Re: Slow DOWN, please!!!

David Newall
2008-04-30T13:28:47Z

Tarkan Erimer wrote:
> I completely disagree with your foolish and nonsense comments about
> the Linux Kernel and the Linux OS. It's perfectly clear that you
> didn't understand well enough how the linux development process works.
> If you thought that the recently released kernels are not stable then,
> you have to wait the 2.6.x.y series or you can use the distro kernels.
> All of your comments are pointless and no base. You are free to choose
> BSD or whatever you want to use. No one is putting a gun on your head
> to use Linux :-)

The problem is not exactly faults in recently released kernels, rather
that introduction of faults is common when it should be rare, and
kernels are released as stable when they are fragile. Ignoring a
problem, and not caring if they migrate to BSD, is foolishness. Of
course you don't want people to migrate to BSD, so don't pretend that
you don't care.

> Do you think really think that BSD license is more free as making a
> fool of you ?

It is a matter of transparent fact that BSD's licence is less
restrictive than Linux's. Whether that is desirable is not something
that need be discussed at this juncture. My point in raising BSD was
that, from a commercial point of view, BSD is attractive in a way that
Linux is not. The many commercial vendors who have been taken to task
for not honouring their GPL obligations are strong demonstrations of
that. Do not pretend that Linux is sacrosanct. BSD would be an easy
swap for vendors should Linux gain a reputation for poor quality (and it
already runs Linux applications.)

Reputations snowball. By the time anybody notices that a good one has
become tarnished it could be too late, and take too long, to rectify.
I'm sure somebody else observed approximately this just yesterday, so
it's not just me, is it?

I won't champion this because it's unimportant to me. Linux's quality
problems are not my problems. I do what I can to help Linux, but I'm
not religious about operating systems and I know that good, free
operating systems will continue to thrive, even if Linux's dies, just as
they did before Linux was born.

Ignore the problem, even shoot the messenger, if you like; or be adult,
consider the proposition dispassionately, and take steps from there.

I've said my bit, in fact more than I wanted to, so I choose to stop here.