*BSD News Article 65485


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From: root@dyson.iquest.net (Charlie Root)
Subject: Re: FreeBSD vs Linux
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References: <4issad$h1o@nadine.teleport.com> <31642098.75AB4317@gnu.ai.mit.edu> <4k2cvc$j8e@park.uvsc.edu> <31657509.5E45C160@gnu.ai.mit.edu>
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 1996 01:41:41 GMT
Lines: 38

In article <31657509.5E45C160@gnu.ai.mit.edu>,
H.J. Lu <hjl@gnu.ai.mit.edu> wrote:
>
>I have been flamed on that by people like you from
>the Linux camp :-(. Someone has to do it. If not for Linux,
>your FreeBSD/ELF tools may not like what you have today.
>I thought FreeBSD might be fun. It seems that I was wrong :-(.
>
Don't give up on FreeBSD.  Anyone (competent) is welcome to work on it.
Alot of problems sometimes get started by people saying things that can be
construed as advocacy for "the dark side, whomever that is", and causing
responses to that, as opposed to responses acknowleging a request for
cooperation to contribute.

Most FreeBSD developers are (very) easy to work with.  I strongly suggest
an open comment to the FreeBSD-current mailing list after you have started
running it (it is very easy to get running, approx 1/2Hr of work.)  You
will find people that will fairly aggressively try to get you involved.  This
happens all of the time with people who are advanced users, researchers and 
developers.  (Sometimes we make mistakes though.)

Note that the USENET is NOT the primary communications mechanism for FreeBSD
development.  The mailing lists seem to pile about 200-500 messages a day
into my mailbox (of course you and others might read a subset of those
lists that I read.)

Advocacy seems to take ahold once in a while, usually after a troll.  I am
not saying that you had trolled, but there are those that regularly do.  Note
that when some person over in a Linux newsgroup made insulting comments about
the state of the library support on Linux, I almost started coming to your
defense.  It just was not my place to comment on the situation, because I have
little but negative standing in the Linux camp (I don't like GPL at all.)
AFAIK, you will likely find people who would advocate your help in the FreeBSD
project, if you give them a chance.

John
dyson@freebsd.org