Re: Different OS's? Marketshare

From: Anthony Atkielski (atkielski.anthony_at_wanadoo.fr)
Date: 02/23/05

  • Next message: Anthony Atkielski: "Re: Different OS's? Marketshare" 
    Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 21:24:36 +0100
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org

    Andrew L. Gould writes:

    > You can still find FreeBSD at Fry's Electronics and MicroCenter. I
    > don't know if CompUSA still carries it. I have mixed feelings about
    > FreeBSD 5.0-5.2.1 being sold in the retail market.

    How so? Seems like it would be a good idea to me.

    I see that one can still order 5.3 over the Internet. Since I burned my
    own CDs I don't necessarily need it (although a more permanent CD would
    be nice), but if I did buy it it would be mostly to support the project
    (provided that the project got the money).

    > I see no similarity between Microsoft and Open Source OS vendors on
    > either of these points.

    Perhaps the similarities will become more obvious with time.

    > Let's face it, without commercialism, Linux development would not have
    > benefited from the likes of IBM or HP. Likewise, without
    > commercialism, there would be very few, if any, *BSD or Linux
    > developers performing open source development for a living. The money
    > has to come from somewhere.

    True. It's virtually inevitable.

    > Fourth, I appreciate all the hard work that goes into developing and
    > packaging an operating system and its related applications. I am happy
    > to pay for the convenience of an operating system on a DVD. It's only
    > fair that the vendor be able to recover cost. If earning a little
    > profit motivates them to continue providing a great service, all the
    > better.

    Fine. Except that distributors are barely doing anything more than
    repackaging someone else's work. They didn't write Linux. 

    -- 
Anthony
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  • Next message: Anthony Atkielski: "Re: Different OS's? Marketshare"

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