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On 01/13/2015 07:43 PM, Donnie Berkholz wrote: |
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> Wanted to share my thoughts on where I think Gentoo should go, in |
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> terms of direction. Would love to hear your thoughts. |
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> |
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> http://dberkholz.com/2015/01/13/gentoo-needs-focus-to-stay-relevant/ |
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> |
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> |
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> |
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I'm not a developer, but I am interested in becoming one. That said, I |
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don't understand why relevance or focus are important. Is Gentoo not a |
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distribution made by people who feel that Gentoo meets their needs and |
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(for those who contribute) want to improve it? One of the core values |
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of Gentoo is the concept of choice. Without choice, none of the three |
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things you listed on the blog post are possible. People who were |
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trying to avoid things being pushed on them from other distros would |
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never have come here, and wouldn't be contributing. And that's only |
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one reason that people come to Gentoo. |
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|
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With any other "migration" of sorts, you can rightfully expect that |
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most of the "refugees" will just be leeching users, but I would wager |
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that a not-insignificant portion of them will be users that, like me, |
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want to contribute or join the development effort and make Gentoo a |
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better distro. Choice and the "meta distribution" concepts are part of |
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that. I don't think they're the end-all, be-all of Gentoo, but those |
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two things open up a plethora of options and possible "focuses". |
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|
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Gentoo is the furthest thing I can think of from being "for everyone". |
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But to anyone with the know-how or dedication, Gentoo really can fit |
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any use-case. You might need to build a number of scripts or tools on |
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top of the already great ones that Gentoo provides in order to meet |
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your needs, but there's a lot already in place that creates a lot of |
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value for a lot of different use cases. One's grandma or |
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non-tech-savvy friend doesn't really fit in on Gentoo since it |
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requires a passing understanding of a GNU/Linux system, and that's |
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okay. Gentoo, from what I can tell, is meant for the people dedicated |
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to running specific, lightweight, and/or versatile systems. Whether |
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they're a dev, need to manage 100+ machines, prefer a lean and fast |
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desktop, or need to pare it down for an embedded product, Gentoo can |
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and does meet all those needs. |
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|
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Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but it seems like "focus" is referring |
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to actively marketing or advertising Gentoo to garner more interest. |
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Given the other marketing and pushing seen in the FOSS world |
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(specifically related to a certain audio stack and init system) I |
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don't see people taking kindly to that sort of behavior. Gentoo should |
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(and does) stand on its own as a great distribution to do many |
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different things with, without a marketing agenda. |
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|
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But assuming I do misunderstand, are you talking about bringing those |
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benefits up if/when someone asks about Gentoo and/or putting it on the |
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front page of the wiki and the main site(s)? I see little to no harm |
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in adding bullet points to a list of benefits, and maybe Gentoo could |
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benefit from some good guides (in blogs or the wiki) for getting a |
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sane dev environment or setting up something for an Arduino or |
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Raspberry Pi, etc. I think doing that would be really good for giving |
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outsiders a more concrete example of things that Gentoo can do more |
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easily than other distributions. And that will almost certainly bring |
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in users. But what about the real problem? |
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|
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The real problem, based on what I've read here on gentoo-dev, |
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gentoo-project, and so on, is a lack of manpower. A lot of Gentoo devs |
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supposedly don't work together too much, and prefer doing their own |
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thing. And to a degree that's the way it should be, since devs are all |
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volunteers. Nobody should be forced to do something on Gentoo unless |
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what they're doing is damaging to the distro as a whole. But let me |
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get back to my point... |
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|
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More users means more bugs, more requests, more ideas, and |
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essentially... more work. There needs to be a smoother process for |
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people to become developers without sacrificing (too much of) the |
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integrity of Gentoo. More developers means more maintainers, more eyes |
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on bugs, and yes, more trouble coordinating group efforts. If the |
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pathway to become a developer is a bit smoother and easier, more users |
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- -- with considerable knowledge and/or a strong will to learn -- will |
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become valuable assets to the Gentoo team. A more prominent way to |
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tell the Gentoo community what challenges Gentoo is facing (like the |
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multilib migration from emul-linux-* to the abi_x86_32 USE flag), and |
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a clear pathway to joining the development efforts (say, with |
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developers who have the time to mentor adding their name to a list, |
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their specialties, etc) would do a lot to help visibility of Gentoo's |
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need for manpower. Then these new developers can lend their hand to |
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areas that they feel strongly about and are personally invested in. |
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|
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For example, if/when I become a Gentoo dev I want to assist in ebuilds |
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for games, a few tools I personally use, and would want to join |
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efforts in OpenRC and eudev to help keep GNU/Linux free from vertical |
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integration efforts that most other distros are pushing for. I'm sure |
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I'm not the only Gentoo user out there who feels strongly about a few |
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things and could offer help on things that Gentoo seems to be in dire |
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need of. Personally, I'm not limited to what I listed above. If I |
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think I can learn enough to help, I'd be glad to help in any way I |
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can. Gentoo's a great distro with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic |
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community. If there's a way to get more of the community involved in |
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Gentoo's maintenance and progression, I think that's the way forward. |
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Switching the documentation to a wiki was a fantastic move that seems |
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to be improving Gentoo's docs by quite a bit and a great example of |
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what can be done to improve the distro. |
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|
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The current issues I think Gentoo faces are more related to manpower |
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than relevance, focus, or usefulness. Maybe some new blood (to assist |
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the older, knowledgeable blood) is needed to help Gentoo move forward |
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faster. |
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|
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Just my 2¢. |
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