On Sun, Jan 06, 2008 at 12:56:08AM +0000, Rui Miguel Silva Seabra wrote:
No this is bullshit. OpenBSD does not recommend proprietary software. We
have a repository of software that is legally redistributable and that
users can install from, but it is a convenience and not a recommandation.
No it is not, it is based on my and other people experiences.
There are many businesses that rely on gcc because it is the only good
compiler for the architecture they need to cross compile to. Switching
to another compiler is hard because it either isn't good enough, does
not cross compile to that arch, or costs lots of money.
If they have to chose between keeping Windows, which is not centric to
their business, or keeping gcc, upon each they heavily rely, they will
have their developers switch to linux or any other system JUST to keep
their compiler. Most people need their work done prior to any other
consideration.
No, it can range from money reasons to features reasons. gcc is probably
the only compiler that *every* coder knows about and it has features
that are not easily found in other compilers if you leave the road of
regular-every-user usage.
It looks like you never had a job ...
Most people need their work done and use a computer to help them doing it,
if they use a system that prevents them from doing their job, they switch
to another system that lets them do so. If you were my employee and you'd
come to me saying that you can't finish the work because OpenBSD does not
have a feature that Linux has, yet you refuse to use Linux, I'd sack you.
And i'm not a Linux fan .. at all.
I did not do anything to help her get rid of her dependency on proprietary
software, this is not my goal. My goal is that I can run OpenBSD on my
desktop as the main system without preventing her from doing her account
balances, refilling her proprietary ipod, checking her mail on hotmail and
chatting with her friend on proprietary msn. It turns out that most of this
works but her flash experience is awful, that's why I add a dual boot so
that if she needs to do something that isn't working properly under OpenBSD
she can use a tool that's better fitted. I have my computer usage and goals
while she doesn't care and just wants things to work.
Hopefully not. OpenBSD/Linux is not the right tool for her.
Well, I know of people that will switch system because they want their
hardware fully supported, and others that don't. This is a personnal
call. I am writing this from a desktop that has two wide screens, two
graphical cards, yet I don't dual screen because it would require me
to use a blob under Linux. I accept to not use my second screen for
now until there's a solution to this.
Nope, they are not the same. We do not care our users using proprietary
software if it helps them do their work, we don't care if a company takes
our code, modifies it, and does not gives us back the changes. We do what
we do because we love what we do, not to change the world, not because we
believe that code has to be ethical (I still don't get what that means).
Most users aren't irritating :-)
--
Gilles Chehade
