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On Tue, Apr 10, 2018 at 11:47 AM, Matthew Thode <prometheanfire@g.o> |
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wrote: |
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> |
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> |
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> Gentoo is a product, the Gentoo Foundation is a business. There are |
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> many volunteer run orgs that are businesses. Maybe it's not the same |
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> world wide? |
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Careful here. "Business" generally means a for-profit entity and in this |
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sense the Foundation is *not* a business. It is a not-for-profit |
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corporation, run by trustees, elected by members. As a corporation, it has |
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similar legal standing as a for-profit company, but operates with a |
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different goal. Maybe this is what you meant. |
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Its goal is not profit or to market a "product". Gentoo Linux is not a |
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"product" and the scope of the Foundation does not need to be limited |
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purely to Gentoo Linux, although clearly, this is the primary means of |
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achieving its purpose. |
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The Foundation does have a purpose, and that mission is to advance |
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understanding and education of software technology, primarily via the |
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open/free nature of Gentoo Linux, providing the public with control of and |
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insight into the software they use, and source code. This is its mission, |
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to serve the public in this way. There appears to be confusion regarding |
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this mission. Think of all you have learned from being part of Gentoo, |
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thanks to the nature of free software, and how many users have more |
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influence/control over the software they run, due to giving them insight |
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into how their technology works -- via USE variables, building from source, |
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etc. These are all ways that Gentoo has allowed people to learn about |
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technology and be active participants in their software ecosystem, rather |
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than just being passive consumers of something someone else created. |
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Best, |
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|
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-Daniel |
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