OpenBSD Journal

3.6 presales, new song and t-shirts

Contributed by mk/reverse on from the release management dept.

Many people wrote us about this post to misc@ by Theo:

I think now is a good time to say that I am disappointed at the pre-orders we have received for the OpenBSD 3.6 CD, thus far. We know that increasingly people are moving to FTP installs (especially since we made it just as easy as the CD), but the donations which could balance out the loss in revenue are not coming in are not even close to balancing this out.

If this follows previous sales .. shall I say curves... that we have seen, this will make it difficult for us to make releases on CD in the future.

I thought I should say something. Of course, I don't know what there is that we can do about it.

But please don't give me or the list suggestions. Suggestions will not get us anywhere.

This is not good news. We encourage everyone who uses OpenBSD for commercial purposes to support all the hard work done on the OpenBSD project by preordering a cd set or (not exclusively) making a donation.

Also, the new 3.6 song is out. It would be nice if everyone tried to grab it from the mirrors as it becomes available. New t-shirts are also available, and this is a great way to support the project if you're only doing ftp installs.

(Comments are closed)

Comments

  1. By Anonymous Coward (67.70.202.93) on

    Who's the quote from?

    Comments

    1. By Richard Bentley (62.6.248.24) on

      "But please don't give me or the list suggestions. Suggestions will not get us anywhere."

      Of course, the solutions are obvious - maybe they just need implementing.

      It would probably annoy a lot of people, but if the alternative is that the project goes down the toilet...

      R.

      Comments

      1. By x (81.56.211.110) on

        "this will make it difficult for us to make releases on CD in the futur" shit :( i always buy the CD since 2.7, even if life is really been harder.. perhaps many people like me has money problem. I hope we still have Cd set for my collection .

        Comments

        1. By JD (82.43.90.78) on

          Hang my CD collection, I want quality software to run on my firewall/server/desktop. FWIW I've bought all the CD's since I started on OpenBSD (2.9, ahhh the bad old days of IPF...)

    2. By Anonymous Coward (211.30.147.144) on

      I am curious about that as well, who's the quote from?

    3. By Anonymous Coward (24.46.36.183) on

      Theo

    4. By johannes (131.130.1.143) on

      According to a quick Google Groups search it's from Theo de Raadt. Take a look at this thread.

      Regards,
      johannes

    5. By mk/reverse (217.157.199.114) on

      The quote is from Theo and can be found here. I messed it up when I added the story but it should be fixed now.

  2. By Jonathan (207.112.121.64) on

    Hi there, I totally agree, as cool as Open-Source projects are, people who work on them need support, so I encourage people to buy the cd's or make donations in some way. I know personaly I will. I just got my company to use OpenBSD as a firewall and so far I love it. I admnister it with FirewallBuilder (www.fwbuilder.org), and it was a breeze to set up. So you can be sure I'll get my company to do a generous donation and buy the 3.6 release cd's since OpenBSD just saved us the purchase of a very expensive commercial firewall and I believe OpenBSD is just as safe, espacially with FirewallBuilder, you can have the level of security you'd get with Cisco Firewall for example with the same ease of management but you don't have to spend thousand for dollars. Got to love Open-Source!!! I also got my company to convert all servers from windows2000 server to Linux and/or OpenBSD, finally my boss came to reason when I showed him what we would save. So come on people, give something to this great project so it can continue to live and be the most secure OS ever. Jonathan (security freak ;o) and new OpenBSD lover)

    Comments

    1. By djm@ (61.95.66.134) on

      Another way that corporate users can support OpenBSD is by supplying hardware on the Wanted List. Lots of organisations have old or unused hardware laying around. If it is just taking up space, then offer to send it in!

  3. By Don P (68.101.84.214) on

    I went ahead and ordered my copy today, just as I have done since I started using OpenBSD 3.3. I kind of like having a row of CDs showing my loyalty and support for the OS. That being said, I did entertain the idea of not ordering this time just because of this message. I mean, come on. “But please don't give me or the list suggestions. Suggestions will not get us anywhere.” What kind of statement is that? Either you are part of the solution, or part of the problem. Don’t just sit there and whine about how poor your presales are going.

