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lBSD_de - a german localization FreeBSD Project
Axel Gruner writes "A german BSD-Community, namely BSDForen.de, has officially anounced their new project "lBSD_de". "lBSD_de" is a modification of the FreeBSD 5.0-RELEASE Operating System to better fit the needs of German speaking users.
Another goal of the project is developing new features. Of course, whatever new there is will be passed to the FreeBSD-Developers to either implement it or drop it. That way, avoiding two FreeBSDs each with different features is guaranteed.
For further information, visit the project's homepage at http://www.lbsdde.de."
Another goal of the project is developing new features. Of course, whatever new there is will be passed to the FreeBSD-Developers to either implement it or drop it. That way, avoiding two FreeBSDs each with different features is guaranteed.
For further information, visit the project's homepage at http://www.lbsdde.de."
Since pf is going German (April 1st) you are good to go.
fp btw... woot!
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
[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
They'd create such for OpenBSD. Then, the Germans could just say "Heil Theo" instead of "Hail Theo". That's better for them.
According to this fresh item
"Software Industry is dead", i guess saying that "BSD is dead" is sort of redundant.
The big boys don't give a shit. Now fuck off!
I'm German.
:)
Actually, last time I set up an Outlook ExpreÃY
for a friend of mine, I was wondering what
"account" does mean on German. It took me a fair
amount of minutes.
I am explicitly against anglicisms in the German
language, and people know me as anti-USA, but I
think "use the right tool for the job" (yes, I'm
a BSD user...), so I don't have any German com-
puter programme any more except for WinZip, where
I have no crack for the English version
OTOH, I'm not using Windows for anything but
gaming any more, so I probably won't need it
anyways...
My Karma isn't excellent, damn it! (And
Could it be that development in another country fosters a better involvement with that nation's younger group of budding enthusiasts? I'm curious if anyone has seen such a thing.
Welcome aboard Ralf and Klaus!
Here is an idea: port the language of *BSD to that of the undead tongue. You'd get a lot more users!
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After reading that, I am truly ashamed to call myself human too. Because that would mean that you and I are on the same level.
And I do not want wo be that low in evolution.
These guys do localize important parts of the system (not everything) to ease freeBSD the entry of new user groups.
And all you can do is flaming about germans being nazis. With a world map in front you can't even tell where Germany is.
One of my grandfathers was shot by an american soldier in france - but I do not feel hate against the citizens of your country. What went wrong during your upbringing?
Back in the the days when i started working with computers 'nerd' had something to do with intelligence and education. This understanding seems outdated.
Nach dem ich das hier gelesen habe bin ich wirklich beschaemt mich auch Mensch zu nennen. Weil das wuerde bedeuten das ich auf der gleichen Stufe mit ihnen stehe, und ich will mich nicht so weit unten in der Evolution suchen muessen.
Die Jungs wollen freeBSD helfen neuen Benutzergruppen den Zugang zu erleichtern.
Und alles waa ihr abziehen koennt is braune Nazi Sauce auszupacken. Selbst im Angesicht einer Weltkarte wuesstet ihr vmtl nicht mal wo Deutschland liegt.
Einer meiner Grossvaeter starb durch die Hand eines US-Amerikaners in Frankreich, aber ich verspuere deshalb keinen Hass auf die Einwohner eures Landes.
Was lief falsch waehrend eurer Erziehung?
Damals, als ich anfing mit Rechnern zu arbeiten, hatte 'Fachidiot' etwas mit Intelligenz und Bildung zu tun. Diese Ansicht scheint veraltet.
Regards,
another coward
The record is clear on one thing: no operating system has ever come back from the grave. Efforts to resuscitate *BSD are one step away from spiritualists wishing to communicate with the dead. As the situation grows more desperate for the adherents of this doomed OS, the sorrow takes hold. An unremitting gloom hangs like a death shroud over a once hopeful *BSD community. The hope is gone; a mournful nostalgia has settled in. Now is the end time for *BSD.
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 [samag.com]
in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to
be a Kreskin [amazingkreskin.com] 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
Whatever you do don't mention the War.
ARGH
Is this just mature of translating the basic setup or is there something more fundimental of changing setups so the default is for Germany (phone codes etc?)
Rus
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I want to wish a hearty Heil Hitler to all fellow BSD users in Germany. Zieg Heil !
Get lost, spammer. Or go spam those creepy Germans.