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From: jkh@violet.berkeley.edu (Jordan K. Hubbard)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,alt.os.linux,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc
Subject: Re: a monthly FreeBSD magazine (and other *BSD's too)
Date: 3 Jan 1996 21:28:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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Message-ID: <4cesep$pb1@agate.berkeley.edu>
References: <4ajc07$sb7@unix2.glink.net.hk> <4c9op2$k9o@mark.ucdavis.edu> <4ca3gu$4nc@news1.halcyon.com> <4cdijr$hjg@toplink1.toplink.net>
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In article <4cdijr$hjg@toplink1.toplink.net>,
Christian Kratzer <ck@news.toplink.de> wrote:
>I think a very large portion of the FreeBSD and NetBSD user community would
>considre an IDE CDROM (and also other ide devices) a "wierd device" they would
>not touch with 5 foot isolated pole ;->
There has been a lot of traffic on this subject and perhaps I can try
to put a few misconceptions (not expressed by Christian, but before)
to rest.
Furthermore, I don't think I can ever satisfy Tim as he'll simply just
blow up at something else (I'm still waiting for him to actually
CONTRIBUTE something, mind you, though there's always hope for the coming
millennium :-) but I can at least put to rest this silly didea that
the FreeBSD group is somehow insensitive to the requirements of common PC
hardware.
Let's take IDE CDROM support as a case in point. Did we know that
IDE CDROM support was important? Oh yes. Did we avoid IDE CDROM support
because we didn't personally like the technology? Not at all. Did we
discuss the need for such support quite fervently, putting out numerous
calls for volunteers? Yes. Then why did we wait so long?
Because nobody volunteered to do it.
You see, there is this concept of "available time and resources" that
many people who haven't developed software are just going to have to bear
with me on for a moment here. I know that it's a somewhat radical notion
to hold that time or resources could possibly be limited for anyone, and
I know that users like Tim actively pooh-pooh it in favor of the more popular
"time as a mobius strip" theory which contends that developers have
infinite amounts of both, but in the FreeBSD world it would nonetheless
appear that we're being forced to live within the laws of physics.
It finally fell upon Serge Vakulenko, one of our farthest-flung developers
in Russia, to stand up and say "OK! I'll do it!" after earlier attempts
sort of fizzled, and he's been working away at it ever since. Serge's
geographic location and work overload have made this slower going than
some would like, to be sure, but since those are the only resources we have,
that's the way it goes! If someone out there wants to see it go faster
they have only to jump in and help out!
Many people also like to shrug and say "ah, well, I'm not a programmer or
I'd ... (fill in the blank)" but that's frankly bogus. There are LOTS of
ways one can help out, not least of which is to simply send the author
some email and offer to provide some intelligent testing ("intelligent"
meaning testing with some effort put in to gather and report as much data
as possible, not simply "D00D! It's BRokeN!"). A good developer and
3 or 4 dedicated testers can always make far more progress, faster, than
a developer can alone.
And at the very least, should you (the generic "you" - not Christian) decide
not to help out, please don't FLAME the poor volunteers for not working fast
enough! :-)
Jordan