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No Logo Wins FreeBSD Foundation Contest

Posted by timothy on from the naomi-klein dept.

RJPDeanLO writes: "The FreeBSD Foundation logo contest has ended with no winners! Check out their statement on the site. To support FreeBSD ... I'm hoping that we can all get a second chance at it. Please reopen the contest!"

50 comments

  1. duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fix that link...

  2. link is broken by swright · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know I'm going to get modded down for this but the link in the article is wrong.

    http://freebsdfoundation.org/

  3. Or try this one by g1zmo · · Score: 1

    How about this statement instead?

    The other one is boring. 404 blah blah blah.

    --
    I have found there are just two ways to go.
    It all comes down to livin' fast or dyin' slow.     -REK, Jr.
    1. Re:Or try this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is there a page of entries?

  4. Sorry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The requested Comment (Slashdot post) was not found.

  5. Good job on the link by gmhowell · · Score: 4, Funny

    'Editor' One who edits.

    'Edit' To prepare (written material) for publication or presentation, as by correcting, revising, or adapting.

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    1. Re:Good job on the link by Hard_Code · · Score: 2
      What is your problem with that link? If you bothered to scroll to the bottom you'd see:
      The FreeBSD Foundation logo contest has ended.
      We received 106 entries altogether. Many thanks to all of you who took the time to participate! The entries were very creative and showed a lot of design talent. Unfortunately, there was no entry that spoke to us as the logo we should use. So for now, the FreeBSD Foundation will remain logoless.
      --

      It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
    2. Re:Good job on the link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're late.

    3. Re:Good job on the link by cjpez · · Score: 2

      When the story was first posted, the link looked like <a href="blahblah.com">, as opposed to <a href="http://blahblah.com">. When you clicked on the original version, you then went to http://slashdot.org/blahblah.com, instead of http://blahblah.com like you wanted to. The story has since been fixed.

      --
      Al Qaeda has ninjas!
    4. Re:Good job on the link by gmhowell · · Score: 2, Troll

      When the story first appeared (I believe my comment was the fifth for the story) the link was: /freebsdfoundation.org. It was corrected without the editor making note of the fact that there was an error in the original story.

      I'm not the only one who noticed. This person, this person, this person, and this person all noticed the problem. Funny thing is that I have seen a story or two on Slashdot complaining when other news cites change stories without indicating it.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  6. Give us a Logo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FOR THE LOVE OF GOD - let the free bsd foundation have a logo. Please, please, please reopen the contest. How can you close a contest without picking a winner? Think of the humanity.

  7. No REAL answer on the site by ip_vjl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We received 106 entries altogether. Many thanks to all of you who took the time to participate! The entries were very creative and showed a lot of design talent. Unfortunately, there was no entry that spoke to us as the logo we should use. So for now, the FreeBSD Foundation will remain logoless.


    This is the type of critique that will drive a designer insane. Most artists are used to taking criticism (at least ones with actual art training) - but it's very difficult to take "no direction" criticism, as it leaves you with no way to improve your work.

    Instead of saying none of the entries were "it", they should be saying WHY none of the entries are acceptable so that future designers will have some idea what to do so as not to make the same mistakes apparently made by the first crew.

    Sounds suspiciously like "we each had our favorites, and couldn't reach a consensus."

    1. Re:No REAL answer on the site by dohcvtec · · Score: 1

      Am I to assume you are one of the artists, and they did not give you any feedback on your submission? Otherwise, note well that it would be impractical for them to display all of the submissions, much less a critique of each. I'm also a little curious as to why there weren't any real standouts, but I'm not surprised they'd be tight-lipped about it.

      --
      -- Never hit a man with glasses. Hit him with a baseball bat.
    2. Re:No REAL answer on the site by EvlG · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think the poster wanted in-depth criticism of all the submissions, rather, SOMETHING to go on.

      Saying "we didn't like any of these" is of no use.

