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Ex-Novell CEO praises FreeBSD
There are a number of interesting things to take from this article. It's unsurprising that an ex-Novell CEO does not want to use MS software after the way Novell were treated by them, it is mildly surprising that he hasn't chosen a Novell, or other 'industry standard' solution.
Encanto's choice of FreeBSD over Linux is also interesting. Naturally, we all know that FreeBSD is the best choice (heh heh heh :-)), but Linux (or Solaris) would be the anti-MS knee jerk choice. Using FreeBSD suggests that they've actually investigated the different OS choices open to them, and chosen one on merit -- or that the first SA they hired preferred FreeBSD over Linux.
As ever, the media have got the licensing issues wrong. One of the key things about the BSD license is that you don't have to contribute enhancements back to the original codebase if you don't want to -- of course, that doesn't stop many companies from doing so anyway, because it's better business sense in the long run.
Having looked at the Encanto web site, and the products they're selling, the license may very well be the key issue. They sell network appliances -- plug and play web servers, that sort of thing, and the ability to make proprietry changes to the code base to support their product (and enhance their product's value) without having to disclose those changes is probably key to their business plan.
This is quite similar to the approach taken by Whistle and their Interjet devices. Whistle have been the classic example of a company which has contributed code back, even though the license doesn't force them to -- typically 6 to 12 months after they've deployed it in their product, and reaped the commercial benefit. This lets them recoup their development costs plus profit, and lets the rest of the community benefit from (and extend and support) the code later on.
Finally, CBS's phrase, "so-called open-source software" should get them a stiff letter from ESR...
And that's no reflection on ESR, either. The media really should concentrate on ACCURATE reporting, and leave pulp fiction to paperback writers.
Getting back to the OS used, for a moment, I'm also finding it interesting that they went the FreeBSD route. Of course, the best OS depends on the tasks they want to do. The best hammer will never make for a usable chisel, and both make for horrible screwdrivers. The fact that they chose FreeBSD over Linux, OpenBSD and NetBSD says either something about the attitudes involved OR the needs.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Whistle could keep their code to themselves -- certainly a number of companies have done that when it comes to BSD-style licenses. Still, they gave it back to the community. The only stipulation was that the community had to wait a little while. I have no problem waiting 6 months (or even a year) to use a companies add-ons. If they're not useful after a year, then they probably weren't that important to begin with.
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
WHERE'S MY RELISH!!!?!?!
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
It's most likely because someone's experimenting with colour in the Slash code, and it's colourising all the stories.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Why is this on the frontpage of slashdot? There have been better posts in the bsd section than this one.. and he mentions BSD so little (and incorrectly) its only significant that at least the guy has heard of it and seems impressed. Guess he must really like those sysadmins and developers working under him, who decided on freebsd over linux..
"Open Source?" - Press any key to continue
It's the BSD section's new colors. You'll note that Ask Slashdot, Apache, BSD, Radio, and YRO all have their own schemes now (Ask /. and Radio has had them, but the others are rather recent).
ufdraco
Hmm... According to Netcraft :
"www.encanto.com is running Microsoft-IIS/3.0 on NT4 or Windows 98"
So, what does that tell us? Just a marketing effort trying to jump on the bash-Microsoft bandwagon, I'd say.
red and gold...YUM! NOTE: it's spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-S, you yankees
I love the new colors!
PS Why are you still using Middle English? Just kidding!
Even better, one of this company's main products is their own Web Server, and they're still using IIS. Ahhh comedy, thy name is Slashdot! ;-)
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Here's why:
Linux is under the GPL. We hate the GPL.
Linux is technically inferior to BSD. Linux is an SVR4 clone. It has a poor development model. Just a few reasons why this will never happen.
