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On 12/08/2016 02:15 PM, Andreas K. Huettel wrote: |
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> Hash: SHA512 |
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> Am Donnerstag, 8. Dezember 2016, 15:08:17 schrieb james: |
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>> On 12/07/2016 04:39 PM, Robin H. Johnson wrote: |
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>>> On Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 04:01:53PM -0500, james wrote: |
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>>>> Can you cross post to gentoo-dev? I'm not subscribed to that list. |
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>>>> Should not a wider community, particularly devs be part of the |
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>>>> discussion? |
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>>> |
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>>> Please DO subscribe. |
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>> |
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>> Nope. I strongly believe that if your wider dev community had a deeper |
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>> understanding of the responsibility chain... |
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> <snip> |
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> |
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> Even if I'm repeating myself... Please keep the mailing lists on topic. |
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|
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Problems caused by gentoo developer behaviors, are "on topic" for this |
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list. Your position only serves to obfuscate remedies. |
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> While the topics of gentoo-project are widespread, conspiracy theories and US |
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> politics are definitely not on-topic here. |
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|
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And this sort of analysis is at the heart of why Gentoo is going to be |
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categorized, as a "Boys Club" or a "tax dodge" or a "Fiefdom in the eyes |
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of the IRS. The Gentoo Code of Conduct is quintessentially important to |
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future viability of the distro. The devs all need to hear about these |
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issues. Read on and you will see an action plan, the reasons for it and |
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bit more detail, for those that require a bit more anecdotal evidence. |
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Satisfactory resolution can not be achieved by the Council, nor the |
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Foundation. It must be embraced by the wider gentoo dev community. In |
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fact remedies proposed here can be implemented by a hand full of astute |
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devs, should their convictions diverge from the council or foundation. |
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Therefore, this is a paramount issue for those with dev status and those |
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of us that have been participating with gentoo for quite a few years and |
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have first hand witnessed these dev-induced malfeasant actions. |
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|
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|
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|
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*please listen* and we can save this distro from the fiefdom of |
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constrained control, largely made possible by the dev community and the |
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senior (privileged) devs whom also have a tainted history with Gentoo. |
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Many senior devs have "clean hands" as we all know. Gentoo is not alone, |
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there is, Alpine linux, now the fiefdom of Docker, and the linux |
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kernel project are both viable candidates too, for scrutiny. In fact |
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there are many charity-tech organizations (particularly 501(c) which |
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can be portrayed as not being open but merely tax-avoidance schemes; |
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this effects us all, deeply. |
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|
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|
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> Also, to confirm what robbat2 suggested, Gentoo Foundation organizational |
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> questions including how to deal with the IRS (should that even be discussed on |
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> a publicly archived list?) find their best audience on the nfp list. |
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This can all be cleaned up. But decisive action needs to occur. Just |
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read on or lodge your complaints with the Council if you feel the need. |
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|
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> After all, whoever wants to participate can subscribe there, and whoever |
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> doesn't subscribe there probably doesn't *want* to hear about it. |
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|
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Where are you statistics? Let's hold a vote and ask gentoo-users to |
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participate, if they like. A move to silence would be very interesting |
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as a point of argument against your position. Perhaps Mr. Robbins can |
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weigh on his experiences and perspectives? Other, bitter devs that have |
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left? Countless others that have been mistreated (at least in their |
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eyes) during their attempted journey to dev status? |
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|
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|
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SO:: |
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Only three things need to occur, to fix this mess. The past is not a |
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problem, if when confronted with the truth the distro leaders take |
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significant corrective actions. Converting what accounting records are |
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known to gnucash, is trivial. So here are (3) actionable steps that can |
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be achieved in short order and some of the reasons from the IRS point of |
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view as to why they are of timely, actionable significance. |
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|
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(1) A GLEP that expedites and makes forking gentoo, relative as easy as |
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possible. |
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(2) An easy and straightforward method(s) to install gentoo. Stage-4, |
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CD, ansible, ignition etc etc. |
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(3) A documented pathway to become a dev on gentoo, with all |
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requirements, tests and re-testing documented fairly and applied to all, |
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new devs and existing devs alike. |
