Subject: An open letter to the open source community
To: None <netbsd-advocacy@netbsd.org>
From: Mike M. Volokhov <mishka@apk.od.ua>
List: netbsd-advocacy
Date: 07/08/2005 20:00:35
Hello!

While browsing various Open Source and NetBSD related materials for
advocacy, I've found interesting article, written by "Corporate IT
executives":

	http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2005/opensource/070405-what-users-want.html

"Comfortable with Linux, organizations look for new open source tools".
While reading the article, I just realize, that NetBSD already matches
all of these needs :-)

Let me *very briefly and incomplete* comment on them:

- More enterprise-class support. Please take a look to our long list of
consultants for hire: http://www.ua.netbsd.org/gallery/consultants.html.
Read the NetBSD flyer, section "Help is only an e-mail away!" at the
http://www.ua.netbsd.org/gallery/advocacy/

- Better documentation. The comprehensive set of manual pages is always
available and up to date (it's really amazing), the NetBSD Guide may
help with step-by-step procedures, all from the one source.

- A sense of stability. The stability, interoperability, and well
designed fashion are the primary goals for the project (from bylaws).
The NetBSD is extremely mature system, developed over 10 years, and any
changes always discussed very carefuly. "We won't disappear and leave
you alone or stop supporting your platform."

- Access to more platforms. Again, interoperability always were the
strong side of the NetBSD. Trough pkgsrc we made a lot of 3rd party
projects available on platforms, on which developers of these projects
has been never tried. NetBSD itself runs on over 50 hardware platforms.

- A commitment to stay open. From bylaws: "NetBSD [must be conformant]
to widely accepted industry standards, and provide compatibility with
popular system extensions, wherever is practical and does not unduly
compromise the other technical merits of the system." Moreover, there
are "no hacks, only solutions!" 

- A focus on the end user. Hmmmm... No comments :-) Someone?

--
Mishka.