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FreeBSD Foundation Needs Cash For 501(c)3 Status
ashpool7 writes "In an *extremely* late announcement, the FreeBSD foundation has posted in their quarterly newsletter that they're $30,400 short on donations in order to prove that they're a non-profit charity (501(c)3 as they say). If your organization relies upon FreeBSD, it might be a good idea to see if you can scrounge up the $8,000 maximum donation."
I love FreeBSD as much as the next guy, but this isn't the most reassuring thing to see when you need to convince your boss that a project is well managed and likely to stick around.
I've had this sig for three days.
I think they should return the $15K that is putting them over the limit. If they want more money, they should try managing it better.
-- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
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 reanimate the corpse 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
I just gave all my money to some guy named Seth - he promised to give to the Thunderbird developers...
Well, that and the fact that I don't actually use FreeBSD.
Why are we looking to an "organization" (aka, corporation) to bail out FreeBSD? Why not have individuals contribute? I sent $100 to the FreeBSD Foundation via PayPal this morning.
$100 is nothing to "pay" for the dozen or so releases I've used in the past four years. I also subscribe to FreeBSD releases, even though I might never remove the wrappings from the CD cases.
I know the FreeBSD community will step up to the plate in the last 10 days of 2004 to help the FreeBSD Foundation meet the IRS' tax rules.
Helevius
They were successful in getting $187k in 2003, and yet somebody didn't look ahead enough to see the coming crisis? Every other year they have raised less than $20k, so this looks to be a failed attempt.
On the other hand phk can raise tons in a short while, so maybe there is reason for optimism. I like the *BSDs and applaud the cross-pollination.
I really like the Java progress, in spite of SUN.
FreeBSD is bleeding developers all over the place. If you read some of the writings about the justification for DragonFlyBSD, you'll notice that everything they've said about FreeBSD is coming to pass. FreeBSD is not that nice.
OpenBSD is the most secure OS. NetBSD is the most portable. DragonFlyBSD has the best theoretical architecture, but Linux is the best desktop, and there are distributions of Linux right now that rival the BSDs' strong points--except for DragonFlyBSD's. Portage is better than the ports system, and other distributions have binary packages pretty well covered (looking at you, Slackware). At this point, about the only reasons one could claim for choosing FreeBSD over Gentoo are the use of PF, the kernel architecture, or personal preference.
I'm typing this from a FreeBSD computer right now. FreeBSD-5.3 is rock solid, meaning that it's just as solid as Linux, but FreeBSD will die if nobody is left to make changes to the kernel.
I wouldn't invest in FreeBSD if it was a company.
I just donated $300.00 via paypal. For the number of machines I have FreeBSD running on that's a very reasonable price to pay.
"I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, *BSD will die."
"No, no," said Scrooge. "Oh, no, kind Spirit! say it will be spared."
"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If it be like to die, it had better do it, and decrease the surplus operating system population."
Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief. It was sad to see any operating system die, even one so obviously flawed and useless as *BSD.
God bless us, every one.
So you need to have an income, of domations, in the thousands-of-dollars range per quarter, in order to qualify for 'not-for-profit' status?
*clears throat* WHY?!
I would think that their lack of monetary influx sort of makes the point for them; not-for-profit. Do they qualify for not-going-to-break-even status, atleast?
Informatus Technologicus
Go Tell It on the Mountain (traditional)
Go tell it on the mountain
o'er the hills
and everywhere
Go tell it on the mountain
that *BSD is dead
I, for one, welcome our new Antichrist overlord.
FreeBSD:
FreeBSD, Stealth-Growth Open Source Project (Jun 2004)
"FreeBSD has dramatically increased its market penetration over the last year."
Nearly 2.5 Million Active Sites running FreeBSD (Jun 2004)
"[FreeBSD] has a secured a strong foothold with the hosting community and continues to grow, gaining over a million hostnames and half a million active sites since July 2003."
What's New in the FreeBSD Network Stack (Sep 2004)
"FreeBSD can now route 1Mpps on a 2.8GHz Xeon whilst Linux can't do much more than 100kpps."
NetBSD:
NetBSD sets Internet2 Land Speed World Record (May 2004)
NetBSD again sets Internet2 Land Speed World Record (30 Sep 2004)
OpenBSD:
OpenBSD Widens Its Scope (Nov 2004)
Review: OpenBSD 3.6 shows steady improvement (Nov 2004)
*BSD in general:
..and last but not least, we have the cutest mascot as well - undisputedly. ;)
Deep study: The world's safest computing environment (Nov 2004)
"The world's safest and most secure 24/7 online computing environment - operating system plus applications - is proving to be the Open Source platform of BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) and the Mac OS X based on Darwin."
NetBSD is the most portable.
No it isn't
After I read the comments here, I didn't feel so bad not having much to donate. I encourage everyone to support FreeBSD by making a donation. As the other posters have pointed out, every donation is important to keeping the ratio in check so it doesn't matter if you can only give $10 or $20.