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Why (1):: This allows most anyone be a gentoo dev. Lots of viable forks |
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can be a home for learning, training and development of a wide diversity |
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of different levels on technical competence, demonstrated by |
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successfully being 'a gentoo or gentoo-fork developer'. Technologies |
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like Java, could easily be supported should they choose to allow |
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non-sources into the ebuild process, for their gentoo-forked-distro. |
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Each fork can have their own dev rules. Anyone can fork gentoo and the |
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master of that fork, manages that gentoo-sub-culture as they deem |
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reasonable. Migration to dev-proper, can be a more difficult pathway, |
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but needs to be open and fair. Training is conducted in the forks; one |
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fork could be just for training for those seeking dev-status in |
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gentoo-proper. Seriously, being a dev is no big deal. The quintessential |
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quality or skill, is knowing which ebuilds to monkey with which ebuilds |
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to leave alone. |
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This enables (by active promotion) any individual, corporation or |
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business to benefit from a deployment of gentoo or a customized version |
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of gentoo, just like a privileged few corporations have benefited |
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(google, CoreOS etc). Without many companies at least testing and some |
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using gentoo, Gentoo is mostly a fiefdom of certain companies. This is |
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evidenced by the history of devs that work at these companies and have |
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been or currently are gentoo devs. It's back-channel control, evidenced |
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by irc and other venues where only certain folks can listen. Since we |
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can assume the IRS and various other governmental agencies, and some |
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private companies like google, pretty much have every bit and byte of |
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gentoo's history logged; let's not pretend that the past is some big |
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unknown. It is hidden and camouflaged from the public, particularly the |
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older issues and evidence streams, but that's really not a problem, once |
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lawyers get involved. Much is publically available too. It's just how |
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things occurred. |
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Forking Gentoo just opens up and encourages all to benefit from 100% |
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source builds, gentoo style. |
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Why (2):: When the IRS looks at gentoo, the most common tool and metric |
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they'll use is "What do the other charities in this category do?" |
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Statistically, linux distros have 'an automated or semi-automated' |
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installation. Since gentoo has had many, including stage-4, CD and usb |
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and such, it can be viewed as a vindictive policy that only serves to |
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block others while creating a control mechanism to the point of |
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exclusion. The current artificial barriers to installation, aka "follow |
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the handbook" will be viewed by discerning eyes as a significant |
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and unnecessary obstruction to wider public use. Any dev can make |
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arguments as the virtues of a painful, manual install, but economically |
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it is an unnecessary blocker or a recalcitrant hindrance to progress and |
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that is one of easy pathways to justify re-classification of gentoo, as |
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a fiefdom. A lack of easy installation semantics, is intentional, |
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destructive, and economically disadvantages small companies and most |
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individuals from the wonderful benefits of Gentoo. In the eyes of the |
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IRS, a fiefdom is often more serious than a known "criminal enterprise". |
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If you do not believe me, find a retired IRS agent and ask them in their |
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experiences, what the IRS does to a fiefdom, masquerading as a charity? |
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WHY (3):: Update the exam every (2) years and require all devs take the |
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exam to re-qualify. Publish the old exams and correct answers, once the |
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exams are updated. It's about ensuring a basic knowledge base and should |
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be allowed to be re-taken, without restriction until correct. IRC is |
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vindictive and there are numerous cases where than can easily be |
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established by the legal community as corrosive, at best, to those that |
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are the victims. That's why everybody else has written exams, once they |
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have been sued (in the corporate world). Linux distros live in a |
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different world and no doubt many enjoying the benefits of 501(c) |
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status, and have many of the same types of problems as Gentoo. |
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The dev community is constrained and undocumented as to how to become a |
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dev., historically. Immediately create a written exam that is all one |
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has to pass be a gentoo dev and combine that with other reasonable |
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requirements and a few ebuilds created from scratch. Require all devs to |
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take the written exam, on a bi-annual basis. As many retries as |
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necessary to pass should the exam should be generously available. New |
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EAPI skills are just one temporal development that should be the target |
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of the dev exams. Dev status should be about a fair and open assessment |
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of skills and historical accomplishments (your body of ebuild works). |
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The current irc-oral-nighmare examination is merely a prejudicial |
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blocker (ask an attorney) that can be and has been applied subjectively. |
