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Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.questions:5043 comp.os.386bsd.misc:976 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!horse.ee.lbl.gov!torek From: torek@horse.ee.lbl.gov (Chris Torek) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions,comp.os.386bsd.misc Subject: Re: A merge of FreeBSD and NetBSD? (Another person's opinion) Date: 13 Sep 1993 00:11:03 GMT Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley CA Lines: 27 Distribution: world Message-ID: <33840@dog.ee.lbl.gov> References: <MYCROFT.93Sep11213749@duality.gnu.ai.mit.edu> <haley.747858702@husc8> <kaleb.747863404@kanga.x.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.112.15 In article <kaleb.747863404@kanga.x.org> kaleb@expo.lcs.mit.edu (Kaleb Keithley) writes: >What this all boils down to is, it's way too early to talk about merging the >varieties of <xxx>BSD. Or maybe you think the world would be a better place >if we could go down to the CheChryForVolksRenVolvFiatToyDatHon dealer and >buy a homogenousmobile? Actually, the latter might well be true. People like to talk about how those outside the computing field work woth modular, interchangeable parts (`stand on each other's shoulders') while those in computing work with against each other (`stand on each other's toes'). This simply is not true. Just try buying a replacement window crank handle for your car---assuming it has a crank handle. Heck, if you want confusion, look up the NEMA standards for power connectors. Even once you pin down the voltage and number of phases, there are still half a dozen varieties to choose from. :-) (There are good reasons for that, as well as bad ones, but never mind that.) We get in trouble when the competition/cooperation ratio gets too seriously out of balance. Too much competition leads to confusion and incompatibility; too little leads to inflexible, insufficient, and/or over-expensive systems. The decisions people make as to how much competition is `right' are partly a matter of taste, and there is certainly a workable continuum. -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Lawrence Berkeley Lab CSE/EE (+1 510 486 5427) Berkeley, CA Domain: torek@ee.lbl.gov