Re: [gentoo-project] Re: A plan for Gentoo

[Daniel Robbins]

typo: Medico, not Medio :)

On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 4:40 PM, Daniel Robbins <drobbins@××××××.org> wrote:

> Hi Andreas,
>
> Yes, you bring up an old argument I had with ciaranm (who I am sure no one
> has ever got in an argument with before, wink wink.)
>
> Looking at my past, I think you may find it a familiar trajectory that
> resonates with a lot of senior Gentoo contributors: unbridled youthful
> enthusiasm, which then turns into incredible productivity and growth, then
> additional burdens, responsibilities and demands, resulting in eventual
> burn-out and cynicism. I was the first astronaut to be launched into orbit,
> so to speak, so I got to experience this fantastic voyage first -- but I am
> sure you know others who have followed in my foot-steps in this area. So I
> think the point you raise is actually important, but it should not be
> presented as a personal attack on me, but as a general weakness in Gentoo
> related to mentorship, growth and direction for senior-level Gentoo
> contributors and providing them with positive (good for the project, good
> for them) outlets for their immense talent, while preventing their
> incredible influence gained within the project from turning into a negative
> and causing internal strife.
>
> Everyone needs a path of growth, including our most senior people. I can
> tell you from personal experience that dealing with this by having an
> internal civil war is not good for the project or for those personally
> involved. It can be extremely damaging. I feel like I have felt the pain of
> walking this path and am motivated to prevent other senior Gentoo
> developers from eventually becoming cynical and burnt out. I have talked to
> a couple recently who are clearly experiencing this. I frankly think this
> is very important to address for the health of the project. In particular,
> we have recently lost vapier and I am concerned about a few others. I think
> that the solution to this is to have a vision of forward evolution and
> growth of the project -- we need new, bigger challenges and our most senior
> people need to 'graduate' into playing a leading role in shaping the future
> of technology. We all need to support one another instead of fighting
> amongst each other.
>
> The phrase of 'non-voting council member' is essentially meaningless -- I
> ask that I would be included in council meetings and allowed to speak
> during them. I think this is a reasonable request considering my
> background. My intention is to contribute. If I were to simply be invited
> to these meetings, and sincerely allowed to participate and not experience
> any passive-aggressive behavior from council members who may prefer to not
> have me there, I think this would be sufficient. If it seemed presumptuous
> to propose a vote or a special role, I understand, apologize, and I assure
> you that it is motivated by enthusiasm and not expectation of special
> treatment.
>
> FWIW, I have applied to be a non-committing Gentoo developer. Zac Medio is
> my mentor, so I will be completing that process. I have interest in being
> involved in the following roles:
>
> 1) Council. I would be happy to participate in council meetings. Just know
> that if I were invited to participate, I would.
>
> 2) Trustees. I notice that we only have four trustees. I would be happy to
> serve as the 'fifth Beatle' which would legally obligate me in my role as
> trustee to represent the interests of the Gentoo Foundation and the health
> of the project, and coordinate with attorneys, etc.
>
> 3) Contributor. I will continue to work with Zac Medico on resolving
> various obscure Portage bugs (often this is more of an IRC discussion and
> exploration of possibilities to solve the problem, which results in some
> kind of definitive plan to address a long-standing bug.) I am also planning
> to work with robbat2 on a genkernel rewrite and am open to other areas of
> collaboration, both personally and between Gentoo and Funtoo.
>
> 4) Metastructure. I would like to start thinking about how to build a
> positive future for those very senior Gentoo developers who have
> traditionally experienced burn-out and cynicism.
>
> 5) Fund-raising. I would ideally like to see the Gentoo Foundation have an
> operating budget of around .5M USD. I think this is an achievable goal.
> This means having a positive vision for Gentoo that we can communicate
> outwards and that resonates with the world.
>
> 6) Collaboration. I have some interesting ideas for how we can build
> win-win relationships with Google, Sony and other organizations that are
> using Gentoo -- we can do more than we are doing now.
>
> 7) Developer. Ongoing work on Portage and genkernel, and other areas.
>
> Regards,
>
> Daniel
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 1:17 PM, Andreas K. Huettel <dilfridge@g.o>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Daniel,
>>
>> I think it's a good thing that you intend to contribute to Gentoo directly
>> again. After all, we are happy about all material contributions.
>>
>> That said...
>>
>> I don't see the point of the "non-voting council member" special
>> treatment at
>> all; I draw a hard line there. Council meetings are public and usually
>> unmoderated, and constructive comments are always welcome. No special
>> rules
>> needed (and also no special rules possible, but I don't intend to hide
>> behind
>> formalities).
>>
>> My suggestion would be
>> * you contribute (which is fully enough to say "Daniel is back and
>> helping out
>> Gentoo!")
>> * you get to know people, and people get to know you
>> * and you (try to) get elected to the council like everybody else.
>>
>> Let's be honest, I barely know you, and I've been around for about 7 years
>> now. (That's much longer than you ever were Gentoo developer by the
>> way...)
>>
>> And we should also take into consideration that George Santayana quote,
>> "Those
>> Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." I made it my task to
>> read
>> up old e-mail threads and logs, and you then stumble upon
>> https://lwn.net/
>> Articles/224615/ <https://lwn.net/Articles/224615/> ...
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Andreas
>>
>> --
>> Andreas K. Hüttel
>> dilfridge@g.o
>> Gentoo Linux developer
>> (council, toolchain, perl, libreoffice, comrel)
>>
>
>