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There is nothing wrong with posting the questions and answers to |
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previous exams; in fact that should be routine. Being a gentoo dev, to |
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be legally fair, should be about obtaining a certification, much like |
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RHEL or Cisco or other relevant technical standards. Right now, it a |
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boys club, that can easily be viewed as a significant and unnecessary |
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'cost barrier to entry' to an extraordinarily valuable fiefdom. |
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CoreOS is little more than binary gentoo, with a few slick management |
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tools, although I guessing they'd beg to differ. It's easy to install |
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and easier to manage, with our without a formal business relationship. I |
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like CoreOS, I think it's great. But my point is they have automated |
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installation, and share those codes. So Gentoo's position on making it |
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so dam convoluted to install and refusing to offer any form of simple, |
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CD based install, is extremely prejudicial to new folks interested in |
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the power of gentoo. That is the essence of a fiefdom. We have |
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assimilated a wide variety of CoreOS ebuilds into gentoo, to lower their |
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cost of ebuild management, one could argue. But the complete set of |
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CoreOS ebuilds required to bring gentoo up to commercial viability has |
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intentionally been not supported. Just go read about CoreOS's "ignition" |
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or "bare-metal" it's a robust method to install from bare metal, before |
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systemd or other init system commitments have to be instantiated. |
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Simply brilliant and totally awesome! |
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One could argue that systemd is being promoted as an additional false |
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blocker on gentoo and the wider linux distros. This "favoring of |
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systemd" when the rank and file users of gentoo favor anything but |
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systemd, only furthers the arguments of collusion between distro and |
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linux kernel blockers to competition. Before you argue, show me the |
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cluster codes and the wiki pages within gentoo, and detail how to build |
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a Gentoo cluster, that does not rely on Systemd. I do not wish to argue |
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systemd at the gentoo level, but do wish to include systemd policy at |
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the linux-kernel-level as a blocker to free and open competition from |
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traditional Open source /linux/uinx. In the entire history of linux |
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there has never been such an orchestrated and contrive and required |
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piece of linux kernel code, that violates so many historical semantics |
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of both linux and open source as systemd. CHOICE, the mantra of FOSS |
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and linux is being severely and artificially constrained by the |
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commercial interests behind systemd. The uptake of systemd is the |
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smoking gun of evidence that many tech projects, proclaiming to be |
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charities are, in deed, a ruse for constrained, monopolistic behavior, |
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orchestrated by the few that have beneficial relationships with specific |
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corporations. It's not speculation it is the basis of valid economic |
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arguments that can be use by the IRS, in the name of taxation, Homeland |
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security, and in the name of a national security threat. Any number of |
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hungry lawyers that just need a payday can participate. So this tainted |
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behavior by the linux kernel folks now infects most linux distros and it |
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is anti-competive at best and most likely monopolistic and vindictive, |
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were it to be litigated fully. Luckily, I'm not sure the new |
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administration has the talent to litigate or resolve this sort of |
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monopolistic behavior. The fact that such actions can bring in billions |
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of dollars to the federal treasury, well, I'm not so sure that's not of |
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extreme interest to the new leaders of the IRS. |
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Now any senior Gentoo dev and the council may classify this next part as |
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"conspiracy theory" but it's not. It's reality and it does effect all of |
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the gentoo linux community, the wider linux user folks and 501(c) |
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organizations that use or are integral to the linux community:: |
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|
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The new administration is going to need billions/trillions of dollars to |
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finance the rebuilding of American industry (fact). The IRS is their |
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chief agent to "bring in the revenues" (fact). The IRS can reclassify |
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the linux kernel project, as a tax dodge, a fiefdom and a threat to |
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national security, for a large array of previous "sins". (needs to be |
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proven, but the way the IRS works, they "squeeze" but one company, the |
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word get's and the deal cutting commences in a fury-rush to settle) (so |
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FACT). This "squeeze" automatically makes any number of Large |
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Corporations, around the world, tax liable (fact) and motivated to |
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appease the new leadership team (we shall see). |
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|
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Many global corps will sell out to cut a quick deal, and pay all sorts |
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of fees, penalties and back taxes to cover the value of what the linux |
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kernel has done for their product sales. I.E. they pay the linux kernel |
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taxes on behave of their interest and gains for using a tax-dodge like |
