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On 8/28/20 12:33 PM, james wrote: |
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> On 8/27/20 10:11 PM, Dale wrote: |
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>> james wrote: |
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>>> Gentoo, |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>>> https://blogs.gentoo.org/mgorny/2020/08/25/is-an-umbrella-organization-a-good-choice-for-gentoo/ |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>>> Surely some of the business/legal savvy folks want to "chime in" on |
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>>> Sir Gorny's proposal? |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>>> I just read this on 'hacker news' |
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>>> |
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>>> It just sounds like mostly a lack of fund raising to operate? |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>>> James |
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>>> |
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>>> |
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>> |
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>> |
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>> There's several issues that lead to this.� For ages, the financial |
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>> books were not kept up to date.� From what I recall, some paperwork |
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>> was lost which made it difficult to impossible to do the needed IRS |
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>> filings. Things on that part seemed to snowball from there.� In |
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>> the past few years or so, that has been dealt with and from what I've |
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>> read, it is now up to date and they are trying to get back in good |
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>> standing with the IRS and other Govt entities.� I think I read |
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>> where most of the hard work as already been done, just needs time to |
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>> kick in.� It isn't hard to get into that situation, it just takes |
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>> one year with a mistake to trigger bad things.� It takes a lot of |
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>> work to get it cleared up tho.� All of us should be grateful to the |
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>> ones who put in the hard work to get that taken care of.� I'm sure |
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>> it took a lot of effort and time to get that done.� I'm sure it was |
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>> boring as heck to do as well.� Some of us would likely have no hair |
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>> left. |
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>> |
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>> Another issue, not many want to run the foundation.� The devs |
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>> mostly want to write code.� They aren't to much interested in |
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>> running the foundation part of it.� A few do because it is needed |
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>> and they do their best, some even go far beyond that, but they really |
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>> want to write code. That's what developers came to Gentoo for after |
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>> all. Since there is two different bodies that run Gentoo in different |
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>> ways, it further reduces the number of people wanting to do the |
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>> job.� The foundation part is from my understanding, bureaucratic |
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>> paperwork.� Who wants to do that for free?� There's not many. |
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>> Basically, if you run for a position on the foundation, it's good |
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>> odds you get it because usually just enough run to fill the open |
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>> spots.� I often wonder, do they draw straws to pick people to run |
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>> just so things keep chugging along??� LOL |
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>> |
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>> Then there is the costs.� It costs to deal with all the paperwork |
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>> and filings.� There's state filings as well as federal.� Missing |
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>> either of those can cause trouble for the other and also get |
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>> expensive and time consuming to correct.� Again, very few want to |
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>> deal with it.� The few that do likely do it because Gentoo needs it |
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>> not because they are jumping up and down wanting to do it.� It's |
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>> what keeps Gentoo going. It's cheaper to join some other group like |
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>> has been talked about for years and let them take a percentage of the |
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>> money and them as professionals handle all that nasty paperwork and |
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>> filings. |
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>> |
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>> My personal opinion.� I'm still leaning to keep Gentoo as it is but |
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>> I'm not the one doing all the boring work either.� My concern, |
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>> Gentoo joins some group and it ends badly for Gentoo.� Maybe they |
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>> screw up something and that puts Gentoo and maybe everyone else in |
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>> the group in jeopardy with govt entities or lawsuits.� On the other |
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>> hand, if Gentoo doesn't have the right people, they could do the same |
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>> thing to themselves.� The people who do run for those seats do try |
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>> their best even if something goes wrong.� Thing is, it doesn't take |
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>> much to run afoul of govt entities or trigger a lawsuit. Gentoo has |
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>> been lucky in that regard. There is no easy answer to this.� |
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>> Either way has advantages.� Same can be said for disadvantages as |
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>> well. |
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>> |
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>> I'm sure there is more that isn't known to the public and I'm sure |
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>> some things are escaping my mind at the moment.� Either way, |
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>> whatever keeps Gentoo going and successful, that is what needs to be |
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>> done.� Since I don't have a crystal ball, I'm not sure which is |
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>> best long term. |
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>> |
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>> Now someone add more to this.� ;-) |
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>> |
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>> Dale |
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>> |
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>> :-)� :-) |
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> |
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> The referenced article says this: |
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> |
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> "Right now we�re already relying on a CPA to handle our filings. For |
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> a commercial company (we are one now), the cost is $1500 a year." |
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> |
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> Seems way too high. I pay $500/yr for a C corp here in Florida; a firm |