    Don

    Comments

    1. By Nickus (213.146.107.227) on

      I totally agree with Theo, suggestions do not help the project. Money and work does. It is just like all those people at work that likes to go to meetings to discuss things. Discussing it at a 4 hour meeting doesn't make it happen.

  4. By Petr Ruzicka (160.218.208.1) pruzicka@openbsd.cz on http://www.openbsd.cz

    I do always order CD's with t-shirt together. So I just wait and I bet lot of others do this as well.
    As t-shirt is available now (it was not yesterday), I will order few minutes from now.

    Comments

    1. By Craig (81.152.186.100) on

      Here, here. I've been waiting for the same thing so as not to have to order twice.

  5. By sean (139.142.208.98) on

    I wonder what the pattern is like?

    For the past few releases me, a couple friends and the company I work for purchase copies on the next payday after the pre-order starts. It wasn't very hard to get the company to buy a copy every release as it amortizes to dent in the budget.

    We're a bit late this year but Friday is payday so our orders will go through then.

  6. By Anonymous Coward (130.215.36.170) on

    Run a business, not a charity.

  7. By Jim (128.36.236.30) on

    I've pre-ordered a poster and a CD set.

    I'd love to get an OpenBSD t-shirt, but the ones currently for sale are just too gaudy. I'd rather have a plain white t-shirt with a small OpenBSD logo over the pocket, rather than having a huge geeky logo on my back.

    Comments

    1. By Peter Hessler (208.201.244.164) on

      Then get the wireframe shirt. They look great.

      Comments

      1. By Jim (128.36.236.30) on

        Does the logo cover the whole front of the shirt, or just the pocket?
        I'd prefer the latter.

        Comments

        1. By almeida (66.31.180.15) on

          The logo covers the whole front. I have the green wireframe shirt and the Harisenbon (mean 2.8) one. The wireframe one is much less gaudy. I'd like a simple shirt too though.

    2. By Anonymous Coward (68.165.153.186) on

      Re: the gaudiness of the T-shirts, I must emphatically agree. I work in a highly corporate environment (financial) where the small logo on a T-shirt is as casual as it is ever going to get. I would buy >1 T-shirt if it was designed in this way, plus it would be a cost savings to the project as the design wouldn't change with every release. FWIW, I would also buy multiple copies of a T-shirt with the OpenBSD journal heavily-armed-Puffy logo + name (just as displayed at the top of the page) on white, black or light gray. Editors please take note. OK, am now off to preorder the CD...

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (4.158.63.104) on

        The polo shirt is probably business casual. Still looks cool.

        Comments

        1. By knomevol (64.48.234.192) on

          the polo shirt is horrible. i ordered one when it was first available. what i received looked like the embroidering of the logo was done by a three-year-old. i asked around, got no replies, and so threw the thing in the trash - and i will never buy another garment from the project.

      2. By Jim (69.177.124.97) on

        Why was this post modded -2/2?

        I LOVE openbsd. Because this poster and I dislike the t-shirts our opinions are rated as not being worthwhile?

    3. By juice (68.33.2.169) on

      I couldnt agree more with the T=shirt comment. Id love yo buy the asain style blowfish..but like all the others theres the gaudy text that just screams dork. How bout some better shirts with no text or just the words OpenBSD. Just a small logo on the front in the middle

    4. By Brian (216.221.82.94) on

      The Blowfish Polo is nice. It's the one geek shirt that the girlfriend isn't embarrassed for me to wear.

  8. By Anonymous Coward (69.156.204.211) on

    Is OpenBSD an official, canadian non-profit organization? If not, just curious why not? Wouldn't it be easier for people to 'donate' and write it off taxes? Just a thought but I'd like to hear more on this topic... :)

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (69.197.92.181) on

      No, it wouldn't make any difference at all. They would have to be a charity. Which would involve far more work and accountants fees than the theoretical added donations from people who will only donate for a writeoff. Businesses can already donate as a write off if they are smart about it.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (69.197.92.181) on

        And why did this get modded down? There seems to be way to much modding down of posts for no reason lately. FWIW, my post is correct, go look it up. Revenue Canada should have info on their site.