      However, saying "we didn't like them because they looked too much like our competitors, lacked distinctive design elements that evidenced what FreeBSD is all about, and were in general too plain" is at least slightly more useful.

      At this point, it is impossible for any of the original artists to improve their submission and try again, even if the contest were still open. The whole thing became a 'skeet-shoot' where FreeBSD Foundation yelled "PULL!", a bunch of artists threw out submissions, and every one was shot down without any comments.

    3. Re:No REAL answer on the site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Looks more like a diplomatic "good god, you all SUCK!!!"

      The couple dozen I saw looked like amateur fingerpaint day in the Photoshop Barn.

    4. Re:No REAL answer on the site by ip_vjl · · Score: 2

      Actually, I was *not* one of the artists who submitted. I bookmarked the submission site, but forgot about it until it had already closed. If they were still looking, I would consider making a submission, but without any direction it would most likely be a waste of time.

      This was the nature of my post. Unless they can give a general idea of what was wrong, or what they're looking for, I don't see how ANY artist could provide something. It's a total shot in the dark.

      In the design world, their response is the equivalent of filing a bug report that consists solely of "I got an error." Unless you can be a little more detailed, there's really nothing that can be done to help.

    5. Re:No REAL answer on the site by mph · · Score: 1
      Otherwise, note well that it would be impractical for them to display all of the submissions, much less a critique of each.
      Why? Displaying them would be trivial using any of several thumbnail gallery generators. Writing brief critiques would take time, but far less time than the artists invested. If they planned to reap the benefit of all those artists' person-hours, asking for a small fraction of that in return seems reasonable.

      By the same token, if someone invests considerable time in a patch to open source software, we generally expect the maintainer(s) to either accept it or say more than "Your patch is unacceptable."

    6. Re:No REAL answer on the site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I couldn't agree more.. I actually was one of the submitters of a logo, and i feel a bit "cheated" by the FBSDF.

      Why? Because as a designer, i *do* rely on critique to make my work better; if not for that client, then for my own skill.

      When i submitted my logo entry, i received a nice email saying something to the effect of, "Looks great, much thanks!" The more i think about the email, the more i think that thats what was form-mailed back to everyone who submitted something (anything). In the least, they could have emailed everyone that submitted with a notice they aren't picking one, let alone a reason why...

      I also firmly believe that there should be a public poll on the logo.. While i understand that this is THEIR organization, they should be more open, especially being a NFP. C'mon guys! What gives??

      --
      ab2650

  8. Offtopic: Fellow BSD Users, Upgrade your SSH now. by zulux · · Score: 0, Troll



    Run *BSD? Chances are that your SSH *will* be comprimised sometime after tuesday.

    www.deadly.org

    Quick hacks to fix:
    filter out port 22 on your firewall.
    shut down sshd process.

    Proper fix:
    Upgrade to OpenSSH 3.3 and you *must* have privilage separation on. Then, after Monday, upgrade to the new OpenSHH that will be released.

    3.3 is only vunerable if pivilage separaiton is off. No true patches are being released as nasty-type people will be able to quickly find trhe vunerability by reading the patch.

    For your consideration:
    As a tempory hack, I ssh'ed into my servers, started Telnetd and loged into them via Telnet. I then killed telnetd, and kept my open Telnet connection. I've left these open telnet connections in case I have to manage my servers.
    I've firewalled port 22 from the outside and will upgrade the systems at my leasure when the new version of SSH comes out around monday or tuesday.

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

  9. *BSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    It is official; Netcraft confirms: *BSD is dying

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

    FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

    1. Re:*BSD is dying by slashtop · · Score: 0

      this seems stupid title, every live in the world is dying, it is always true, not just FreeBSD.

  10. Re:Offtopic: Fellow BSD Users, Upgrade your SSH no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ok, what if we run openssh on a linux box? are we still in danger of compromise? I imagine that linux machines would be more vulnerable due to their increased popularity over the BSDs. Of course, someone will want to be the first to claim ending on openbsd's four year run.