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> that that is "outstanding" with the US IRS. |
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> |
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> |
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> "If we wanted to go for proper non-profit, the estimated cost is |
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> between $2000 and $3000 a year." |
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> |
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> |
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> Still seems way to high. With Gentoo, we can use Any state, so why not |
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> move the home to a low cost state? |
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> |
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> Many corps use Delaware, just for that reason. |
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I think most of those listed numbers are not just the official filing |
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fees, but include paying a CPA to do the filings. While certified CPA |
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is not required to do any of those filings, I suspect it is now that way |
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because historically, the volunteer who was supposed to do it didn't. |
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Paying someone does seem excessively expensive, but you know it will get |
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done, and if not, you have some legal recourse. |
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> |
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> |
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> "If we were to pass full accounting to an external company, the rough |
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> estimate I�ve been given by Trustees is $2400. So once our volunteer |
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> bookkeeper retires, we�re talking of around $4000 + larger taxes for |
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> a corporation, or $4500 to $5500 + very little taxes for a non-profit." |
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> |
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> |
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> Again, these numbers are WAY TOO HIGH. Shop around! |
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> Many states are way less expensive. |
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Again, I think those numbers are to pay someone to handle the filings, |
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not just the fees. I don't suppose it really changes much about the |
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discussion. |
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> |
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> |
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> Ok so ask why don't I volunteer? I've been using gentoo, since 2002. I |
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> have made many enemies, because of my views on the whole "install" |
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> abortion. WE could easily help another loosely coupled, gentoo |
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> derivative distro |
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> create a robust, easy install system, whilst leaving "Gentoo Proper" |
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> as an enclave for the brilliant. |
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> |
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> It there were agreement to that sort "diatribe", enthusiastically, |
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> THEN I could help the trustee situation, and help bring in lots of |
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> cash to pay devs for what every reason the technical leaders decide. |
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> |
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> CoreOS, gentoo-install (Mike Mol), CloverOS, and dozens and dozens |
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> (over the years) have solved this problem, bot did not receive any |
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> love or praise from the Gentoo devs...... |
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> |
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> |
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> So, if Gentoo wants money, as a charity, it is so simple, it hurts. |
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> BUT a few things have to change (non-negotiable)! |
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> |
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> |
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> I've done this too many times with dozens of folks. ALL are |
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> multi-millionaires. MONEY is easy, but it does come with strings |
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> (actually very few for something like gentoo). The current situation |
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> is pathetic and easy to fix. Be warned, when it comes to money, and I |
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> am on the responsibility chain, I tend to be a bit dictatorial. Once |
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> the money starts flowing in, I'd look to hand things off to a much |
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> younger techie, so he(she) can build there resume and I can drift back |
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> into oblivion, |
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> in a cabin, in the woods....... |
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> |
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> |
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> For me, it just breaks my heart to see Gentoo needed to have one of |
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> our (currently) awesome coders have to "prostrate" himself publicly |
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> like this. But, if a broken system/leadership is broken, then that is |
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> the sign things need to change. This has been a recurring situation, |
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> for 2 decades now. Just look around, most other distros have so much |
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> 'action' going on, they are rolling in cabbage. |
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> |
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> Perhaps the Gentoo council members ought to engage the gentoo-user |
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> list, directly? Surely others would have solution, very viable, to |
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> what I have proposed? |
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> |
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> The second thing I'd do, if on the council, is have a direct program |
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> for High School age kids to use Gentoo to become entrepreneurs. That's |
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> right, how to form a C-corp, write some codes and start receiving |
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> funds directly into their C-corp. Minimum goal? Self Funding for |
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> Secondary education. Learn Business via gentoo, and coding "from the |
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> masters" aka gentoo devs. |
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> |
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> There are tons of methods for young entrepreneurs to access funding |
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> and grants, if you "get your house in order". For that, it means a |
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> simple Rasp. Pi. 4 sourcecode install? The microprocessor companies |
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> would line up to build boards, for these kids. EASY as PIE! |
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> |
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> Be Bold and Be Bad_ass, if you want to live and prosper in this day |
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> and age. |
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> |
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> |
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> painfully, |
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> James |
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> |
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> |