    2. By krh (207.75.179.243) on

      In the US, becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit is a *HUGE* amount of work. It's one of those things that you pay a lot of money to a lawyer to do, and the paperwork is ongoing, so you have to keep paying the lawyer.

      OpenBSD is based in Canada, where things are different—but somehow I doubt that becoming a nonprofit is a practical step.

    3. By Anonymous Coward (81.218.216.208) on

      You should come to Israel then - about $200 will set you up with a nonprofit. After a year or so you can apply for the tax deduction thing (where donors get their donation tax deducted). The procedure for the tax deduction is relatively simple, you just need to have an accountant go over your books, and sign a couple of papers in the presence of a lawyer.
      IIRC, Israeli encryption laws are rather loose, but I'm not sure.

  9. By Anonymous Coward (65.49.54.179) on

    Duh. Really, you gotta expect this kind of thing. If you rely on the nobility of the human race, you're going to be disappointed an awful lot. Especially when it comes to selling software.

    Of course I'll still buy my copy. And of course I realize that despite the convenience of FTP installs that is no reason to skimp buying a CD. But c'mon, stop yer whining. You didn't see this coming?

  10. By Anonymous Coward (199.243.73.67) on

    What is up with the pricing? There is a definite price/demand curve, Theo. 45$ USD is what, 60$ CDN? That is pretty expensive for an open source OS cd. Instead of making songs about your OS, try refocusing on your core competencies, and find someone else who is good at fundraising to help you with that. Maybe find a marketing guy who will work for free web hosting.

    Comments

    1. By Otto (213.84.84.111) otto@drijf.net on http://www.drijf.net

      Nooooooo

      OpenBSD needs a lot of things, but not a marketing guy, please. One of the reasons I enjoy working on OpenBSD is there is no marketing guy (as opposed to real-life jobs).

      The song is both fun and helps getting attention. Take away the fun, and few OpenBSD developers will remain.

    2. By James (66.218.244.40) hahahaha on http://www.opentorrent.org

      Actually...3 CD's and can be installed with those 3 CD's onto a number of different platforms. I would say 45 is dirt cheap for the quality of the jewel case, cd, stickers, and hard work. Now let's look at M$, with their boring silver discs.....blah blah blah

  11. By RC (4.16.255.65) on

    I know nobody wants to hear this, but I'm really not interested in buying the CDs. I did once, because it's a bit of hassle to make bootable Alpha CDs, but now Alpha isn't even on the CDs, and the price shot up as well. The web-based order system isn't the most refined, and the stickers are really over-rated ;-)

    But more than that, OpenBSD has always been a long-running beta in my view... Every release, there has always been something important that I needed, that just didn't work, and fixes aren't forthcomming. The next release always fixes it, but only to have another problem as the show-stopper... For a recent example, with 3.5, X forwarding over SSH has a real problem... it seems to slightly work, but crashes most of the time. I went through the trouble of getting the latest stable from CVS, but it still wasn't fixed (a couple months after release). Now, I'm willing to bet the problem will go away the next release, and be replaced with another problem...

    The new port of Firefox sucks, IMHO. It's slow as hell, and crashes all the time. The version with 3.4 is much faster, and doesn't crash quite as often. Plus, the new version won't seem to accept any plugins, and is pretty iffy with any extensions I use. Plus, the GTK1 versions of most of the ports have been replaced. Since I'm not interested in managing two toolkits at once, that leaves me having to compile nearly a dozen apps myself. Openbox, GTK, Abiword, etc. It's so bad that, for the first time, I downgraded to a previous version. Yep, I'm back to 3.4 now, and bothered by a few things, but happier.

    Although it may not sound like it, I really do like OpenBSD, overall. The filesystem layout and startup scripts are elegant, and the OpenBSD version of ksh is very, very nice (shame it hasn't been ported to other OSes). However, it's never been able to fill all my needs, and it's always been iffy in one area or another. So, I wouldn't be happy to lose it, but it wouldn't hurt too much. Switching to FreeBSD, I would loose all the things I enjoy, having a simple system that works like it should (while most others are crufty messes). But, I'd get all the programs I've been missing, and wouldn't be perpetually working around a new bug.

