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On Tue, 2006-01-03 at 09:28 -0800, Donnie Berkholz wrote: |
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> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- |
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> Hash: SHA1 |
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> |
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> Simon Stelling wrote: |
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> | My point is, either you have to generalize each project's goal to a real |
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> | triviality or you have to define a goal which doesn't match some |
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> | project's goals. Conclusion: Let it be. |
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> |
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> Not necessarily. I just wrote on my blog [1] about this, and got a |
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> constructive comment [2], which I'll talk a little about. |
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> |
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> Here's one example of a global goal: Reduce the learning curve of Gentoo |
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> and increase its usability. |
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|
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The problem here is that the two don't necessarily correlate. They |
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*can* but many times they don't. |
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|
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A common thing I have heard about the comparison between Windows and |
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Linux is this: |
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|
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In Windows, it is easy to learn how to do the simple things, and |
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extremely hard to do the complex things, if possible, at all. |
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|
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In Linux, it is hard to learn how to do the simple things, yet it gets |
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easier to use the system as one uses it more and more. |
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|
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As a prime example, I strongly believe that making Gentoo "as easy as |
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possible" can only come about by reducing its usability. If there is a |
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large number of choices, no matter how well documented, it isn't easy |
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for a beginner. The only way I can see to make installing Gentoo "as |
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easy as possible" is by removing choice and functionality to the point |
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of it being a few clicks of the mouse and everything being done for you. |
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The problem is that anything that is stated generally can be taken to an |
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extreme. If you say "as easy as possible" then I think unattended |
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identical installations for all Gentoo machines. After all, what's |
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easier than that? |
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|
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I would *never* agree to this, nor force any member of any project that |
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I am a part of to participate in such an endeavour, so you now already |
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have at least one person opposed to it. Would action be taken against |
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me? Who knows. The point is that we do not get paid. You cannot force |
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volunteers to do things they do not want to do. |
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|
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There are workable solutions to this problem, but none that I see as |
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very effective for us. |
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|
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For one, we could leave things alone. This works fairly well for a |
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project even as large as ours. Sure, there are people out there that |
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think that this doesn't work, but the truth is that they might be |
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looking to have Gentoo become something that it is not. |
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|
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Second, we could "fire" most of the developers and move to a paid |
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developer pool. This would ensure that developers would do what they're |
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told. |
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|
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Third, we could come up with some form of enforcement (CEO, council, |
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whatever) capable of "firing" developers that stray too far from the |
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proposed Gentoo goals. This will quickly bring back the "cabal" screams |
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and will probably result in the very quick diminishing of the Gentoo |
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developer pool. |
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|
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I think part of the problem is that many people are forgetting exactly |
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what Gentoo really is. Gentoo is not a distribution of Linux. Gentoo |
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is not anything more than a loosely bound group of developers all doing |
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their own thing in a collaborative and collective manner. You cannot |
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use corporate thinking to manage such a beast. We don't have mission |
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statements. We don't have road maps. We don't have quarterly earnings |
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and market projections. We simply exist. The only way we can give |
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Gentoo a direction is by restricting what we, as developers, are allowed |
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to do. The only real restrictions we have right now are "be civil" and |
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"don't break stuff". Anything beyond that is inhibiting one of our |
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greatest strengths, our individuality and individual ideas. |
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|
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Do you want to be a part of a project that doesn't allow you to |
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implement some cool new feature because it might make Gentoo slightly |
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harder to use for some people and that's against the mission statement |
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so not allowed? |
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|
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-- |
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Chris Gianelloni |
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Release Engineering - Strategic Lead |
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x86 Architecture Team |
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Games - Developer |
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Gentoo Linux |