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- Path: sparky!uunet!sun-barr!ames!agate!overload.lbl.gov!lll-winken!snll-arpagw!hwstock
- From: hwstock@snll-arpagw.llnl.gov (stockman harlan w)
- Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386
- Subject: Re: Price of X (was Re: PC-Clone UNIX Hardware Buyer's Guide)
- Message-ID: <280@snll-arpagw.llnl.gov>
- Date: 20 Jul 92 20:19:15 GMT
- References: <1992Jul09.155001.23344@sco.COM> <PAX.92Jul11150823@ankh.ankh.ftl.fl.us> <609@zok.sgcs.com>
- Organization: Sandia National Labs, Livermore, CA
- Lines: 43
-
- In article <609@zok.sgcs.com> mark@zok.sgcs.com (Mark W. Snitily) writes:
- >
- >Usenet is a very funny place. Ever since January when I was flamed to
- >a crisp for getting Intel support (i.e. X386) included in the official
- >public X11R5 distribution and then having the audacity of starting a
- >commercial venture with Thomas Roell that provides state-of-the-art X
- >support for Intel boxes, I've been intentionally quite on the net.
- >Now when a correction is posted and it gets (mildly) flamed, it just
- >makes me wonder. You know, I won't be the least bit surprised that,
- >one way or another, SGCS will be flamed for contributing to X11R6.
- >Funny place this usenet...
-
- The "free-or-not-at-all" attitude in usenet surprises me sometimes. Most of
- the folks in the sysv386 group have ponied up a lot of money for basic Unix
- hardware and software -- yet many shriek and cry foul when entrepreneurs like
- Roell and Snittily try to make some money off their efforts.
-
- I spent $300 on Snittily's binaries for gcc, X11R5 -- and most important --
- Roell's newest 8514a server. The money was well spent; the 8514a server made
- X11 go from pain to pleasure. Mark was courteous, helpful and prompt in
- replying to my questions.
-
- It takes a lot of mettle to be an independent computer consultant-- the hours
- are long and the pay is rarely (consistently) good. Every hacker thinks he/she
- can do a better job, and the liability for failing to anticipate an obscure
- hardware or software configuration can be substantial. Look how much people
- have whined because Roell failed to include every conceivable VGA card in his
- PD X386 server.
-
- Many of you are "poor students", and are understandably concerned about
- forking over so many bucks for software. Someday you will be gainfully
- employed, and will probably think twice about giving away your services for
- free. The reality is that after you spend the bulk of the day earning a
- living-- and numerous hours in the evening and on weekends trying to keep a
- few steps ahead of the competition -- you will probably have little energy to
- contribute great quantities of free software for the indifferent masses. There
- are anomalies -- like Richard Stallman -- but the anomalies usually live in
- extremely artificial university environments, subsisting on a hidden overhead
- of public and government support (and Stallman will still charge you at least
- $100 for an tape of emacs alone -- good for him). Internet itself is an
- artifice -- it is free because big government decided to shore it up.
-
- So please, give these guys a break. Would YOU do it for free?
-