    If I thought my ~400MBs every 6months was a real detriment, I would switch. But instead, I'm willing to put up with OpenBSD's flaws for now, and maybe in a few releases, I will consider it much more valuable, and worth spending money on. For now, the donating is up to somebody else but me.

    Feel free to mod this down to -999, of course.

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (193.27.46.2) janus (§) errornet (§) de on http://janus.errornet.de

      ...don't like OpenBSD:
         · don't buy it.
         · and don't rant but shut up.

      ...have any problems:
         · report them detailed in a friendly way.
         · fix them or help to get them fixed.

      ...like to complain about everyone and everything:
         · consider redirecting it to /dev/null.

      Comments

      1. By janus (193.27.46.2) janus (§) errornet (§) de on http://janus.errornet.de

        ah... and don't forget to ignore my rude words if you don't feel that any of these points are up to you ;-)

        Kind regards,
        Simon

      2. By RC (4.16.255.145) on

        > · and don't rant but shut up.

        Why? Does my making a point cost the OpenBSD team time or money? Does it have any negative effects at all? What possible reason can you give that I should not have said anything? I'm interested in hearing it... Give it your best shot.


        > ...have any problems:
        > · report them detailed in a friendly way.

        I've tried it, and gotten blown-off more times than I'm comfortable with, so I'm done with that. I also don't believe I need to report the bugs I come across, because they always seem to be well-known already, so reporting won't help much, if at all.

        Comments

        1. By janus (193.27.46.2) janus (§) errornet (§) de on http://janus.errornet.de

          >> · and don't rant but shut up.
          > Why? Does my making a point cost the OpenBSD team time or money?
          > Does it have any negative effects at all?
          In this case... maybe yes, because it's in context to the article.

          > What possible reason can you give that I should not have said anything?
          > I'm interested in hearing it... Give it your best shot.
          I see no reason to shut up if the rant is in context to the right thing(tm).
          In this case i don't see any connection to the upcoming release... except that you don't want to spent money for something that doesn't works for you (granted).

          >> ...have any problems:
          >> · report them detailed in a friendly way.
          > I've tried it, and gotten blown-off more times than I'm comfortable
          > with, so I'm done with that. I also don't believe I need to report the
          > bugs I come across, because they always seem to be well-known already,
          > so reporting won't help much, if at all.

          Hmmm... sounds common to me. Most of the time i hear or see arguments like that i can't understand them. Basically because if you're friendly and helpfull you aren't blown off by anyone.
          You might notice the connection to my reply? That's exactly the same thing.
          You can't expect help from people you're pissing off.

          Regards,
          Simon

    2. Comments

      1. By RC (4.16.255.145) on

        On the contrary, there do seem to be quite a lot of changes... very important and significant changes.

        I install pdksh on non-openbsd systems as well, but it just doesn't work well interactively. I only install it because it's small... for scripts.

    3. By Jason (142.179.203.230) on

      So how does development move forward if you withhold your support for the project? CD and other merchandise sales are obviously not a 'pat on the back' for the developers nor are they, or should they be, a bonus for solving all of your problems.

      This 'if its not perfect I won't pay for it' attitude really gets me. If you make use of other peoples efforts why not show them some support? More support for the project means more developers can be paid, these developers can then spend more time on OpenBSD rather than having to fit development in around their day jobs; maybe more of your problems would get fixed...


      PS. CD and T-Shirt already ordered.

      Comments

      1. By RC (4.16.255.145) on

        > So how does development move forward if you
        > withhold your support for the project?

        I can't say, but I'm not the one organizing the whole OpenBSD project. How did the project move forward before I became a user? The world doesn't work on people throwing their money around, and hoping it gets used where they want it to.

        > CD and other merchandise sales are obviously not
        > a 'pat on the back' for the developers

        Man would I love to be a salesman when you walk into a store... "Sure, that product always has problems, but if you don't buy one, the problems will never get fixed. Just keep throwing money at them, and maybe, if you are incredibly lucky, things will improve." No, I can't see myself supporting something that provides me with a product I can barely see my way through to using.