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the linux-kernel. There will be a rush to move industry back to the US. |
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Trump has to do very little, other than grant audiences and take victory |
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laps, as he chooses. Naturally, Trump, being a deal maker will bring |
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back millions of jobs and thousands of manufacturing facilities to US |
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controlled soil. This return is strategic to national defense, so even |
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what's left of the establishment-corrupted-republicans are going to have |
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to get on-board (speculation), they'll be allowed to funnel some |
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proceeds to the DoD, as is always the goal of establishment republicans. |
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Democrats will be glad and supportive as jobs for their constituents |
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will also be in the mix of benefits. |
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Likewise Brexit, Italy, china and others will smartly-rush to complete |
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their industrial bases and local markets so all the world will prosper. |
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Those H1B visas folks here in the US, dude, international VCs and |
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Globalist organizations are all going to start a rigorous recruitment of |
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that talent, so as to build up their home nations. India reigns supreme |
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here, but all will look to incentivize those H1B folks to return home |
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and enjoy commercial prosperity and be part of their own, national |
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resurgence. Trump will champion the prosperity rights of those H1B visa |
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folks that return home asap and their homeland governments will join in |
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to, welcoming home those H1B visa folks, many which have been abused by |
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global corporations while here in the US. |
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The world shall proper, without limit, and 'Trump the Chump' ( propular |
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Democratic chant) then becomes hailed as 'Trump the Champ' of human |
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rights and prosperity for all peoples around the world. Yes the global |
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elites will pay some new taxes (to their designation home country) but |
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they'll financially heal up, just fine, and peace will flourish around |
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the globe. Can you imagine how Pakistan and Iran and others will prosper |
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when most of their smartest citizens return home to start new |
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businesses? America will prosper mightily too, probably the most, as |
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deep patriotism rebound and economic prosperity is had, but all. |
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There is more than sufficient talent and new talent available, despite |
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the BS that TECH purpots, right here now in American. Numerous experts |
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have kept tabs on the numbers of STEM college kids, who are US citizens, |
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that are routinely discriminated against for jobs. Fully one half of |
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them never get stem jobs. California has class about lawsuit against |
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quite a few TECH giants for discrimination against older (particularly |
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white-male) workers. Stupid hyperbole like "goolyness" is the defense. |
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A Tsunami is coming in that direction, once it is branded a "national |
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defense" issue. TECHs intentional efforts to marginalize millions of |
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American Citizens, is not going to play well with the new leaders of the |
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IRS. (fact and already a deep promise). And yes a forkable gentoo, can |
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and should lead the charge of global tech prosperity. In fact, Gentoo is |
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uniquely positioned to be in a position of leadership. Do you have any |
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idea of the millions and millions of dollars in government program |
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grants that are going to be available to those 'charities' that assist |
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the new administration ? Prosperity and nationalism for all nations, |
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despite what academics and globalist say, is going to very, very good |
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for middle class folks and wise, fleet-footed business leaders. |
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The history of the linux kernel project is littered with dead companies, |
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many because they could not get their devices to be supported by the |
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linux kernel project. Regardless of reason, all of those technical |
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arguments will not hold up in a court of law, because |
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most of the kernel is optional; just don't compile in those sources |
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you do not like. Do no harm. Dirt simple, economically. Blockers, |
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regardless of good intentions, standards, or whatever, have |
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disadvantaged companies to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. |
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Some filtering might be justifiable, but a large amount of what has |
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occurred, was baseless and destructive to competition. Other |
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corporations did the exact same thing and it was blessed and included |
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in the sources. The linux kernel project is ripe for labeling as any |
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number of disruptive, noncompetitive or national security threats. |
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|
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The IRS, and any number of agencies can pierce this 'holy vial' of |
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economic hippocracy, with trivial effort, because legally all you have |
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to do is find one example, historically, where one company did something |
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and others were not allow the same opportunity and the entire hoax is |
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legally exposed. Corporate American and many international companies |
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have been "doodling the linux kernel" for a long time to their |
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competitive advantage over other competing companies. It continues on |
