SPAM: Score 2.0: RE: Explaining FreeBSD features

[Johnson David]

From: Ted Mittelstaedt [mailto:tedm at toybox.placo.com]
>
> You see, the problem is that FreeBSD is not a general computer
> operating system product.  It is a very specific product in fact.

I have to take exception to this, and your amplification of it later on.
FreeBSD is a very general operating system. It may not fill the "newbie" and
"casual" ecological niches, but it fills so many others that you can't
consider it specific. Despite protestations to the contrary, FreeBSD does
make a good desktop and workstation. It might not be suitable for a newbie's
desktop, but it's been working just fine as my desktop for several years
now. For a corporate office with a dedicated systems administrator, there's
nothing at all stopping a successful rollout of FreeBSD on the company
desktops.

You are telling us not to get confused by the -use- of a system, but you're
making a very similar mistake getting confused by the -users- of a system.
What makes a system general or specific is its functionality and
accessibility.

You've split users up into two broad categories, those who are "very
knowledgeable", and those who "barely know how to push a button." Are you
saying that FreeBSD is unsuitable for "moderately knowledgeable" people? If
so, I had better stop using it. What about people who are only "somewhat
technical" but who are willing to read the documentation when they get
stuck?

> You need to really understand intimately how FreeBSD works
> and how computer software that runs on it works in order to
> get it to work well enough for you to learn intimately how it
> works.

I have absolutely no idea how the ULE scheduler works or what the heck a
"giant lock" is that everything is trying to get out from under. Does this
mean I shouldn't be using FreeBSD?

David