  11. Re:Offtopic: Fellow BSD Users, Upgrade your SSH no by zulux · · Score: 2

    ok, what if we run openssh on a linux box? are we still in danger of compromise?

    According to the scant information available, yes, Linux useres are at risk. Keep in mind, their warnings could also be a case where the OpenSSH people are telling people that every platform is at risk in order to not give nasty-people any additional infomration.

    I'd beleive the OpenSSH people at face value and upgrade myself.

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

  12. 106 entries! by TheBishop · · Score: 1

    It's their perogative not to pick a winner if they don't like them. After all, knowing this world 104 of them were of the goatse guy, 1 was the exisiting freebsd daemon with "I made this myself" in the email, and 1 of tux. I'd leave things open if that happened too.

  13. Insider's scoop: Why FreeBSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    The End of FreeBSD

    [ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]

    When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.

    Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.

    FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.

    It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.

    So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.

    Discussion

    I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.

    From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.

    There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.

    Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.

    Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?

    Shouts

    To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.

    To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. It's when you get distracted by the politickers that they sideline you. The tireless work that you perform keeping the system clean and building is what provides the platform for the obsessives and the prima donnas to have their moments in the sun. In the end, we need you all; in order to go forwards we must first avoid going backwards.

    To the paranoid conspiracy theorists - yes, I work for Apple too. No, my resignation wasn't on Steve's direct orders, or in any way related to work I'm doing, may do, may not do, or indeed what was in the tea I had at lunchtime today. It's about real problems that the project faces, real problems that the project has brought upon itself. You can't escape them by inventing excuses about outside influence, the problem stems from within.

    To the politically obsessed - give it a break, if you can. No, the project isn't a lemonade stand anymore, but it's not a world-spanning corporate juggernaut either and some of the more grandiose visions going around are in need of a solid dose of reality. Keep it simple, stupid.

    To the grandstanders, the prima donnas, and anyone that thinks that they can hold the project to ransom for their own agenda - give it a break, if you can. When the current core were elected, we took a conscious stand against vigorous sanctions, and some of you have exploited that. A new core is going to have to decide whether to repeat this mistake or get tough. I hope they learn from our errors.

    Future

    I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun. If I'm going to continue, it has to be fun again. There are things I still feel obligated to do, and with any luck I'll find the time to meet those obligations.

    However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political mess the project is in right now. I tried, I burnt out. I don't feel that my efforts were worthwhile. So I won't be standing for election, I won't be shouting from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in the next round of ballots.

    You could say I'm packing up my toys. I'm not going home just yet, but I'm not going to play unless you can work out how to make the project somewhere fun to be again.

    = Mike

    --

    To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand bythe president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. -- Theodore Roosevelt
  14. Some info. Re:Offtopic: Fellow BSD Users, Upgrade by RiC!N · · Score: 2, Informative
    There was a lot of discussion on the FreeBSD mailing lists, you may call it the "Theo show" with comments of the maestro himself. Check the mailing lists archives at freebsd.org (if updated already).

    Unfortunately, for FreeBSD-stable this means that they'll have to jump versions to openssh-3.3 most likely by using the openssh-portable port and introducing that into the base distribution. Work is already being done (notably by DES, one of the commiters, hats off!)

    Some people advised getting rid of the default openssh and installing the newer one through ports. Trouble is that the functionality that "separates privileges" is relatively new and has to be incorperated into -stable quickly now.

    Many people didn't like this especially because Theo's comments seem to indicate that the required fix in question is small and simple. And the new feature in openssh may only be *one* way to prevent said exploit from causing serious harm. That's something entirely different from an actual fix of course. So some folks felt that they were being dragged into a major version bump maybe unnescessary.

    Consider for example that OpenBSD doesn't use PAM while FreeBSD does use it (extensively), and you can imagine a bumpy ride on -stable soon.

