Advocating BSD
– or any other system, idea or product for that matter –
Note: the text below is taken from Advocating OpenBSD. I only changed and added a few lines myself. I guess 95% remained original text.
Both OpenBSD and FreeBSD are my operating systems of choice. I want to have many people use it, if only because then it has a higher chance of surviving. Many people want the same thing, and some of them are actively telling about OpenBSD and FreeBSD to other people, often in public newsgroups. This is advocacy, and it’s one good way to spread the word on OpenBSD and FreeBSD.
Unfortunately, some of these people seem to suffer from what has been called the Amiga syndrome: whenever anyone discusses computers, the stereotypical Amiga user will always claim that the Amiga is a better, faster, cheaper, more user-friendly computer than any other, ever, and any opposing view is treated as treachery, oppression, and a declaration of nuclear war. Some *BSD users are using the same tactics. They make both themselves and their preferred BSD flavor look bad. I’d like to stop this by making a few suggestions for advocating your favorite BSD flavor better.
Stay calm. There’s no reason to get excited. If someone says something about your BSD flavor that you don’t like, so what? It’s just computers, it’s not important. Read again.
Don’t take it personally. Even if a BSD flavor is your dream system, there’s no reason to be offended if someone points out problems with it (even if you wrote that part of the BSD flavor, which you probably didn’t). It’s not a statement about you personally. If they flame *BSD users, they’re idiots and you should ignore them. They’re probably just trying to get some attention.
Ignore flame baits. Like I said, some people just want attention. They enjoy starting long flame wars by cross-posting something insulting to several unrelated groups (e.g., both to Linux and OpenBSD groups). Don’t respond to these posts. It isn’t productive. If you’re not convinced, see it this way: either they’re just trying to get people angry or they will stick to their standpoints and won’t ever be convinced by someone telling otherwise. In neither case it’s worth to react to those people.
Stick to facts. If someone says something wrong about your BSD flavor, reply with the correct facts. Make sure they’re facts, though, not just something you heard about. Facts, not opinions. Don’t spread lies or rumors. Check your facts. If you don’t know how to do that, then perhaps you shouldn’t take part in the discussion, except perhaps by making questions. Even better, give references so that other people can also check the facts.
your BSD flavor is not flawless. It has bugs, including design problems. If someone points out something that is wrong with your BSD flavor, acknowledge it and do something constructive, like forward it to the proper maintainer or fix it yourself. Find a workaround. Write a summary of the problem and make it publically available. Don’t just whine.
Don’t flame other systems. Perhaps Linux does crash more often than your BSD flavor (although I have no hard data on this, just anecdotes, so I don’t know if it is true; remember, facts only). That doesn’t mean you tell it to every Linux user. If you must say something about other systems, keep to facts (and make doubly sure they’re facts) and present them. Politely.
Don’t flame people because they use other systems. Ever.
Bill Gates is not Satan. Some people claim that Microsoft’s business practices are immoral (or at least overly predatory). I don’t know if this is true, but using such claims as arguments does not make the discussion productive. Conspiracy theories sound really, really silly (as long as they’re theories; feel free to provide verified facts).
We aren’t taking over the world. There’s no reason to get offended if someone claims many more people use Linux than your BSD flavor. It’s true. It doesn’t matter. No-one knows how many users your BSD flavor has. That doesn’t matter, either. Market share isn’t the goal. Solving problems is the goal. Having fun is the goal.
Your BSD flavor can’t replace Windows. Windows has applications that your BSD flavor lacks. There’s no reason to get excited about it. Windows can’t replace your BSD flavor, either. No system is perfect for all things. Don’t make yourself look ridiculous by claiming that LaTeX is a better wordprocessor for the masses than MS Word. If you want your BSD flavor to have better applications than Windows, write them or encourage others with something better than talk.
Avoid cross-posts. Many advocacy discussions live long because they’re cross-posted to many popular groups for specific systems. Whenever someone says something about one system, there’s a whole bunch of people who will jump on him, just because he’s supporting a system different from their’s. If you must cross-post advocacy discussions, only cross-post to advocacy groups (such as comp.os.OpenBSD.advocacy). Never, ever cross-post to other groups, it ruins them. If you respond to an advocacy thread that is cross-posted to a non-advocacy group, remove the non-advocacy group.
Keep to the groups of your BSD flavor. Don’t go to other groups to pick a fight. Each advocacy group exists for discussion about one particular system. Don’t try to invade other advocacy groups. That’s rude. No-one likes big-mouthed strangers.
See also:
- Advocating OpenBSD, which was ripped and slightly modified to be presented right here (-:
- What Byte wrote about Linux users in Februrary, 1996