Subject: Re: BSD == NIH
To: Jay Maynard <jmaynard@texas.net>
From: John Nemeth <jnemeth@cue.bc.ca>
List: current-users
Date: 03/18/1999 20:53:25
On Mar 16, 10:36am, Jay Maynard wrote:
}
} The current discussion about how root must use csh because this is BSD is an
} example of the worst case of NIH syndrome I've ever seen. "If you want SysV,
} you know where to find it." Are all ideas that come from SysV necessarily
} evil?

     Nonsense.  I think that is the most appropriate answer.  There
are a handful of people that are continuously arguing for changes
which if they were all implemented would make NetBSD look an awful lot
like SVR4.  Things aren't necessarily evil just because they come from
SysV, but there are a lot of evil things in SysV including certain
things that a handful of people continuously whine about.  Personally,
I think it is the people with a SysV background that suffer from NIH,
since they are continuously whining about BSD/SysV differences.  One
of the big reasons I use NetBSD is because it is BSD; although, that's
not the only reason.  "If you want SysV, you know where to find it"
(and if you don't, that's your problem).

} I find it fascinating that folks can complain about not having much int he
} way of mind share for NetBSD in one breath and then defend doing things
} differently fromt he rest of the world just because SysV does it the other
} way in the next. There is, at least to me, a causal relationship here. The

     Wrong!  Most things that are done differently are done that way
because it's been done that way in BSD for a very long time and fits
in better (not to mention is quite likely to be better).

} world expects root to run sh out of the box, at least in part because when

     I'm part of the world, and I don't expect root to run sh out of
the box.  I find it damn annoying when it does.  There are a lot of
people that were born and raised on BSD.

} you *do* log in to root, you *must* have as high a possibility of winning as
} you can get.

     This statement is garbage and is nothing but flamebait.

} because I object to The One True Berzerkeley Way in some things? (csh is a

     Insults aren't going to help your case.

} Like it or not, the rest of the world is moving in a different direction
} from that historically set out by BSD. I'm not saying that you should "sell

     If you're only interested in following the pack, then why aren't
you running a version of M$ Windows?  The above statement is absolute
nonsense and has no business being in this argument.

}-- End of excerpt from Jay Maynard