Re: [gentoo-dev] Monthly Gentoo Council Reminder for January

[Chris Gianelloni]

On Thu, 2006-01-05 at 04:31 +0000, Kurt Lieber wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 04, 2006 at 07:57:06PM -0800 or thereabouts, Greg KH wrote:
> > > Which is why Gentoo has jumped the shark and is now on a long, slow
> > > decline.
> >
> > Ok, then what should Gentoo do to fix this percieved decline?
>
> Exactly what a lot of folks will have kittens about; appoint a CEO, leader,
> boss, manager, etc.  (you know, all those corporate-type words that raise
> the hackles of nearly everyone on this list.)

You mean the same thing that we *had* that caused the loss of quite a
few good developers and drove many people away from Gentoo before they
ever even learned of its values.  Sounds like an excellent plan.

> Right now, Gentoo is this gigantic, obese amoeba that just sort of sits in
> one place.  Different parts of it try to go in different directions, with
> the net result being that the whole body never goes anywhere.  We haven't
> done anything interesting or innovative over the last...year?  two years?
> We have no effective leadership whatsoever.  We spend far too much time
> arguing amongst ourselves instead of working as a team towards a common
> goal.

This is what I don't get.  So what if Gentoo is an amoeba?  Does it
really matter?  Would you rather that we dropped Gentoo/ALT, Hardened,
Embedded, and anything else interesting just so we can focus on a "core
technology" of some sort?  Remember that we are not out to make money.
We are a not-for-profit for a reason.  We don't have to answer to
investors and shareholders.

Another thing that I see people fail to really comprehend is what
exactly "interesting and innovative" can we do?  I would have thought
that the introduction of our Gentoo Linux Installer would qualify.  What
about the Hardened LiveCD?  Gentoo's Knoppix-style CD?  All of the
working going into Gentoo for Mac OS X and Gentoo/BSD?  The extension of
the embedded/uclibc stuff to many more architectures?

It seems as if just because something doesn't tickle the fancy of the
Linux World Expo corporate types it isn't important.

> We should appoint one person to lead the project.  Make sure that person
> knows WTF they're doing, are respected by the right developers, has a good
> vision for Gentoo and then let them make decisions.  Expect people to
> adhere to the decisions and, if they don't, invite them to find other
> opportunities for their creative outlet.

Fine.  I vote for vapier.  So next time he tells you to touch his wang,
you better damn well listen.  ;]

> That person should figure out what Gentoo wants to be when it grows up.

Gentoo doesn't want to be anything.  Gentoo is not a thing.  Gentoo is a
*collection* of over 300 individuals.  We are not some corporate entity
where individualism is destroyed for the corporate party line.

Honestly, it sounds to me like that is what you want.

I welcome you to fork Gentoo to do this.  I'll be glad to assist you in
any way that I can without giving up my ideas for where I want to take
my projects within Gentoo.  I respect that you should do the same,
rather than hijack the distribution as a whole for your own purposes.

> S/he should carefully consult the various stakeholders, look at the
> strengths/weaknesses of Gentoo as it stands currently and then figure out
> where the best direction is for it to proceed.  They should then be
> responsible for making sure everyone (and I mean *everyone*) executes
> according to this direction.  Folks who disagree with the vision will be
> able to go their own direction and start their own projects.  That's the
> beauty of the GPL.

So booting developers that have a technical reason for doing something
different should be the norm?

> Anyway, I have no illusions of this idea ever being implemented in the
> current Gentoo environment.  /shrug.  It was a good ride.

I'm glad to hear that.  It really sounds like you are interested in
turning Gentoo into some worthless shell of what it is currently.  Sure,
it'll have "added value" and "perceived worth" to the corporate drones,
but any room for innovation and creativity will have been completely
stifled by group think and yes men.  Using your own example, you and
anyone willing to work under such conditions are more than welcome to
fork Gentoo.  After all, you can use all of our work as you wish.
That's the beauty of the GPL.

-- 
Chris Gianelloni
Release Engineering - Strategic Lead
x86 Architecture Team
Games - Developer
Gentoo Linux

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