[gentoo-dev] Gentoo Enterprise Future - Summary Attempt #2

[Matthew Marlowe]

Fellow devs,

I know this thread is getting long, but to ensure we get the right closure
I'd like to ensure that there is a consensus summary and action plan.

That said, the interpretation below is just my own, but I've tried to be
as neutral as possible given that I've been a proponent of moderate gentoo
enterprise deployments in the past.  That said, rather than responding to 
each messege as its come in, I've tried to limit my participation in the discussion
to about 1 email/day which I think allows the proper time for reflection on
everyone else's input.

Summary:

    Thread was kicked off by a proposal to modify the gentoo organization 
structure to emphasize a 'leader' or 'central distribution vision'.  This generated
alot of disagreement as most devs appear to be quite happy with the current
gentoo progress and had no interest in reversing what they had seen as the
gradual 'democratization' without any compelling reason.  The experiences of
other distributions and the history with drobbins was brought up to strengthen
that argument.
    At that point, the thread went off on several tangents relating to 'how come
we cant all get along', 'we need more communication', and 'yes, in fact - there
really has been lots of progress within gentoo the last few years'.  It was gradually
realized that the dissatisfied group was primarily composed of enterprise gentoo
proponents who had had enough of waiting for GLEP19 implementation and some
leadership that could impose some form of enterprise gentoo.
   Naturally, the non-enterprise devs didnt want to have enterprise support work imposed
on them or have the gentoo organizational structure significantly changed for
enterprise reasons.  Several comments were made that perhaps enterprise developers
should spin off their own version of gentoo, produce some code rather whining, and/or
just drop gentoo all together and go work for some other commercial distribution company
that would have the $$ and resources possible to make things happen for them.
  At that point, some of the enterprise devs had enough and decided not to continue
the discussion.  Others said they would put together their own proposals.

My Recommendations for Action Plan:

1)  enterprise devs form their own mailing list and/or herd and spend the next several
weeks attempting to come up with a consensus on a GLEP that might realistically
address their needs.  There is no need for the details to be worked out on the -dev
ml.  Once a consensus is reached, it can be proposed and discussed on -dev like
all other GLEPS.  Note, that I think this thread can be mined for a rather comprehensive
list of issues that would need to be addressed by the GLEP.

2) Other devs should probably realize that this isnt a one way street.  Enterprise devs
have contributed to many other areas of gentoo and if they are dissatisfied it might impact
other areas of gentoo development.  Furthermore, as the gentoo foundation is a rather
cash poor organization, enterprise development might be a way to bring in badly needed
funds without compromising our principles or greatly increasing the overall developer 
workload.  These issues would have to be addressed by the GLEP, but this isnt an issue
that only impacts enterprise devs.

3) It might be the consensus that there is no solution here.  We should all be willing to face
that and be willing to take the consequences if it is true. Either way, the enterprise support
aspect has been a significant source of confusion and we need to get a clear and fair 
resolution determined and communicated to the entire gentoo community within the next
few months.

Regards,
MattM
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