On Monday 13 October 2008, Artur Grabowski wrote: > gm_sjo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > 2008/10/10 Theo de Raadt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > >> Wow. Good luck. Can't you see we've been down that road before > >> with those bastards? But really. Good luck. You really are too > >> optimistic, but sure, learn the reality for yourself. > > > > I'm sure calling vendors 'bastards' on a public mailing list is > > really going to help the cause. > > Works better than anything else. > > //art
Yep. If you need an example, search the archives for "HiFn" and the following story will unfold... HiFn makes crypto accelerators. Some folks working on OpenBSD wanted to support these chips, but the could not get documentation from the company. The company said they'd release documentation a few times to a few different people, but nothing happened. Theo called them "liars" (or similarly direct names) and there were a few big threads about about the missing HiFn docs here on misc, twice they were slashdotted. Since HiFn is basically in my back yard, I walked into their office one day, talked to a few people, and set up a meeting with their CEO and CTO. Both of them were good guys, and willing to help. The said they would get the problem of the missing docs cleared up. I stayed in contact with them for a few months but nothing happened, and the docs were *STILL* missing... Eight months (or more) later, my phone rings, and on the other end of the line was the VP of Sales and Marketing from HiFn. You see, it was the Sales and Marketing department of HiFn that had forbid the release of needed documentation. Since sales and marketing are the bread and butter of every company, they obviously have a ton of power to make sure things done their way. The reason why they internally stopped all efforts to release documentation is because they used the gathered registration info for sales leads and marketing input. So why the heck did the VP call me? --The answer is *VERY* *SIMPLE* Theo and plenty of others around here created yet another long and brutally direct thread about the missing HiFn documentation. The thread once again made it onto slashdot and elsewhere, and someone informed the HiFn Sales/Marketing folks about the on-going Public Relations disaster for the company created by all the good from OpenBSD land. The VP asked me to inform the OpenBSD camp that a FTP server with all needed docs would be opened in a matter of hours, and this time they actually kept their promise and release their docs. Me being nice, taking the time to physically meet with the top guys at HiFn and very politely discuss the missing documentation changed absolutely nothing. The thing that *REALLY* caused the release of the docs was Theo and others around here being brutally direct, extremely honest, and not pulling any punches. The less than funny part is, Theo told me at the start that I would be wasting my time trying to meet and talk with them. Being overly optimistic, I gave it a try anyhow, only to prove Theo was right all along. Theo: 1 JCR: 0 Being nice just means it's easier for them to ignore you. If you want docs, be loud, be honest, be direct, be persistent, become a huge Public Relations nightmare, and never pull any punches. -- JCR
