-----Original Message----- From: Crystal Chiang [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 1:47 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: FreeBSD donation (sponsorship)
Hi FreeBSD, My name is Crystal Chiang, I am contacting you on behalf of NetNation Communications Inc. regarding the sponsorship / partnership with FreeBSD. NetNation is a Hosting Solution Provider and we have been in the hosting industry since 1997. If you are not familiar with our company, you could check out our Web site for more information.
http://www.netnation.com/company/index.php
I am not sure if you do sponsorship/partnership with any other organizations, I am interested in sponsoring the FreeBSD.org web site, if someone from your organization could get back to me with some information would be much appreciated. I could be reached at this e-mail address, or by phone tollfree: 1.888.277.000.
Take care and have a nice day.
Crystal Chiang Multimedia | Marketing
[ snip message regarding the OP's company ]
[ snip message regarding other links, which were appropriate IMO ]
[ snip message regarding the snipped message regarding the OP's company and in particular the fact of their server's OS ]
[ snip Crystal's next message, to questions@, which mentioned the above-quoted message and asked for it to be forwarded ... ]
At Thu, 18 Nov 2004 it looks like Crystal Chiang composed:
I don't really understand how the FreeBSD organization works, it seems like
my e-mail was replied by an amount of people that's not part of this
organization. If you don't represent FreeBSD, I will not respond from this
point on.
Bill wrote:
Crystal,
I would like to thank you for your kind offer and I truly hope that someone from the FreeBSD "organization" actually does respond to you. As for all the computer mailing lists I belong to, there are very advanced users who have been into computing for over 20 years and there are people who are still looking forward to shaving for the first time or getting their first drivers license.
With all that said, we all group together and normally rally around the topic of computer problems and how to fix them. I truly hope you don't judge us on a few inappropriate posts. What your offering to us is a very valuable service and I'm truly touched by your generosity.
Namaste
It is certainly difficult to determine, based on the original email, exactly what Crystal meant; but, he/she probably didn't intend to make it entirely clear. It seems obvious that he/she (generally in the U.S. a "Crystal" is female, please forgive my continued non-gender-specific terminology) was only asking, more or less, "where does the buck stop" or "who's the boss?"
Exactly what else he/she has in mind was probably irrelevant to us, as it was intended to be read by someone else anyway. Those "someone elses" can be responsible for handling the request and determining how to respond to Crystal's offer.
Crystal, please understand that the "freebsd-questions" address is really a list of individuals who answer questions regarding, most generally, the *use* of FreeBSD. Now, on this list, we occasionally get requests from questionable individuals who want a link on the Project's index page or elsewhere on the site, or who wish to advertise on the site, etc., etc. This is against the Project's policy, and it's possible that these people get an occasional rude reply or "brush off", particularly if their post somehow offends the sensibilities of a reader.
Please also understand that the Project itself is a rather loosely connected group of individuals, and it's sometimes difficult to say who the boss is, as there isn't just one.
Martin Hepworth's reply in this thread contained some helpful links. I would also recommend that Crystal look at http://www.freebsdfoundation.org/, the home of the FreeBSD Foundation, who can certainly speak authoritatively for the Project at large in most instances. You can contact them by email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you wish; at your request I have forwarded your original email to them already today.
They could and would be most certainly happy to help
you, Crystal, and your company if indeed it is your desire to
follow in the footsteps of such esteemed companies as Yahoo!
and Pair Networks (and others) in corporate sponsorship of
and/or assistance to the FreeBSD Project. I'm sure you can
get the answers you would need from them.
Kevin D. Kinsey* DaleCo, S.P.
*Member of FreeBSD Advocacy, adjunct member of the FDP, and dedicated to the proposition that all O.S. projects are not exactly created equal** ... so, do I speak for FreeBSD? Sort of; at least, I'm speaking truth, which the Project recognizes as a Good Thing(tm) when it's possible to discern it ....
** though they are endowed by their creators with many indistinguishable characteristics.... _______________________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
