FreeBSD gear (Clothes, machines)

[Matt Olander]

Sorry for the top post but I only have some quick comments ;-)

Great post, Allen. I'm glad you had a good experience with the mall,
Allen. In fact, you are correct, we also host the Slackware site/store
for Patrick and handle all the production details and shipping
logistics. It's better for everyone if Patrick can focus on what he
does best, which is continuing to develop one of the few linux distros
that we'll recommend and support for linux users.

The mall is a division of iXsystems and we try and contribute back to
FreeBSD in a variety of ways. You can see from the Foundation sponsors
page that not only does the FreeBSD Mall contribute but iXsystems
contributes separately as well (and some of the employees
individually, too!):
http://freebsdfoundation.org/donate/sponsors.shtml

We also do other things like establish a FreeBSD presence at
tradeshows, sponsor specific development projects, employ a few people
to work on FreeBSD, etc.

Keep enjoying the best operating system on the planet and spreading
the word like you have been!

best,
-matt

PS - I love my BSD boxers :-D




On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 1:23 PM, Allen <GedankeZauberer at comcast.net> wrote:
> I'm wondering how many people here buy FreeBSD stuff. Like for example, I
> have a FreeBSD teeshirt, a pair of FreeBSD boxers (very comfy by the way)
> and I also purchase a lot of the things I find about FreeBSD because, quite
> frankly, the quality of products are very high, and I think Patrick
> Volkerding of Slackware Linux said it best when he said "If you're trying to
> learn Linux / Unix, just read the BSD stuff, it doesn't have the PR crap
> most Linux tech stuff has and gets to the point". I think he's mostly right
> about that. If you've ever tried reading over some of the Linux stuff other
> than Slackware, Debian, and some of the SUSE stuff, you've probably noticed
> it's mostly PR and not very technically and leaves you wondering sometimes
> why there aren't as many answers. You read FreeBSD, and they have the PR
> stuff in the PR section, and the tech stuff in the part it should be.
>
> I think Slackware and FreeBSD must be pretty close; when I made an order of
> a Slackware 4 CD-ROM set and a Slackware Mouse Pad, I also the same day
> ordered a FreeBSD mouse pad, a FreeBSD CD-set, and a copy of EACH of the
> FreeBSD books you can get on the FreeBSDMall page (It was a big order, I got
> one of every book they sell except for the third edition of "The Complete
> FreeBSD because I already had it, so I bought the newer one available) and
> for the FreeBSD stuff I paid for overnight shipping. I hate waiting a week
> to get stuff and I really wanted to see what was in the books and see what
> the CDs were like, so I decided I'd try overnights.
>
> I was also not planning on waiting forever for my Slackware Store order
> either and got second day shipping. I was shocked to see that 17 hours later
> a huge package was on the porch with not only my FreeBSD stuff, but the
> Slackware stuff too, in the same box. I only paid overnight on BSD, but got
> Slackware too. It's like it came from the same place and they noticed I had
> two orders and paid more for faster shipping.
>
> I also noticed that the Slackware CDs and FreeBSD CDs look a lot alike, and
> that the Slackware Book is a lot like a FreeBSD book (Font and all that are
> very similar). Are the Slackware store and BSD Mall in the same place?
>
> Anyway, I love the books I got. I've read a lot of BSD stuff like NetBSD and
> OpenBSD, but I've always been very partial to FreeBSD which is in my eyes
> the better choice. That's why I'm on the Advocacy Mailing List, I like
> spreading the word.
>
> I actually got a phone call the day after my order came from a woman asking
> of my order arrived OK, because she said one order had come back and they
> were checking to see if it was mine, so I went over what I ordered with her
> and she was actually shocked to see how much money I spent and I almost
> chuckled because it's no where near the first time. I basically said "Hey,
> as long as some of this gets back to the people who make FreeBSD and it
> helps them in some way I'll keep making orders of this size. Of course
> you'll need new products, but I don't mind helping financially when I can".
>
> I'm sort of wondering how much of any given order gets back to the people
> who make FreeBSD, and spend their time doing it. I read somewhere it was a
> certain percent, so I'm Hoping they do get something back.
>
> I'm a persona who stands by what I like. I take crap for it sometimes, we
> all do or will when we believe in something. When I was in college a few
> years ago and my Professor was teaching Linux, I made sure my class saw how
> neat my SUSE, Slackware, and FreeBSD installs looked and how easy they were
> to make things happen.
>
> I also got my teacher to talk about BSD a little more to show everyone there
> were choices. I also made a card on the board that showed how to do things
> in BSD VS Linux since there are a few differences here and there.
>
> I tried to get a BSD class for the school, but my teacher admitted I knew
> more about it than he did as he learned his Unix skill on HP-UX and I have
> always been a more Linux / BSD guy. I wear my Slackware shirt and my FreeBSD
> tee, and my Slackware and BSD buttons, and I spread the word to people I
> think may try it out.
>
> I also help out with tech stuff in my local area, and I'm also one who
> offers to install FreeBSD, for free, to anyone who wants.
>
> Basically, I do actually go out and not only promote FreeBSD, I help make it
> happen, and I'm more or less wondering what other things people on here do
> to get the word out.
>
> As Marshall Kirk McKusick said "The Linux guys go out there and they do
> things and they have more market share, and I think it's important we do the
> same". I'd love to meet him, he's great. And a damn good speaker. :)
>
> -Allen
>
> PS; not to sound weird, but does anyone here have any neat hardware
> configurations? Like a machine running FreeBSD that has like CD/DVD/Tape
> /Cool hardware you're proud of? Thanks!
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