On Sun, Oct 06, 2002 at 10:54:29AM -0400, Robertdkeys@aol.com wrote:
  | So, for the sake of discussion, can we needle
  | the programmersourcetreeguruboyz to add some
  | real tape install bits to NetBSD?  Pleeeeeze?

[This is a more generic "rant", not directed at you per se...]

I think "needle" is the wrong term here, people ...

Consider this: most of us work on this stuff as a volunteer effort.
It's our spare time donated *freely*, so we generally work on the
stuff that we like doing.

This is one of the reasons that "boring" stuff like doing releases or
writing installers often only gets done by people who are motivated
by the almighty $$$...

Usually those who are paying $$$ for stuff usually want it for more
modern and common systems, which explains why "i386 CD-ROM installs"
usually work better than "VAX tape installs".

I.e, being a "vocal end-user of NetBSD for obsolete hardware" by itself
doesn't necessarily get things done, because the developers who are
working on these platforms are doing it for nostalgic or "love" reasons,
and the worst way to motivate someone is to yell or complain...

This said, as end users with access to the full source, if you come
up with fixes or improvements that cleanly integrate with the way that
We Do Things On NetBSD, and/or you can (positively) motivate a developer
to take up your cause, then chances are that your feature will appear
in a future release.


(I'm flummoxed as to why some end users of open source software
think it's OK to constantly criticise the software.  I suppose
it's easier being a critic than a creator...)

Luke.