    I don't mean to take sides or something, just let you know what's going on.

  15. 106? WTF? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

    They got 106 entries and not one was worth using? You've got to be kidding me! Are BSD supporters really that uncreative or is BSD way too anal? Either way it doesn't bode well.

  16. Where are the entries? by Foozy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Can't they be put up online and let the people decide?
    If not, why not?

  17. Run the contest again by RJPDeanLO · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It is a shame there were no winners. I hope they reopen it and display all the entries again. This way all of us can see what was entered and maybe that would guide us on creating bigger and better logos? I already have an idea to out do my entered logo :) Please re-open the contest FreeBSD Foundation. We want to show our appreciation to the foundation and to freeBSD itself!

  18. A logo speaks a thousand words? by atcurtis · · Score: 1


    Perhaps they wanted a more "businesslike" logo rather than the cutesy FreeBSD Daemon that we all know. Linux has somewhat succeeded with it's penguin mascot...

    What might be wanted is a logo which may be put on letterheads and correspondences - sans mascot.
    I am no graphic artist so I cannot submit a usuable entry but if all the hundred or so submissions featured the mascot, I might choose for no winner. The FreeBSD foundation can become a very important and serious entity and as such it deserves a serious logo.

    All said, some of the "new and better" logos which many high profile companies have changed to lately strike me as silly and pointless...

    See PriceWaterHouse ==> "MONDAY"

    Or the obsurd new BP "Sunflower" logo.

    The British Telecom logo... What was wrong with the old one?

    Branding is an important issue and maybe the judges wanted a logo which could become a brand symbol which is recognised and respected.

    Examples of brand logos which people recognise (and don't have sillyness in their logos, nor the company name) in no particular order

    1. Chevron
    2. Nike
    3. Pepsi Cola
    4. Apple Computer
    5. Mitsubishi

    ...

    Hmm... Run out of things to say.

    --
    -- The universe began. Life started on a billion worlds...
    -- Except on one where stupidity was there first.
    1. Re:A logo speaks a thousand words? by RJPDeanLO · · Score: 2, Informative

      You make a very good point atcurtis. If they want a "serious" logo ... then they just need to let us know. :)

    2. Re:A logo speaks a thousand words? by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      See PriceWaterHouse ==> "MONDAY"

      My fave was mens clothiers Hart Shaffner and Marx going to HartMarx. HartMarx sounds like a heartworm pill.

    3. Re:A logo speaks a thousand words? by elmusafir · · Score: 1

      Forgot to mention: * Communism (Hammer & Sickle) * National Socialism (Gamma Cross - Swastika) * Christianism (Cross - Fish [Ictios]) * And many other non-registered trade marks with cool & easily recognizable symbols and/or logos. Hey, if FreeBSD gets something like that.... But I just like Chuck!

  19. Re:Offtopic: Linux Users, Upgrade your SSH now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quick hacks to fix:
    filter out port 22 on your firewall. shut down sshd process.

    Proper fix:

    Upgrade to OpenSSH 3.3 and you *must* have privilage separation on. Then, after Monday, upgrade to the new OpenSHH that will be released.

    3.3 is only vunerable if pivilage separaiton is off. No true patches are being released as nasty-type people will be able to quickly find the vunerability by reading the patch.

    Seeing as it just came out, I doubt very much whether Linux would be considered "secure" in this respect either. Face it, when a new hack is released, it takes a little while for the various releases to get up to speed, be it *BSD or Linux or MicroSloth (although MS seems to be a lot slower).

    Besides which, the new OpenSSH does not address any *specific* hack, its simply to make OpenSSH *more* secure than it was. This is not to say that it was insecure in any specific way, just that through privelege seperation it can be made *more* modular and easier to validate for security and less chance of any hole that *is* found being used to hack root.

  20. I must be confused... by lostchicken · · Score: 2

    ...but if I am, surely others are too. Isn't the "Devil" logo FreeBSD's?

