*BSD News Article 5478


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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!uunet!ogicse!decwrl!pa.dec.com!vixie
From: vixie@pa.dec.com (Paul A Vixie)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: Catch What They're Saying About Us...
Message-ID: <VIXIE.92Sep23102423@cognition.pa.dec.com>
Date: 23 Sep 92 17:24:23 GMT
Article-I.D.: cognitio.VIXIE.92Sep23102423
References: <19oe23INNqh0@agate.berkeley.edu>
Sender: news@PA.dec.com (News)
Organization: DEC Network Software Lab
Lines: 41
In-Reply-To: wjolitz@soda.berkeley.edu's message of 23 Sep 1992 00:34:11 GMT

(open letter to Lynne Jolitz)

> It's pretty amazing what's being said about 386BSD and
> the people who've worked so hard on it.

Something comes to mind about people and glass houses, Lynne.  You and Bill
have said a lot of very biting things about BSDi, and true or not, you look
pretty blood-thirsty and vindictive.  When I stop reading in the trade press
about how you and Bill are the good guys and BSDi are the bad guys, I will
have a lot more sympathy for your understandably negative reaction to all the
biting and unfair things they're saying about you over in the Linux group.

> Since I'm not one who likes to let disinformation be the order of the day,

Whether an assertion constitutes "disinformation" or not depends on the context
of the listener.  I agree with your categorization of some of the Linux folks'
comments as "disinformation" -- but this probably won't help you think of me
as a friend or ally, since I also categorize some of your comments about BSDi
as "disinformation".  

386BSD is good stuff.  BSDi is also good stuff.  There are some good people
contributing to each.  Both will have a huge effect on the BSD universe.  But
watching you and Bill and BSDi this last year or so, I wonder if the Rebels
could have blown up the Death Star if they had also been busy fighting among
themselves.  The Linus thing that's going on is a continuation of the same
stupid battle.  386BSD isn't the enemy.  Linux isn't the enemy.  BSD/386 is
certainly not the enemy.  CSRG isn't the enemy.  I'm not sure why we need an
"enemy" at all, but if there is one it's not any of the above-named folks.

> My hope is that competition and open discussion/debate, handled in a
> professional manner, might promote a lot of new ideas, especially regarding
> optimization of the system. We could all benefit from a bit of critical
> thinking.

Charity begins at home.  Am I now to expect that your future criticisms of
BSDi will be "handled in a professional manner" ?  Would that it were so!
--
Paul Vixie, DEC Network Systems Lab	
Palo Alto, California, USA         	"Don't be a rebel, or a conformist;
<vixie@pa.dec.com> decwrl!vixie		they're the same thing, anyway.  Find
<paul@vix.com>     vixie!paul		your own path, and stay on it."  -me