Re: I can't believe this
On Wed, 10 Mar 1999, Ed Cogburn wrote:
> I don't see Deb spending a lot of time playing politics. I don't
> see Deb developers spending a lot of time on other mailing lists
> or newsgroups proselytizing Debian over other dists. For the most
> part, we do our thing, and let word-of-mouth bring new people to
> Debian. Whether Debian can survive the long run with just
> word-of-mouth promotion is an open question, though.
I see a lot of squabbling on debian-devel and there is doubtless more
unseen in debian-private about political issues from every conceivable
angle. It can sometimes account for a full day's traffic. Is that energy
wasted? I think it is to varying degrees. Debian will sometimes get so
bogged down on an issue the rest of the world doen't give a rat's pair of
hips about or on someones novel interpretation of what they think
something in a license might mean if looked at from some goofy angle. But
that is part of what makes Debian Debian.
Red Hat sees its job as being the definition of Linux. When someone
thinks Linux, you are supposed to think Red Hat. They do not particularly
CARE if it is GOOD Linux but that it is THE Linux. I can't find the
article that appeared in the past several days but it is the one comparing
Red Hat with Heinz ketchup.
They are a business. That means their goal is to sell things that people
want (or convince them they want it) and make money. Their goal is to make
the average person who has NEVER tried Red Hat before and is not much of
an internet junkie grab the Red Hat box when they go to the computer
store for the first time to buy Linux.
What WE need to do is emphasize that nobody ever gets fired for thowing
away Red Hat and upgrading to Debian.
Reply to: