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Dear Mr Robbins, |
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|
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Hello, my name is Steve Petrovits |
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(l8tr2000@×××××.com), I can often be found in #gentoo |
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on irc as iLLf8d. I'm an active member of the San |
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Fernando Valley Linux Users Group. I was asked to make |
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a presentation for the group, and as my topic I chose |
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Gentoo Linux. I've been eager to try your distribution |
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since my first exposure to your site. I currently run |
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Gentoo, Debian and FreeBSD and have eagerly awaited a |
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ports based Linux distribution for quite some time. |
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I'm writing you to gather a bit of information not |
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found on the gentoo site. I am scheduled to give my |
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presentation on Saturday July 13th, this coming |
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Saturday, a response before then would be greatly |
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appreciated, tho I know you're very busy. I'm very |
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new to Gentoo, and have only been running it for a few |
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weeks, although, I've been quite happy with its |
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performance. I've combed the sites documentation and |
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links for background info on the project, and any |
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insights as to the possible course of Gentoo in the |
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future, however the site is all business. I plan to |
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try to cover a number of links from your projects, |
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portage, your social contract, features etc... all of |
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this info is easily found on the site. There are a |
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few questions I have that aren't covered which will |
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add greatly to my presentation, hopefully someone will |
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have a bit of time to answer them for me. |
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|
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When was the project started (was the plan always to |
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create a distribution)? |
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|
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When did the project reach critical mass? |
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|
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The site plainly states that Gentoo is for the |
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experienced user, as Gentoo matures are there plans to |
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make it more accessible to a broader range of user |
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experience levels? |
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|
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Through daily operations I've noticed a hands off |
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approach to package and or system script |
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configurations, a number of standards across other |
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distributions are left at default. I started to |
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notice this, even during my install when I added a |
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user and noticed that his home path wasn't even |
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defined, when delving further I discovered that almost |
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everything related to this function was left at |
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default as is much of the system after the install. |
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Will this approach remain into the future? |
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|
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How large is your core team, and active developer |
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base. (is it larger than listed on the sites |
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developers page)? |
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|
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Lately it seems that distributions come and go, a few |
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that come to mind are (Sorcerer, Storm, Corel) how |
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strong is Gentoo's current position, and developer |
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support? |
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|
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Are there any plans to simplify the installation |
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process? |
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|
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I've noticed that you've published a number of |
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excellent tutorials and papers on IBM developerWorks, |
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is IBM using, or have they expressed any interest in |
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Gentoo as a packaged server solution in the future? |
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|
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Is Gentoo linked with IBM in any way? |
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|
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I've been lurking in #gentoo for what must be a year |
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now, logging conversations for useful install info, |
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and watching devel/user interactions. I've noticed |
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that developer accessiblity and the number of |
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experienced users in channel has dropped, although |
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theres also been the creation of a forum onsite, and a |
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number of new channels on OPN. What is the reason for |
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this shift (maturation of the dist and less demand for |
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support, fervored development leaving less time for |
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user interaction, a change in support venue etc.. )? |
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|
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What are your plans for Gentoo now and into the |
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future? |
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|
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If you were giving this presentation, what information |
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would you add that could not be found on the site? |
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|
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Is there any information, in the form of handouts or |
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otherwise that you would like me to distribute to the |
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group? |
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|
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I've got a number of other questions i'd like to ask |
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(related to my own gentoo experience) however, I know |
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you're quite busy therefore I'll try to catch you |
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in IRC at your convenience. I apologise if any of |
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these questions were covered on the site, I have a |
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tendency to drift over to the most interesting |
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sections and forget my presentation research entirely. |
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Thank you for your time. |
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|
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Steve |
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(l8tr2000@×××××.com) |
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|
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PS. On a personal note I'd like to thank you and your |
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developers for all your work and for this great |
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addition to the Linux Community. |
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|
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__________________________________________________ |
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Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free |
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