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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!uunet!usc!news From: merlin@neuro.usc.edu (merlin) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: 4.4BSD-alpha CDROM Date: 11 Jul 1992 20:20:25 -0700 Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Lines: 57 Sender: merlin@neuro.usc.edu (merlin) Message-ID: <l5v97pINNrtd@neuro.usc.edu> References: <2278@nic.cerf.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: neuro.usc.edu Keywords: cdrom In article <2278@nic.cerf.net> richter@nic.cerf.net (Adam J. Richter) writes: > CSRG is supposed to release the 4.4-alpha tape in the next >week or so. To raise money, CSRG is going to charge $1,000 for a >tape, and they've asked a number of major FTP sites not to make the >tape available for a while so that companies will actually buy it. > On one hand, there seems to be a consensus on this group >that additional funding for CSRG would be money well spent. On the >other hand, I suspect that there are a lot people who would like >to get the 4.4-alpha distribution, but who cannot justify spending >a thousand dollars for the tape. Frankly, I don't like the idea at all. o My primary job is as a PhD Graduate Fellow in the USC Neuroscience Program. My alter ego is as Principal Investigator of an unfunded research and development project trying to bring better technology in the form of three dimensional image processing tools and robots to the world of stereotaxic neurosurgery. I am very interested in the freely distributable version 386BSD as a platform for low cost distributed faculty workstations and embedded robotics controllers. However, apart from personal funds (about $900 after tax currently devoted to mandatory fees, rent, food, and daily expenses) I don't have $1,000 for the CSRG tape -- or -- $100 for the Richter CDROM (plus another $500 or so for the CDROM player and SCSI controller). o CRSG has done a lot for the free 386BSD distribution. If they promised to put out a complete working free source code version of 386BSD together with documentation within some finite time in exchange for their 'suggested donation' then I might feel a bit better about not being able to get my hands on the updated sources for a short time. But, if on the other hand, there is no such promise -- plus -- the prospect that they will also ask for an embargo on the free 386BSD source code distribution when it is finally available, then I think the embargo is a bad idea. o Substantial value could be added to the CDROM (if it happens) by bundling in copies of the sources and binaries for the application software and development tools which have been ported to 386BSD. While I can't afford to acquire the CDROM drive + CDROM right now, I would feel better about the embargo and CDROM arrangement if it meant I could get a snapshot of a substantial pile of compatible software which would save me time and effort as well as disk space. In short, I'd rather see 386BSD remain 'freely available' without any embargo period. I believe the proposed embargo sets a bad precedent. However, if the rest of the world thinks the embargo is a good idea -- then at least the value of the required CDROM could be enhanced with copies of substantial volumes of additional usefull software. Alexander-James Annala Principal Investigator Neuroscience Image Analysis Network HEDCO Neuroscience Building, Fifth Floor University of Southern California University Park Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520