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From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix (was Re: The Lai/Baker paper, benchmarks, and the world of free UNIX)
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 1996 13:22:56 -0700
Organization: Me
Lines: 48
Message-ID: <31700D20.6BB4FBF1@lambert.org>
References: <4ki055$60l@Radon.Stanford.EDU> <jdd.829261293@cdf.toronto.edu> <bnelsonDpqpz3.M1D@netcom.com>
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Bob Nelson wrote:
[ ... a free commodity OS ... ]
] Wouldn't such a plan really only serve to ultimately destroy unix? Is
] not one of its primary strengths predicated upon the notion that unix
] is indeed not _meant_ to appeal to "most users"? The use of Windows and
] other Microsoft platforms by some should be of no concern to the unix
] community.
I wouldn't put it like that.
I would put it as "design decisions are intended to be on the basis
of technical merit, not increased marketability".
This is an "if you build it, they will come" mentality, and is rarely
justified in reality -- what happens instead is that that the lack
of "them" beating down your door is intentionally misinterpreted as
"they are clueless, we are better off without them".
Marketability is an issue, or there wouldn't be cross posted OS
comparison flame wars.
Unlike computer geeks, marketing geeks rarely "hack" on their day
off.
There is some merit to the idea of a free commodity desktop OS,
but there are a lot of technical issues in the approach the free
OS's take in problem solving and administration that would have
to be resolved before it could happen.
I question whether it's possible, in an environment where the
work is done "because it is fun", to easily include work that
isn't fun, even if it increases marketability. To do so would
probably requie arranging participation requirements to put the
"less fun" work in as a requirement for doing the "more fun"
work in the first place. This is certainly possible, but it
is inarguable that it would decrease casual participation.
Terry Lambert
terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.