Re: Using a FreeBSD desktop was somehting about dog food

+1 nicely worded.

--- 
Dale Scott 
www.dalescott.net 
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/dalescott

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve O'Hara-Smith" <steve@sohara.org>
> To: "Dave Hayes" <dave@jetcafe.org>
> Cc: "questions" <questions@freebsd.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2022 1:37:28 PM
> Subject: Re: Using a FreeBSD desktop was somehting about dog food

> On Wed, 30 Mar 2022 11:54:45 -0700
> Dave Hayes <dave@jetcafe.org> wrote:
> 
>> Mostly, my intent in the initial response (in a fora where my responses
>> are met with the same old assumptions) was to point out the irony in
>> seeing topics pass by FreeBSD's forums wanting more people to use
>> FreeBSD, but then seeing topics wanting them to shut up and take what
>> they are given or be seen as rude. It is hard to believe that this ironic
>> conundrum, which has looped for easily 20 years, is not seen clearly, but
> 
>	That's because it is not an ironic conundrum but a complete
> misunderstanding of what the FreeBSD project members are likely to want.
> 
>> that is apparently the case. If you want more users, you would need to be
> 
>	They don't want more users who contribute nothing to the project.
> These are the price of finding what they do want or something like that.
> 
>> nicer to them and not call them rude for wanting their desktop to work.
>> If you want less users, you tell them to shut up and take what they are
>> given and if you are consistent in this then you refrain from complaining
>> about mindshare.
> 
>	They want more developers and contributors - people who write code,
> people who write actionable bug reports, people who write documentation,
> people who organise events, people who write concrete achievable
> proposals, people who keep ports up to date, people who answer questions in
> mailing lists ...
> 
>	The message isn't "Take what you're given" it's "If you want more
> then pitch in and make it happen - but first make sure that the rest of the
> project wants it too" - after all that's exactly what they did, why should
> they expect less of anyone else ?
> 
>	Oh and finally - you talk about desktops. There are no desktops in
> FreeBSD, there are no GUI applications in FreeBSD and there is no GUI in
> FreeBSD these are *all* third party applications that run on FreeBSD
> courtesy of the folks who look after their ports to FreeBSD.
> 
>	Complaints about them to the FreeBSD project are simply
> misdirected, try instead to engage with the relevant port maintainer (or in
> the case of the larger projects team) and learn something of their trials
> and tribulations dealing with the upstream developers whose goals may not
> include FreeBSD, or engage directly with those upstream developers.
> 
> --
> Steve O'Hara-Smith
> Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/