From announce-nycbug at lists.nycbug.org Mon Jun 13 06:51:58 2005 From: announce-nycbug at lists.nycbug.org (announce-nycbug at lists.nycbug.org) Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 06:51:58 -0400 Subject: [Announce-NYCBUG] How to help NetBSD help you. Message-ID: <20050613105158.GD20467@foo.metm.org> ----- Forwarded message from George ----- While we just raised some bucks for the OBSD hackathon, I would encourage all to give something for this effort. g >----- Forwarded message from Thor Lancelot Simon ----- > > >>Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 17:55:54 -0400 >>From: Thor Lancelot Simon >>To: netbsd-users at netbsd.org, current-users at netbsd.org, >> netbsd-advocacy at netbsd.org, netbsd-announce at netbsd.org >>Subject: How to help NetBSD help you. >> >>There are many upgrades we'd like to make to the NetBSD project >>infrastructure, but which we cannot make because, to be blunt, our >>project is poor. Not poor in innovation nor poor in developer >>resources nor poor in features -- poor in cold, hard cash, the kind >>we need in order to buy hardware that would let us better serve our >>users. >> >>While other BSD projects have received tens or even hundreds of >>thousands of dollars in donations, either by direct appeal to >>their users (e.g. FreeBSD, when they faced tax status problems >>because too much of their income had come from a single corporate >>donor) or by doing their best to ensure that they received some >>revenue from the distribution of their products (e.g. OpenBSD and >>CD sales) we have always, I guess, been a little embarassed to >>directly and clearly ask our users for money -- whether just as >>plain, simple donations or in return for copies of NetBSD, which >>we do our best to make available free to all on the Net by FTP, >>HTTP, and BitTorrent. >> >>But we do need your money. We really do. We need it to do more >>things and buy more stuff that will directly help us serve you, >>the NetBSD users, our "customers". >> >>Often we're asked if people can donate hardware instead of >>money. The unfortunate fact is that while individual NetBSD >>developers may be able to put donated hardware to use, we have >>standard hardware packages for the TNF servers and our >>administrators' lives become very hard if we just add donated >>components to them. Also, we try to buy all new systems in >>complete form from vendors we've successfully done business >>with in the past. >> >>However, if you'd like to donate to NetBSD, and see your donation >>go towards hardware to do things like speed up automatic builds >>of NetBSD (so you can always download the latest binaries from >>the branch you want for the hardware you need them for) or ensure >>fast and reliable AnonCVS service, what you *can* do is donate >>money to us and request that we devote it to that purpose. We >>can't make hard guarantees (we have no need, for example, for 73 >>new disk drives) but we will do our best to put your money to >>use in the way you intended it to be used. >> >>So, if you'd like to "donate hardware" to us, please see the attached >>list of what we pay for the parts of which kind of system. If you >>send us an appropriate amount by PayPal to paypal at netbsd.org, we will >>quickly put it to work to improve NetBSD, and the availablity of >>NetBSD, for you. >> >>Clicking on the "PayPal donate" logo on the front page of our web >>site will of course also direct your donation to The NetBSD Foundation. >> >>You don't need a PayPal account to donate; you can donate directly using >>your credit card, which PayPal will process on our behalf. >> >>Of course, donations of any size are always greatly appreciated; and >>donations to The NetBSD Foundation, a 501(c)3 charity, are tax deductible >>under U.S. law. >> >>PARTS LIST #1: Standard NetBSD Foundation Build System >> >>ITEM QTY PRICE TOTAL >> >>Acme 8176T 1U Server 1 $685 $685 >>Chassis Rail Set 1 $ 45 $ 45 >>1U 64-bit PCI Riser Card 1 $ 19 $ 19 >>AMD Opteron 244 2 $252 $504 >>WD Raptor 74GB SATA disk drive 2 $196 $392 >>512MB PC3200 DDR ECC REG RAM 4 $ 78 $312 >>Labor, assemble & test 1 $ 25 $ 25 >>Shipping (approximate) 1 $ 40 $ 40 >> >>Total for system: $2022 >> >>The more of these we can buy, the more we can speed up autobuilds for you. >> >>PARTS LIST #2: Replacement Anonymous CVS Server >> >>Acme 8177T 1U Server 1 $799 $ 799 >>Chassis Rail Set 1 $ 45 $ 45 >>1U 64-bit PCI Riser Card 1 $ 19 $ 19 >>AMD Opteron 242 2 $201 $ 402 >>WD Raptor 74GB SATA disk drive 4 $196 $ 784 >>1GB PC2700 DDR ECC REG RAM 8 $138 $1104 >>Labor, assemble & test 1 $ 50 $ 50 >>Shipping (approximate) 1 $ 40 $ 40 >> >>Total for system: $3203 >> >>Thank you, in advance, for what I hope will be your very >>generous support. We will put your money to work -- and >>quickly -- to help NetBSD better serve you. >> >>Thor > > >----- End forwarded message -----