Re: [gentoo-nfp] One Outsider's View

[Mike Frysinger]

On Monday 21 January 2008, Dan Moulding wrote:
> > the developer base has been discussing how to proceed forward while the
> > current trustees (current leadership as you put it) merely take the
> > steps. the discussion of SFC/SPI/whatever is not limited to the trustees
> > at the moment.
>
> Is the entire developer base participating in this process? Or are
> only a few? It seems like there has been a relatively small number of
> people actively participating in this discussion over the past week
> (at least on this list, which is where Grant asked for this discussion
> to take place).

this was plenty of discussion going on the -core list before drobbins posted 
anything, and more afterwards.  most people have not followed up on -nfp or 
their blogs.

> Perhaps this definition of "foundation members" and your definition of
> "Gentoo devloper base" are the same thing.

for the purpose of this thread, they are.  i just wasnt sure if you were 
thinking of "members" as being just "trustees".

> > it still takes people to step up and improve
> > quality, write new ebuilds, update documentation, write new
> > documentation, maintain the website, be nice to people, track the forums,
> > etc...  these issues are not tied to the legal status.
>
> You are correct in terms of the actual mechanics of getting these
> things done. The above list of things can be done whether or not a
> Gentoo Foundation even exists. However, when headlines like "Gentoo In
> Crisis" hit the frontpage on Slashdot because the legal side of things
> isn't going the way it's supposed to, it kinda hits the whole
> community in the gut... not just the people who are actually running
> the foundation. Regardless of whether the headlines are true or just
> sensationalist,

taking slashdot at face value is just crazy.  there was/is no crisis, just 
blowing things out of proportion.

> it can have (has had?) an impact on the morale of the community.

i cant really argue against this.  as you say, the validity of such stories 
are irrelevant when you look at the larger community.

> So, no, these two functions aren't totally separate. What
> happens to one can certainly affect the other.

everything in Gentoo land is related somehow.  that does not mean things 
cannot be done in parallel or that things cannot be accomplished without 
other parts going forward.  the legal status vs community support is exactly 
like this.  getting people to address all of the things you mention can be 
done completely independently of the legal status of the Foundation.  there 
is no need to sit back and say "well until our legal situation is sorted out, 
we cannot possibly improve ebuilds/documentation/community".
-mike