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today:: here is a prime example where it can be argued that Intel and |
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Nvidia are the economic beneficiaries of blocking AMD [1] as a |
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competitor, via verbiage and hubris that others have been allow to |
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orchestrate. If I were AMD, I'd go public, go legal and to Home Land |
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Security and start pleading their case. This clearly shows deception as |
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blatant economic discrimination by the linux-kernel-folks. Just make |
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it modular, for now, and AMD can use profits from the sale of equipment, |
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to hire folks to do things as 'the brain trust' at the linux kernel so |
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demand. As a blocker, AMD will be burdened and unnecessarily delayed, so |
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Intel and Nvidia continue to prosper in an unfair and unreasonably |
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contrived deception. |
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The linux kernel project is the 'one stop shop' Where Trump/Pence have |
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most of the tech industry, "by the balls". And it is known in keen |
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circles as such. That's why "TECH" is already the "bitch" of the ICEMAN. |
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Unknown is the size and methods of relief that shall be extracted. If |
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Trumps fails the citizens on fixing jobs and manufacturing and the |
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nation, then he'll be a one-term president. Trump needs revenue and |
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squeezing TECH is his best most fair alternative. After all, TECH, under |
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Obama have paid a tiny fraction, of what they should have paid in taxes, |
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while many other industries where heavily tax and regulated into oblivion. |
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Trump/Pense are the GoodCop/ICEMAN team and they are looking to clean |
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things up a bit and bring in revenue to fund a more equitably and |
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distributed industrial base in American. TECH, has run afoul. TECH, |
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particularly the purveyors of the Internet, went to ridiculous extremes |
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to defeat Trump/Pense in the election and they lost. There is a |
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house-cleaning coming, including the civil rights violations of many |
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American by TECH. The new government is going to get cart-blanche |
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permission to violate citizen's privacy, for national-security reasons |
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only, but TECH's days are numbered. All of this will either be embraced |
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by TECH (the wise ones that read the tea-leafs) or by the IRS and |
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Homeland Security, as part of a cleaning up of the IoT industries that |
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have become a national security threat and a haven for nefarious |
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activists. Home much of the illegal and nefarious activities of the IoT |
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Bots has ended up in the databases of TECH? Somebody has to pay, and |
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TECH has deep pockets, that mostly support democrats and are due to pay |
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some taxes. |
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GENTOO can be cleaned up, quite easily, and become the wonderful readily |
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available linux distro to fork or install, as it once was when |
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installation was a snap. In can and should be used, globally and thus |
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should play a key role in re-repatriating H1B folks into their own |
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homeland, in a most prosperous position. If Gentoo's leadership becomes |
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wise, we can save this distro and make it shine like no other linux |
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distro can, and the readers of this list know what I am saying is truth |
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and empowering to all people and to small to mid-sized businesses. A |
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small team of devs could pull off (1-3) if they decide to clean up |
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gentoo, without Council/Foundation approval. Let's remove the blockers |
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and make gentoo readily accessible to the masses, as all charities |
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should do. Perform task (1-3), rapidly and I'll personally put together |
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a team that handles the corrupted (jaded?) past problems of Gentoo and |
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that also launches gentoo into outstanding status at the IRS and a |
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pristine charity of good and moral conduct, quite worthy of donations |
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and research grants and philanthropic gifts. Guaranteed! |
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Right now, Gentoo is at best a boys club; probably a fiefdom, if the IRS |
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wants to use it as a stepping stone to those with deeper pockets in |
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TECH. God know we have lots of unemployed STEM folks that can |
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economically benefit, should the ICEMAN decided TECH needs to be audited |
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both the history and source codes in use by those TECH companies. Think |
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about it, TECH starts to pony up taxes and fines and all sorts of |
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revenue, to the ICEMAN and his teams, and millions of underemployed US |
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citizens get employed to audit these TECH companies, line by line. Why |
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TECH could create paychecks for millions of jobs here in the US and the |
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benefits would be widely distributed to other companies and places |
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around the US. |
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Regardless *THE ICEMAN COMMETH*. and how do we prepare? |
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[1] |
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https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/dri-devel/2016-December/126516.html |
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|
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|
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> Andreas K. Huettel |
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> Gentoo Linux developer |
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> dilfridge@g.o |
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> http://www.akhuettel.de/ |
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|
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James Horton, |
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Optimist |