Chris wrote:
Theo de Raadt wrote:
Yet almost all of our donations really do come from individuals, and
almost none from companies using our software. Even though there are
many many companies doing so. Some companies are small, but there are
also quite large ones. And banks. Government institutions. Ones you
see in the news every day. And operating system vendors who reuse our
code.
...
But financially we are under strain, and it is not letting us grow any
of our bigger plans. If anyone has any real clout to make changes
within institutions that could help us in the long term, please do.
Like universities, or even companies that want to sponsor an entire
hackathon.
I'll do my part today and pre-order 3.9 and a few T-shirts for me and
the Mrs.
I've pre-ordered as well, and I hope many of the individuals using
OpenBSD will buy CDs and swag. And I kick in the odd donation now and
then. There should be more people like us, for sure.
However, I don't think that's the gist of the message. OpenBSD is being
used by large companies in significant roles and few or none are kicking
in money. If anyone here works for/with such a company and can influence
them then consider trying to get them to send money to the project. If
they contributed a small fraction of what they'd pay for a comparable
commercial OS then there would be a lot less worry about resources.
I work for a very small company, and I've only managed to get OpenBSD in
the door recently. However, the reception has been quite positive. They
won't be sponsoring any hackathons, but I can probably get them to
either buy CDs or donate the equivalent cash. This will help, but not
much. It's the big companies that are using OpenBSD for their edge
boxes, infrastructure, public servers, etc., and not putting up a dime
that could (and should) make a large difference. They're getting a big
benefit from OpenBSD and have a vested interest in seeing in continue.
Anyway, that's how *I* read it. Theo, correct me if I'm wrong.
--
Darrin Chandler | Phoenix BSD Users Group
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://bsd.phoenix.az.us/
http://www.stilyagin.com/ |
