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Daniel Robbins Resigns As Chief Gentoo Architect

bdowne01 writes "Gentoo Linux has experienced rapid growth in the past year--much to the credit of Daniel Robbins, the founder and Chief Architect of the project. Earlier today, he announced his resignation from his role on the gentoo-nfp mailing list." Tester adds "But before leaving, he has set up a non-profit foundation that will own all of the copyrights to Gentoo. The initial board of trustees will be appointed by Daniel, but next year they will be elected. The membership of the foundation will be open." Reader burnitall points out a note on the Gentoo homepage reading "... We are extremely sad to see Daniel Robbins depart, and we both wish him the best in his new endeavors and promise that the door will always be open for his return." Robbins' message also indicates he hopes to continue working on the release engineering aspect of Gentoo.

200 of 361 comments (clear)

  1. Can't read the press release... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... it's still compiling.

    1. Re:Can't read the press release... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Don't worry, I'm waiting with open arms.

      Welcome, brother!

    2. Re:Can't read the press release... by mfifer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, but when it's done, you'll be able to read it REALLY FAST! ;-)

    3. Re:Can't read the press release... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      >> Isn't it kind of wierd that the installation of the new board was a fairly quick process?

      they used the stage3 tarboard...

    4. Re:Can't read the press release... by SQLz · · Score: 3, Funny

      Luckily Linux is a multi-tasking operating system...so, you can learn about the Binary packages while your compiling.

    5. Re:Can't read the press release... by kinzillah · · Score: 3, Informative

      Most of the benefits of compiling from scrath lie not in speed gains, but in the ability to customize the features available. Some packages allow you to choose gtk or qt, such as lyx or vlc.

      --
      Douglas P. Price
  2. It's A Shame.. by lindec · · Score: 3, Informative

    To see Daniel go, but at the very least, the copyrights have been entrusted to a nonprofit foundation, which gives me at least some peace of mind.

    1. Re:It's A Shame.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Gentoo has been talking about setting up a non-profit foundation for years now (currently is for-profit). Don't hold your breath until you actually see the paperwork

    2. Re:It's A Shame.. by Neil+Blender · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the copyrights have been entrusted to a nonprofit foundation

      Non-profits can be abused. Many non-profit charities pay their CEO's millions in salary and bonuses. I seem to remember the CEO of United Way getting paid something $25 million a while back. Non-profits can pretty much do anything they want with their money. Large paychecks, bonuses, wasteful spending, whatever... Anyway, just being non-profit does not make it a bastion of integrity.

    3. Re:It's A Shame.. by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1
      Non-profits can pretty much do anything they want with their money. Large paychecks, bonuses, wasteful spending, whatever

      They can do whatever they want? I thought it was more like they were obligated to? They're not supposed to make a profit, so they have to spend whatever income they get somehow, right?
      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
    4. Re:It's A Shame.. by EvanTaylor · · Score: 2, Interesting

      some of the ceos pull in so much money through being REALLY good salesmen that those salaries are worth it for the betterment of the fund.

      Some senators need to make a 100k dollars a day to be able to stay in the senate, think about it.

      --
      Sleep is for the weak.
    5. Re:It's A Shame.. by CaptainFrito · · Score: 1
      Non-profit means just that: they do not make a profit, which is to say that there is not supposed to leave any money extra at the end of the year -- for the organization. So that money has to be distributed. But they are businesses to be sure, and their execs and the gov't officials that retire and become consultants profit handsomely. Also, they do get to retain some earnings when it's really obscene, like with the Red Cross and its sale of blood. I think that in one recent year, it reported some $800 million in "income after expenses", which is profit by another name.

      Non-profits have the aire of unbiased, pure of mission, free from the distorting effects of greed. But how long will organizations like the Red Cross promote the sale and use of blood and blood products, certainly one of the most dangerous subsantances used in medicine today (this is a very informed opinion, btw), be allowed to continue? So long as the bureaucracy that now feeds off of it can keep itself alive. And like some obese creature with no self control, it will continue to spread death and disease through blood because its propaganda machine keeps convincing people trhat they save lives and should be supported. No doubt its execs get rewarded, even though its abuses are very well documented. And they are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Only some one really really naiive thinks that such money should be given to the fund's execs as a reward for 'doing good.' They most often are rewarded for successfully raising money. But these organizations, while they do offer some releif along the lines of their charters, often just feed money back to their well heeled supporters (advocates, not financial contributors) through fat contracts and whatnot. It's just another form of the ol' perk-trough.

      Judas Iscariot thought he should be paid for his non-profit work. Nobody else he worked with thought so, for him or themselves, so he just took some of the 'extra' cash. Should he be excused because he wanted to sell the fragrant oil [used on Jesus just before his execution] and give the proceeds to the poor? Of course not; no matter his stated motive, his true motive was greed and power. Jesus and the others thought differently. Could you imagine Jesus as the president of the United Way? The Red Cross? Of course not, because these companies, while appearing noble in purpose through the thin veil of 'non-profit', are simply masking the real motive for their existence -- profiting personally.