        > If you make use of other peoples efforts why
        > not show them some support?

        Well, I have, if you will recall. However, the fact of the matter is, if it was going to cost me $5 to use OpenBSD, it would no longer be worth using. That's the point I was trying to make. I do hope that changes.

        > maybe more of your problems would get fixed...

        Sorry, but throwing money at the problem is most definately not the solution. All my problems are ones of effort just not being spent on making things work. I'm not using OpenBSD to get a new NTP daemon, I'm using it to get a stable OS, and that hasn't been happening. It's not a case where a bit more money would change things. I'm convinced it's a systematic problem at this point, after years of seing it taking different forms.

        Maybe if you paid more for your Microsoft Windows license, all it's problems would get fixed.

    4. By tedu (66.93.171.98) on

      x forwarding: use -Y. it's because gtk is broken or something.

      as for firefox, maybe you should complain to the authors. you know, the people who actually wrote the buggy code and are responsible for it?

      if you think freebsd is going to solve all your problems, har. you complain about needing a new release for some feature, but can't use it because something else broke. how about waiting 2 years for some feature in 5.0, and then still not being able to use it a whole year later because it's still in beta. (i like freebsd, and it's got some cool stuff, but the release cycle is not their strength in my opinion.)

      if something in an openbsd release is broken, it's because not enough people tested the snapshots. developers can't imagine and test all situations. so when that little email goes out a month before release saying "test the snapshots", guess who that's directed at? you.

      Comments

      1. By RC (4.16.255.145) on

        > x forwarding: use -Y. it's because gtk is broken or something.

        Thanks for the tip. That is, no doubt, part of the problem. However, GTK can't be the only problem, as I have been unable to do xv over SSH as well. Yes, believe it or not, I have a need to play video over X11, over SSH, over my network. It works (or should I say "worked") better than you might expect.

        > as for firefox, maybe you should complain to the authors. you know, the
        > people who actually wrote the buggy code and are responsible for it?

        I might have thought that, except it works very, very well on every other platform, except OpenBSD. Back when it only worked well on Windows/Linux/Mac, I thought they were to blame, but with FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solairs, and just about all other OSes able to run Firefox/Mozilla very well, I have to assume the problem does not lie in Firefox. Add to that the fact that many other applications which run well on other platforms are unstable on OpenBSD, and it looks even less like it's Mozilla's fault.

        > how about waiting 2 years for some feature in 5.0, and then still not
        > being able to use it a whole year later because it's still in beta

        All I can say is that I've been using FreeBSD for quite a while, and that's not my experience with it. If there's a problem, a bug, an instability, a patch will be available quickly. Ports of programs aren't broken, unstable, etc, except in very rare situations, and that's usually fixed soon as well. I know I can grab any version of FreeBSD in the past year, and there will be a fast and stable version of Mozilla for it... There will be most of the ports I need, including keeping the older version around, when there is a toolkit change, or something similar.

        FreeBSD has a lot of it's own hassles, like having to work with kernel modules, huge and convoluted startup scripts, ports not integrating as smoothly into the system as they do with OpenBSD, and always the occasional minor bug (like cu not working) but never have I experienced anything major, as I do with each progressive release of OpenBSD. To each his own I suppose, but FreeBSD really does have all my major problems fixed, even if it would make me deal with some more hassles I'd like to avoid.

        > if something in an openbsd release is broken, it's because
        > not enough people tested the snapshots.

        Perhaps, but something broken in the base system is the least of the problems I've had. Would reporting that Firefox has tons of problems changed anything? Would speaking up result in older ports being kept alongside the new ones (and presumably maintained by someone?).

        I'm willing to shoulder some of the blame, but most of it is more systematic than anything else.

  12. By Anonymous Coward (65.202.253.132) on

    The existence of OpenBSD on people's machines is a classic case of success based on actual technical merit over "marketing personality", because I must say, Theo acts like a jerk. I buy every 3rd release or so of OpenBSD only because it's so damned good at what it does. It is definitely *not* because of marketing prowess!

