On Sun, 23 Nov 1997 14:02:36 -0800 (PST) 
 "Gerald C. Simmons" <simmons@darykon.cet.com> wrote:

 > Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought both the Linux and Free-BSD
 > projects were also volunteer work. Why does that give us the right to NOT
 > support something and call it CRAP!

...and someone who had one of these devices took the time to write the
driver for those operating systems.

One thing about a project like this... Someone with the hardware has got
to write the driver, or be willing to donate or loan the hardware to
someone who is willing to write the code.

The reason for this is because, since we're volunteers, we don't have
endless funding source to buy hardware to write drivers for.

Now, some of us _do_ do NetBSD for a living (I essentially fall into this
category), and _are_ funded to work on the system.  However, while I do
have some flexibility in what I work on, there are other things that
have priority, because they're the things that are important to those who
are footing the bill.

The fact that floppy tapes are not supported is in no way an official
statement from the NetBSD Project that such devices are "crap" and not
worth supporting.  Furthermore, whenever someone calls such a device
"crap", they are expressing their own personal opinions about the devices;
everone is entitled their own opinion.  For example, I personally consider
PCs to be "crap", but you'll note that NetBSD still runs on them :-)

 > Here's the CRAP thing again! Don't you see how destructive to the NetBSD
 > project this kind of an attitude is?

Again, he is expressing his personal opionion about that type of device.
If someone posted "I think floppy tapes are crap" to a FreeBSD list, would
you consider that attitude "destructive to the FreeBSD project"?  What
about a Linux mailing list?

Now, having said all of that...

I would be willing to help you make the floppy tape work under NetBSD.
I cannot write the code for you (lack of time, lack of hardware, and loaning
me a device isn't going to solve the former :-) ... I can, however, answer
questions for you, and describe various pieces of the puzzle.  This is an
important aspect of free software - users get involved in the development
of the system.  You essentially have a wide-open opportunity to make a
major positive contribution to the project.

Jason R. Thorpe                                       thorpej@nas.nasa.gov
NASA Ames Research Center                            Home: +1 408 866 1912
NAS: M/S 258-6                                       Work: +1 650 604 0935
Moffett Field, CA 94035                             Pager: +1 415 428 6939