Why FreeBSD not popular on hardware vendors

[Charlie Kester]

On Thu 11 Dec 2008 at 11:32:57 PST prad wrote:
>>
>charlie, i think the point of that page is indicated here:
>"Here are some examples of the environments in which FreeBSD is used"
>
>these are examples of freebsd's versatility, which is not the same as
>saying freebsd is ubiquitously versatile.
>
>admittedly the stuff in red:
>"FreeBSD is an operating system that will grow with your needs."
>could be interpreted as the "all things to all people" and i think does
>may be make a case for providing 'more', but i think that's something
>best left to be explained by the people at the helm of the ship.

I was searching for a statement of FreeBSD's *goals* and came away with
the impression that it's trying to be a general-purpose operating
system.  

Goals are one thing.  How much progress you've made toward meeting your
goals is another.  This thread has been about some things FreeBSD still
needs to do in order to meet what do seem to be, after all, some of its
goals.

Wojciech seems to be denying that FreeBSD has any such goals that
require these changes.  But his argument implies that FreeBSD is some
kind of special-purpose OS with a limited target audience.  I don't
think that interpretation is supported by the way FreeBSD is presented
on its own website.

But I admit, I'm still rather new to FreeBSD.  Perhaps I've
misunderstood what it's all about.  So I'll leave my question about its
goals as one for the more experienced members of the list to answer.  If
I've got it wrong, I hope they'll correct me.

>and the key point is perhaps right here: "FreeBSD users are quite proud
>of not only how fast but how reliable their systems are."
>
>so whatever else, i think this statement is certainly something we can
>all agree on.

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree.  I don't ever want the speed or reliability
of the OS to be compromised by anything that is done to meet its
remaining goals.