Furthermore, BSD isn't fragmenting the UNIX community, Linux is. BSD was in widespread usage before Linux. The real UNIX fragmentation problem is the absurd number of Linux distros, which, despite what some Linux folk say, have very significant differences. Also, we're not 'splitting tasks'. Hardly anyone develops specifically for BSD, in fact, we suggest that they develop for Linux, since we can run the binaries natively, and port the source fairly easily.
I'm really getting sick of the Linux mentality that we need a gleaming, one world OS. The world needs different OSes, because every OS sucks at certain things, and they're always going to. The Open Source movement is about MORE decisions, not less, and the more choices we have, the better.
-lx
If so, it's pretty apropos.
/. is color coding stories from now on, we need a poll!! :)
But if
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
The fact that he's using an open source OS is good, and smart. But I've said this before and I'll say it again: If this guy were in a position to create a monopoly, he would, just like Gates. Most businessmen are ruthless enough. Thats how business works, and thats why we need the government to keep monopoly power in check.
Novell, netscape, and any number of other companies got beat up by the bully, Microsoft. Now that the bully is falling down, the executives are flexing their ego's and trying to get their "self-esteem" back. Other than the fact that choosing an open-source OS is a Good Thing, this is nothing more than ego flexing.
Someone call Crayola! That would be a cool name for them to add to their collection! :)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Read the FOF if you must know. Microsoft threatened to cut off licensing to OEM's who preloaded NN. They paid OEM's to break their contracts with Netscape. They threatened IAP's who distributed NN. They paid IAP's significantly to not distribute Netscape, and only promote IE.
Basically, they bought, bribed, and buried all Netscape's distribution channels. Without OEM's and IAP's licensing Netscape's browser, Netscape didn't have the cash to continue to innovate. That's why 4.7 is a lot worse then IE 5. Remember 4.x is basically 2-3 year old technology now. That's like comparing a '97 model Chevy to a 2000 model Ford. And again, why wasn't Netscape able to keep innovating? Because Microsoft cut off their ability to compete, and stifled their freedom of innovation.
Consider it another way. Before the internet became a big shopping mall, publishers had to sell their books through stores. Imagine if you were publishing books on computers and I was. But books on computers were your only topic and you were well known for them. I decide to get into the computer field too, but although I'm a big publisher in other fields I'm not a big publisher in the computer field. So bookstores won't carry my books, because yours are much more popular.
What do I do? First, I sell my books at cost. (IE = $0) That helps, but its not enough. So then I go to all the big chains and say, "Look, if you carry my computers books I'll pay you $10 million dollars to market the books." There's a catch though. They can't sell your books. That helps, $10 million dollars is a lot of money and they can't afford to let competing bookstores out spend them.
But some of the largest bookstores are still holding out and selling your books. Your books are hot sellers after all, and they can afford to budget another $10 million to compete with the other bookstores. So it's time to pull out the lethal weapon. No one buys any of my books unless they also exclusively sell my computer books. The last of the large bookstores find that they have to give in because without my other books, your books just aren't enough to continue making a profit. So they give into my demands.
What's more, people aren't buying your books anyways, because only really small shops are able to carry them anymore. So it's more important to sell my other books which people would go to other stores to buy, then sell yours, which aren't sold buy big book sellers.
Your sales dwindle from millions to a mere few hundred thousand. What's more, you no longer are able to pay writers and spend money on good publishing, so your books slide to a mere shadow of what they were.
However, any intelligent consumer can see that I didn't do any damage to you at all. After all, just compare the books in question.
Right?
Hopefully, in this imaginary scenario, you've been able to discern what was Netscape, and IE, and Windows. It shouldn't be too hard now.
-Brent--
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
C'mon, surely you could've found something which did a better job of promoting a *BSD than this article -- the guy was bordering on knowing nothing about it.
Heh, how'd you do that to the colors, anyway? They're making me hungry. :)
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
I had mentioned that the other day. It turns out all the color changes have to do with special sections. For instance FreeBSD has the colors you see now. Look at the comments for one of the YRO articles and you'll see some other colors.
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