[rescue] GNU != Unix (was: PC v. PeeCees? (was: IBM hard disk) )

[rescue at sunhelp.org]

> > > > "Submit a patch." Thanks. I do not want to compensate the 
> > > > ignorance of some Linux weenies. 
> > > If you don't like the freely-available software, then either write
> > > your own or help to fix it.
> > This is OK, but the point I am complaining about is: This 
> > moron did not
> > make the smallest effort to write code that can work with 
> > anything else
> > than gcc.
I started working with BIND 9 back before it was released...and
for several versions, Solaris/gcc and HP-UX/gcc were not officially
supported OS/compiler combinations.  That's not because the
developers were morons--gcc *was* the "official" (default) compiler
on *BSD and Linux because it was the best available--but on
Solaris and HP-UX the OS vendors had provided the developers with
the unbundled commercial compilers.  The developers had limited
resources, and decided to spend more of their time implementing
features--figuring (sensibly) that if someone out there wanted
to use the freely available code on another platform, then that
person would help to implement necessary changes and test those
changes.

This developer has limited resources (in his case probably including
skills and knowledge, but also access to a Tru64/cc compile host)
and isn't going to get off his $arse to make your life easy.
It seems reasonable (if not perfectly helpful) to me.

Sorry, Jochen, but I simply can't see where you have a leg to
stand on on this point.  I'm not trying to defend poor programming
practices, but complaining about this specific case seems very
close to the folks who complain when $neat_free_tool hasn't already
been ported to Windows.

Again, if 
> it takes to[o] much of my precious time to dig into that code. 
then I would suggest that the burden remains on you.  Hell, if
your time is that precious then find someone on the list to
write and test the changes for you under contract.  Two six-packs
would do for some folks, especially of good Reinheitsgebot-compliant
stuff.  Or you could give $developers a nice Tru64/cc system, or...

  --Rip