Re: Debian/GNU Freebsd
On Fri, Feb 19, 1999 at 05:51:12PM -0800, Joseph Carter wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 19, 1999 at 12:55:05PM -0600, David Welton wrote:
> > > Um, as I said the reason I was told to expect direct attempts to
> > > sabotage the effort is the GPL. Most BSD people have a problem with
> > > the GPL and the GNU software. NetBSD people seem to have a problem
> > > with the GPL and anything not part of 4.4BSD being part of the
> > > "operating system" release.
> >
> > This sounds pretty paranoid to me. Do you have any authoritative
> > sources for why these people are going to try and wreck other's work?
> > That's a nasty accusation that ought to be backed up with more than "I
> > was told ...."
> >
> > It's pretty obvious that they probably wouldn't lift a finger to
> > actually *help* us, but I'm not sure that means sabotage
>
> Only a handful of URLs containing list and newsgroup archives I was
> looking through... The NetBSD people have been somewhat outspoken in
> strong opposition to Linux and the GNU project in general. They don't
> seem to like us much.
Well, since I don't like conjecture much, especially about such
vitriolic accusations, I went and actually asked them. On their
-advocacy list, nonetheless (these lists tend to be a magnet for
flames).
http://mail-index.netbsd.org/mlist/netbsd-advocacy/1999/02/
While they don't really seem to see a great deal of sense in an
endeavour like this (and I'm not sure I disagree), all of them were
quite courteous and reasonable. One guy (a user, not a developer)
even seemed to kind of like the idea.
Hardly the band of depraved fanatics that you paint them as.
> Nothing concrete that guarantees sabotage, bot a lot that indicates they
> would break compatibility in a second without regard for our project.
*Linus* would break compatibility in a second, if he thought it were
the *right thing*. He has done so in the past:->
> More than just a little suggests they would be happy to break
> compatibility with us just because they can and quite possibly will.
> Add the NetBSD/OpenBSD events to that (personal issues or not) and
> yes, I believe I can safely say we should expect even open sabotage
> if we try to use the NetBSD kernel.
I think these sorts of mostly baseless accusations are a bit
embarassing.
--
David N. Welton | Fortune rota volvitur - descendo minoratus
davidw@prosa.it | alter in altum tollitur - nimis exaltatus
http://www.efn.org/~davidw | rex sedet in vertice - caveat ruinam!
www.debian.org - www.prosa.it | nam sub axe legimus - Hecubam reginam
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