On 23 Nov 1997, Matthias Scheler wrote:

: These devices are IMHO no good choice. They are slow, unreliable and not
: durable. And the medias are much more expensive like e.g. DAT or Exabyte
: tapes. So you should consider spending some more money for an SCSI
: streamer which you will regain sooner or later by saved mooney and time.

I'll try to restate the original request, again, even though I didn't
originally submit it.

<sigh>

NetBSD is living on user support in a world of hardware choices.  It's also
living in a world of _software_ choices.

People buy floppy controller based tape drives.  People buy parallel port
ZIP drives.  People buy IRQless proprietary scanner devices.  People buy
no-name "clone" sound cards.  People often don't know the difference in
quality until after the fact, and often don't have the money to invest in
the higher quality equipment. 

So people choose an OS which they understand, and one that supports or
promises to support the hardware they have already invested money in.  It's
a harsh thing to just tell someone to go blow smoke up their orifices (in a
more tactful manner, of course) just because he has already bought and paid
for a piece of hardware that's not top of the line. 

We want NetBSD to be popular, right?  Then we have to take the stance that
every piece of hardware, every user comment, and every possible
configuration is important, especially when a change in such configuration
can have a high price tag.  If you think a piece of hardware is ludicrous,
feel that way, and ignore the request.  Don't tell the user to go away. 
That's the kind of attitude stoking we certainly don't need. 

</sigh>

=====
== Todd Vierling (Personal tv@pobox.com; Business tv@lucent.com)
== Vierling's Axiom: The revolution won't be televised; it will be posted.