    Theo would do well to consider setting aside some of that bad attitude he projects. He might attract more funding for the project if he lost a good chunk of that abrasiveness, because on technical grounds, OpenBSD is what I would call a hell of a success and a hell of a study in proper programming. This is a key difference (of the many) between Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds; "Linux" gets the corporate support and lots of money thrown at it because Linus knows how to market. The FSF, while not unsuccessful at this, is not nearly as successful as "Linux" is.

    Yes, we hackers do need to interact with the rest of the world at times.

    As for my CD purchase, I find v3.5 good enough for my purposes that I will stick with it until 3.7, if there is one.

    Comments

    1. By Theo- - - - (68.146.102.132) ereg@hiera.com on

      I personally don't know Theo, but am very much aware that most people who start and lead movements are very similar to his character. It is easier to complain and criticize than do something about the problem and that’s what most people around me are like. It takes a lot of courage and guts to do what Theo’s is doing. As for marketing, the quality of the product is selling it self. However I don't see anything wrong with informing the OpenBSD community of their ongoing needs that exist because I don’t think about them for OpenBSD developers all the time. So there announcements are a reminder as well as opportunity to give to such a quality work that they are doing. Thanks, MDW

  13. By chas (147.154.235.52) on

    ...as I really enjoy peace of mind from greylisting and W^X, 3.6 is not introducing any features that I want.

    3.6's main claim to fame is i386-mp. I have a Sparc 20 where this might be useful (which will not be supported with this release), but I find myself happy to stick with 3.5 until next spring.

    I have given a LOT of money and time to OpenBSD, so I did feel ok in sitting this CD cycle out and doing an FTP install.

  14. By Anonymous Coward (128.252.66.129) on

    I have bought OpenBSD on CD since about 2.7, despite the fact that I have only installed it once (I'm just not a great Unix guy and don't have enough patience). And I'll buy this upcoming one, probably with some of the books and maybe give it another shot.

    That having been said, the idea that (paraphrasing) "suggestions aren't welcome, y'all just fork over some cash," is astonishing to me. As far as I can tell, OpenBSD exists BECAUSE someone (Theo) decided that the "put up or shut up" mentality required a third option, namely, a fork. Now, either he's forgotten that more options exist besides put up or shut up, or he just thinks we're too stupid to come up with a decent suggestion. Ouch. I'm pretty sure the community has some individuals who have creative financing ideas and might be worth listening to.

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (142.166.107.126) on

      You have me curious. If you're 'not a Unix guy' and you've only installed
      OBSD once, what is it that holds your interest enough to read this
      website? Much less part with your money to support an OS for which you
      apparently don't have a use (and do so consistently for 9 releases yet!)
      ??

      Not that you and your support isn't welcome! .. You are a good
      offset for those of us that don't consistently find the money to buy
      the releases and paraphernalia. I've personally only bought about 5 CD
      releases and T-shirt over the last 6 years or so.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (66.167.102.26) on

        I mostly like to keep myself "in the loop," as it were. I like the project's goals and I'm waiting for a certain set of criteria to arise before I decide to invest a lot of time into it. I could go into what those criteria are, but that's traditionally quite a mistake, as, whenever you mention whatever *n?x someone is using doesn't have, people either tell you that a) they're working on it (read: 2 years), b) you don't need it, c) it isn't a priority of the OS team, or d) you're stupid for wanting it. So, I'll happily feed the project until it gets to what I am looking for.

    2. By tedu (67.124.88.60) on

      you know why he doesn't want suggestions? because every release people send in hundreds of them. sell cds for less. sell cds for more. sell coffee mugs. (been there, done that. despite a whole pile of people promising to buy mugs, the total sales figure? a whopping three. yeah, selling like freaking hot cakes.)

      talk is cheap. it doesn't get anything done reading yet another email "if i were in charge...". just go ahead and do it. if you think there's a huge market for selling megabsd, go right ahead and try.

      [you being used in the more generic sense, not pesonally.]

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (66.167.102.26) on

        I'm sure there are a lot of crap suggestions. Of this I have NO doubt. And the "make money for graphic designers" approach of mugs and whatnot has always seemed less than advisable to me.

