Subject: NetBSD users around the world.
To: None <netbsd-advocacy@netbsd.org>
From: Richard Rauch <rkr@olib.org>
List: netbsd-advocacy
Date: 08/13/2003 18:41:00
About two weeks ago, I suggested a "silly way to waste bits" over on -users.
Several people expressed interest. (The idea was to collect a list of NetBSD
users/sites, along with geographic coordinates and the number of computers
at the location. Then the database can readily be turned into an xglobe
or xearth "markers" file and loaded into an X backdrop, for example.)
Uses related to advocacy should be obvious. (I'm still hoping to find another
NetBSD user in Houston...hm, I remember someone saying that they lived in
Baytown a couple of years ago.)
About a week ago, after discussion died down, I put up a fledgling database.
The database is *still* fledgling, but it's uber-fledgling with a beefy
9 or 10 entries, now. (^&
I've had at least one NetBSD site pick up the database from Poland, and another
from New Zealand, according to the webserver's log, but the only non-U.S.
entry is from France (thanks, Gilbert).
(There's a developer-only list that does not include number-of-computers.
It is in raw xearth/xglobe format.)
If you're interested, I put up a small web-page for this. Contributing
an entry is easy: Just format your entry after the style of one of the
existing (netbsduser.db) entries and mail it to me. The web page is:
http://www.olib.org/~rkr/netbsd/netbsdusers.html
Widely-separated machines might want separate entries.
You can turn a street address into geographic coordinates via mapsonus
(it's a bit of a hidden option, but it's how I got my coordinates),
or a GPS device, or perhaps a friendly local map-geek.
--
"I probably don't know what I'm talking about." http://www.olib.org/~rkr/