket Fences
Lines: 44
Message-ID: <4anf6d$8d@pell.pell.chi.il.us>
References: <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> <49k0dd$pfg@nntp5.u.washington.edu> <49p9nr$1pj@pell.pell.chi.il.us> <MICHAELV.95Dec3151810@mindbender.headcandy.com>
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Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.advocacy:30643 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:10670
In article <MICHAELV.95Dec3151810@mindbender.headcandy.com>,
Michael L. VanLoon <michaelv@MindBender.HeadCandy.com> wrote:
>In article <49p9nr$1pj@pell.pell.chi.il.us> orc@pell.chi.il.us (Orc) writes:
>
> In article <49k0dd$pfg@nntp5.u.washington.edu>,
> Clint Olsen <olsenc@kodiak.ee.washington.edu> wrote:
> >In article <30BD2617.23585C28@mcs.net>,
> >Craig Bergren <cbergren@mcs.net> wrote:
>
> >Good point. I went out and asked amongst the mailing lists and
> >newsgroups to find this info out. Generally, most decent hardware is
> >supported by both FreeBSD and Linux. Linux may support a lot of funky
> >hardware, but I would probably not be interested in running an OS on it.
> >At some point, you have to decide whether or not you want to make an OS
> >run on your hardware or select hardware to run an OS :)
>
> You're part of a minority. A lot of people just want a good
> operating system to play with, but already have a machine to put it
> on; spending the money to upgrade the machine to a configuration
> suitable to Linux or xBSD may be enough to make the user throw in
> the towel and stick with Windows or OS/2, which are both capable
> of running on quite a bit of the funky hardware out there.
>
>I have two things to say: Windows 95; Windows NT.
And your point is?
The funky hardware is out there, and it's still being
developed. The vast majority doesn't really care about the
standards, as long as it will run on their machines, and the
vendors making that hardware will happily build drivers so that
their hardware will be purchased by more people. Unfortunately for
Linux and *BSD, most of those vendors don't think that either of
these systems have enough userbase, leaving production of the
drivers up to the user community. If your user community wants to
Adhere To Standards(tm), that's wonderful and it will make your
development work easier. It will also ensure that your userbase
remains small, as well as put the system into the 'kooky toy' box
that was, until fairly recently, honorably filled by Amigados and
TOS.
____
david parsons \bi/ And if the userbase is big enough, applications
\/ programmers can stay fed working on the system.