        With that in mind, the current situation is, by Theo's own admission, NOT WORKING. If it were working, he wouldn't be "disappointed." So, exactly how long does one beat one's head against a brick wall? And what was that definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting a different result each time."

        If it isn't working, perhaps something new is called for, as cracking the whip doesn't work thus. Yes, there will be 99.9% lousy mutations, but if one in a thousand is a hopeful monster, I would think that the "evolutionary" OpenBSD should look into it.

        And, surprise, here is one ... on undeadly.org, an article entitled "Creative Support Ideas." Sometimes suggestions don't suck. I wouldn't have thought of that one - like I said, I'm not a creative marketing guy.

  15. By Richie (65.50.164.147) on

    I'm out in Toronto and purchase OpenBSD CD's from the University of Toronto bookstore. I make it a habit of buying at least 2 copies. The question is, is it better to buy from the OpenBSD site or from the UofT bookstore? I know the bookstore buys a bunch of them everytime a new version is released which translates to a regular revenue stream if the demand remains solid. Any thoughts?

  16. By wob (216.150.214.169) wob@bonch.org on

    I've been buying a release CD since 2.2, and will continue to do so. I just got paid so I can order 3.6 :)

    I do agree with some of the suggestions of different tshirts that have a smaller logo. I have a few of the tshirts (I love my "Make Crypto Not Munitions" tshirt with Benjamin Franklin's quote on the back, and the BSD Cop tshirt from 2.5) but I work in a corporation, and I can't wear these to work. I do own the Blowfish polo shirt and wear this quite frequently to work. I get many questions about it at work which lets me advocate for OpenBSD, and this helps me later getting projects approved that involve OpenBSD. If there were more available that were similar (like a lot of vendorware polo shirts) with a similar logo size like the Blowfish one, I would definitely buy them.

    Of course this is a suggestion, I'm glad I didn't put it on the mailing list in response to Theo's email. :)

    I do agree that Theo can be very abrasive (to put it nicely), but he leads and maintains a wonderful OS, and this to me overshadows anything else. I will be continuing to support it for as long as they exist.

  17. By Anonymous Coward (69.156.204.211) on

    What about OpenBSD on DVD? I assume that would be a hassle for non-x86 bootable platforms? Just a thought... OpenBSD, multiplatform + src + pkgs etc?

    Comments

    1. By RC (4.16.255.145) on

      Well, it would be a problem for many reasons.

      One of which is that it would be impossibly difficult to make a single disc image bootable on a dozen different platforms.

      It wouldn't make too many people happy, as I'm under the impression many OpenBSD users have older hardware they keep going. Surely you'd be hard-pressed to find a VAX with a DVD-ROM!

      I have a few rather new (x386) machines, but I don't have DVD-ROMS on most of them, as I only watch DVDs on one system.

      Plus it would make it much more difficult for people to make copies of it.

  18. By JonR800 (68.51.167.200) on

    I was kinda waiting for 3.7. I have a number of systems currently running 3.5 that I just upgraded from 3.3. I wasn't really looking forward to jumping on 3.6. Plus I've bought the last 4 or 5 releases. That's a lot of money. :)

  19. By pete gilman (212.137.64.12) on http://p3t3.net

    the topic of theo's "abrasiveness" periodically crops up in the various openbsd forums. often, people suggest that he ought to be more tactful and diplomatic, that that might help the cause of widespread dissemination of openbsd.

    bollocks, i say.

    it's precisely the fact that theo *refuses* to compromise that makes his operating system great. he doesn't allow bullshit in the system, and he doesn't allow it in his thought and speech. call me a fanboy if you want - i don't care - but it's this attitude which is responsible for the incredibly high standard of the system, and which makes theo a hero to me - he's one of the few people in the world with the courage to tell the truth and pursue the ideal.

    if you want slick marketing, use windows. if you want technical excellence, without bullshit, use openbsd.

    Comments

    1. By pete gilman (212.137.64.12) on http://p3t3.net

      my topic was

      theo's "abrasiveness"

      but the cgi code ate the second word...

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