    --
    -twb
    1. Re:I must be confused... by codemachine · · Score: 1

      I think they want a logo for the FreeBSD Foundation, not the OS itself (which uses the devil as a mascot/logo).

    2. Re:I must be confused... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish they would get rid of that devil mascot. There is no way I could ever get FreeBSD installed in my church (the biggest Baptist church in Garland). We have more members than some towns have people. I do have my own scripture based qualms about the devil logo, but for the time being I'm still using FreeBSD. I may have to find an alternative if I can't come to terms with the offensive mascot.

    3. Re:I must be confused... by Kingfox · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unless you're using the graphical Daemon screensaver, where the hell are your Baptists going to see the cute little guy? Don't leave manuals with the daemon on the cover out, don't leave CD jewel cases with the daemon on them out, instead use burned copies.

      Seriously, I've been running FreeBSD, and the only times I see the mascot is when I put him someplace.

    4. Re:I must be confused... by lobos · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's a daemon, not a devil. It's quite different. There's nothing bad about daemons whatsoever. A daemon (in the way FreeBSD uses it) is not the common definition of demon most go by but "a supernatural being of Greek mythology intermediate between gods and men." From the FreeBSD Handbook, "Daemons were characters in Greek mythology; neither good or evil, they were little attendant spirits that, by and large, did useful things for mankind. Much like the web servers and mail servers of today do useful things. This is why the BSD mascot has, for a long time, been the cheerful looking daemon with sneakers and a pitchfork."

    5. Re:I must be confused... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A thoughtful reply, but it doesn't matter. The first time one of those Texas Baptists sees a "demon" on the church's computer all -- well, you know -- will break loose. Images of a daemon are just a covert way for Wiccans/Satanists/liberals to infiltrate the church.

    6. Re:I must be confused... by thogard · · Score: 1

      Maybe when they get a logo, they will have two versions and a script to change one to the other like the network tool "satan" wich would rename it to "santa" or some such thing.

  21. Re:Some info. Re:Offtopic: Fellow BSD Users, Upgra by essdodson · · Score: 1

    The 2.9 version in 4.6 is not vulnerabe to this attack. I see no rush to upgrade other than Theo trying to push FreeBSD into the mix in order to keep OpenBSD from being one of the few that are affected. Really lame if you ask me.

    --
    scott
  22. Re:Some info. Re:Offtopic: Fellow BSD Users, Upgra by RiC!N · · Score: 1

    I agree, and IIS' early disclosure may have been provoked by this (not that I have a lot of respect for their behaviour lately).

  23. Go choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure the artist put a lot of effort into it, but there really wasn't one design that I would have chosen for a logo.

  24. *BSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    It is now official. Netcraft confirms: *BSD is dying

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

    FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

  25. Re:I must be confused... QWZX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So I take it you don't have any "Dirt Devil" vacuum cleaners at the church?

    Boy, that really sucks. (heh, get it?)

  26. Dangerous worm attacking FreeBSD systems! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Warning! Dangerous worm attacking FreeBSD systems! BSD sytems threatened
    The worm is thought to be capable of spreading only to Web servers running the FreeBSD operating system, an open-source variant of Unix, that haven't had a patch applied for the recent flaw. Although few home users have reported the worm, it is thought to be infecting vulnerable Web servers worldwide.
    This worm is only a threat to *BSD systems. *sigh*
  27. Whoa by sulli · · Score: 2

    Scared me for a minute. From the headline, it sounded like the incredibly annoying No Logo had won! Thank the Lord that's not the case.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  28. Almost always a mistake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most people have no sense of aesthetics whatsoever. They might vote for a logo because they like Elvis or Smurfs or something - which has nothing to do with the vision that the foundation had in mind.

  29. Announcement. by Icephreak1 · · Score: 1

    I have but one thing to say:

    BSD IS DYING.

    - IP