Reading this mail I regret ever coming up with an idea for a kernel API.
If not having this means this guys don't use NetBSD thats fine.
I try to imagine he finds a compatibility problems later on in some snapshot
of -current ... I guess the mail would be all caps.

Sorry Dennis, but I haven't read any constructive request from you.
I do understand that a piece of hardware this days comes partialy in 
software (this will increase eg. softmodem etc.) and that you don't
want to publish that software and some(most) of the interface specs.
(I don't agree!! but I do understand)
But this can be easily converted to an object module plus some source 
as glue (most commercial unixes are delivered this way) without giving
away your secrets or your HW-specs.

(But than you should sell at all, because there are disassemblers and
 nerds able to use them).

In message <199810271146.LAA09488@etinc.com>  Dennis wrote:
> At 08:13 PM 10/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
> 
> No, but you are demonstrating your lack of understanding, as are most
> of the other people in this camp. Any company that tries to make every sale
> to every potential customer regardless of their requirements doesnt have
> a marketing plan worth implementing. If you can do without frame relay, 
> bandwidth management, dont need higher density or load balancing or
> a more powerful user interface, then you aren't a candidate to use our
> product. We move on to the next customer. 

Oouch, as we don't sell NetBSD and as a group don't buy a thing this
threat is hollow ...
On the other hand, try running FreeBSD on an Alpha ...

> 
> Even if we did supply source, you wouldnt pay my prices, so you'd still use
> the inferior product. It comes down to whether or not we want to sell shopping
> cards to winos and we dont...because they just steal them from the
> supermarkets
> anyway. We dont sell bare-bones products.

I hate marketing speech in technical discussions, the other products are not 
inferior per se, they are different and serve slightly different needs.
I you think they are than prove it with technical points.
Talk like that comes usually out of some Redmond guy pretending knowledge ...

[... more nonsense deleted ]

> Most of our customer base are BSD/OS and NetBSD convertees. 
> 
> If your needs are basic products with source, then you have answered my 
> question about porting to NetBSD. Clearly you dont
> *need* what we have to offer, so we'll focus our efforts elsewhere. Its much
> easier for use to support 1 or 2 O/Ss and convert people then it is to support
> more.

What I heard about your company, from people who tried your product and run
a 1 day hack from me now instead, we don't to loose to much support here ...

Stefan

> 
> Dennis
> 

--
Stefan Grefen                                Tandem Computers Europe Inc.
grefen@hprc.tandem.com                       High Performance Research Center
 --- Hacking's just another word for nothing left to kludge. ---