Of course you mourn the demise of *BSD. It's only natural. Dealing with the death of an operating system close to you can be one of the most traumatic experiences of your life, and you're bound to go through a range of emotions. While you may be able to work through those feelings on your own, it's often helpful to talk to a friend, a family member, or a counselor. You might also seek out a support group for people who are grieving.
Grieving is a process, and it's totally normal to go through feelings of shock, sadness, anger even guilt. The healing process is different for everyone. It might take you six weeks to move on, or it might take you six years. Don't beat yourself up because you're not "over it" yet. It takes time to heal wounds.
So what else can you do to feel better? It might sound corny, but try writing a letter, making a collage, or planting a tree in memory of the operating system you've lost. Remembering and celebrating all the good things *BSD brought to your life might help give you some closure, and having a keepsake to honor *BSD may help you get through some tough times in the future when you'll be missing it.
It's true that life won't be the same without *BSD around. It may seem like you'll never feel better, but eventually you will. Take some comfort in the old saying, "Time heals all wounds," and remember that *BSD will always be with you in your heart.
While we are on the subject, OpenBSD is also looking for donations (around $20,000) to organize their anual hackathon, a one week meeting of most OpenBSD developers.
See Theo's mails to misc@: (1) and (2)
At the risk of being modded down... WHY!?! Why do they need more money to say that they don't make money!?!
Funny, Mike Smith is now a senior kernel developer at Apple working on their FreeBSD-derived kernel, and Apple is hardly dying.
FYI: FreeBSD is hardly dying too.
Nearly 2.5 Million Active Sites running FreeBSD
Make point, back it up with evidence anyone can look up, get modded flamebait.
/.
This must be
FreeBSD has proven invaluable to our company -- we really couldn't live without it. Release after release "just works" for years at a time without hands on attendence and the baby-sitting other systems seem to need. I'm not sure I can get the company itself to make a donation before new years, but we'll be a donor next year!
This crutch and vacant stool have become orphans, not unlike the now dead FreeBSD. No longer will FreeBSD hobble about on its cripple's crutch. Like the empty hearth, and the vacant stool, FreeBSD lies cold and still. FreeBSD's corpse, lifeless beneath frozen earth and December snows, will see no more Christmas cheer. No, there will be no Christmas ever again for FreeBSD, for FreeBSD is dead.
Goodbye, FreeBSD. The pain of life forever stilled, sleep for all eternity in that long winter's nap. Fade gently into Earth's frozen bosom where in dreams even cripples walk and blind men see.
If you donate via PayPal, please provide a "shipping address." FreeBSD Foundation treasurer Justin Gibbs has to mail a paper receipt to every contributor, per IRS rules. If you don't give him a "shipping address" at PayPal, he has to email you and request an address. He told me he is dealing with a "flood of donations missing address data."
Helevius
I will donate them iff FreeBSD OS is very clean (= not dirty), doesn't crash, has not oldest-newest bugs and doesn't depend on Unix-&-others Licenses-copyrighties to profit.
open4free ©
Is that you Matt Dillon.
fuck off, hawkins.
n/t
[n/t]
I checked the website and it says they are 87% of the way, which translates to $27K from 556 donors, which equals about $50 per donor.
Shouldn't be surprising to have that many satisfied users who want to continue using a grest OS.
IT is noticable to see what the power of many can do.
Now, what will the foundation do? This is mroe money than they raised this entire year, so lets see some real accomplishments. For all the knocks OpenBSD takes, they really have made some great progress with their hackathons, why not spend some of the $227K they now have to get a real hackathon sponsored?
Then FreeBSD's SMP support either isn't that bad or isn't that relevant in most scenarios, since the hosting professionals keep choosing it.
Nearly 2.5 Million Active Sites running FreeBSD
It's from june 2004. One year before it was 1.5 million (1 million less).
>If they hadn't used the 5.3 RCs, they'd be accused of intentionally using old versions that had inferior SMP support.
This is simply a silly assumption.
That was hardly flamebait. FBSD is just now starting to get acceptable on 2 way machines for typical server tasks. They have a good long way to go before they are "good". Linux and Solaris (and even NT) have been there for years.
Indeed that post was hardly flamebait, but it was also hardly relevant.
Everybody knows that FreeBSD has points of weakness (SMP support now is far from optimal) along with many points of strength (see the Network Stack link in the first post in the thread, and how in that case FreeBSD's performance excels compared to Linux): but this has hardly anything to do with the "BSD is dying" FUD that has been circulating for some years, and that the first post in the thread was about.
you mean only 3.8 organizations are using it?
I've misread the numbers here, sorry: actually, one year before it was 2 million (.5 million less). It "only" had a 25% increase. :)
Doesn't Yahoo use thousands of FreeBSD machines for their game servers and such? They could donate big time.
According to the Foundation's page they are "87% of the way to $32,000 2004 small ( ;)
Thanks to everyone that has help and the rest... what are you waiting for today ??
Helevius
Is a charity. Passes the duck test.
Now when scoundrels argue with a charity, or costs a charity legal expenses, the public gets very cross indeed.