      In the end, if you really want to help people, simnply help hose that you know. If you want to do good, do good, but don't go around drawing attention to yourself for doing it. If Robbins wants to resign, he should be allowed to do so without a whole lot of explanation. Though as a Gentoo user I am disappointed and concerned. But he seems, at least, to be someone who gave to the 'community' out of genuine concern. However to justify profligacy of execs of hugely funded 'non-profits' is stretching the point beyond its elasticity. And wrong. I think it was Harry Truman who said, 'the only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.' How true.

    6. Re:It's A Shame.. by metamatic · · Score: 1

      Many non-profit charities pay their CEO's millions in salary and bonuses. [...] Non-profits can pretty much do anything they want with their money. Large paychecks, bonuses, wasteful spending, whatever...

      Yes, whereas you'd never see a for-profit corporation throwing obscene salaries and bonuses at its CEOs, or spending money wastefully.

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  3. As a person who never used Gentoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can say that Tony Robbins will be sorely missed for his inspirational Linux self-help books.

    1. Re:As a person who never used Gentoo by OmniVector · · Score: 1

      obligatory family guy quite:

      "Tony robbins, hungry." aahhhrmmm. ahhhhrrmm.

      --
      - tristan
  4. Bah what did he give us? by tomstdenis · · Score: 4, Funny

    A free distro?

    What?

    A free distro?

    Oh right, yeah. But beside that, what has he given us?

    Technical support?

    Oh yeah, that goes without saying...

    Infrastructure?

    Yeah, oh yeah it was much worse before...

    Ok ok, beside a free distro, technical support and infrastructure what has he given us? That's right, nothing...

    The copyrights to the distro?

    Oh shut up you! ;-)

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    1. Re:Bah what did he give us? by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

      Whatever mike. And you're never seeing your fucking lunch money neither.

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    2. Re:Bah what did he give us? by shadowbearer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      :)

      The best damned linux forums out there for non-techies, half-techies, and anyone who uses Gentoo, or Linux, for that matter. Let's hope that the new arrangement can keep those forums operating.

      That said, isn't what they are keeping is essentially the trademark to the name? Gentoo can still be forked, if necessary, right? ( I don't think it will be necessary, but given the recent XFree mess, one never knows) - however, the great loss would be the forums.

      Yes, I run Gentoo - all my boxes do, and will, for the foreseeable future. The reason for that is that in addition to giving me the most control over how I build them, Gentoo is by far the easiest Build From Scratch setup I've encountered yet. I like to know what's in my systems, like to sourcebuild them, yet I don't want to have to keep hundreds of pages of notes on how to do so. Gentoo fills that need more than anything else has so far.

      FYI, I'm not a n00b, nor a guru, I fall in between.

      Good luck, Daniel, in whatever you do! ... and .... thanks. More thanks than I could ever really convey.

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    3. Re:Bah what did he give us? by millette · · Score: 1

      It's been tentatively forked already.

    4. Re:Bah what did he give us? by denlin · · Score: 1
      Gentoo can still be forked, if necessary, right? ( I don't think it will be necessary, but given the recent XFree mess, one never knows)

      i was under the impression that the xfree mess is to be replaced by x.org in a handful of major distros. i know gentoo has already made it's support for x.org known. there's a package for it in gentoo already (xorg-x11) as i did a quicky google search before finished this last line. :) (i couldn't find it w/ an 'emerge search' tho.)

      --
      Yes, I have RTFA. Yes, I have a girlfriend. Yes, I'm new here. And no, I don't want a free iPod.
  5. D Robbins by chevybowtie · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Daniel Robbins day to day contributions will be missed. He has created the simplest way to manage a source based ditro to date. I hope his spirit will continue to influence the direction of the project.

    I have learned more about how Linux works in the last year with Gentoo than I had in the previous 3 trying RH, Debian and Suse.

    1. Re:D Robbins by Mourgos · · Score: 1

      If you really want to find out how linux really "works" you should try Linux from Scratch.

    2. Re:D Robbins by metallikop · · Score: 1

      His spirit??? He's not dead man.

    3. Re:D Robbins by RoadkillBunny · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have learned more about how Linux works in the last year with Gentoo than I had in the previous 3 trying RH, Debian and Suse.
      You aren't the only one. I really like the documents on the site. The installation handbook made it a breeze and setuping other apps was easy too from the documentation on their site.

      Final words, thanks Daniel Robibs for providing us with a advanced distro that is easy to use.

      --
      Cheers,
      RoadkillBunny
    4. Re:D Robbins by tzanger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Like Gentoo, LFS doesn't do much to teach you what's going on -- it's a set of instructions to follow, while Gentoo is a ... well, set of instructions to follow. How many people actually step beyond these directions when something breaks? Not a good lot of them if the Gentoo/LFS forums and IRC channels are any indication. "Wuhh x broke, what do I do now?" is all too common, much like Ask Slashdot postings where the answer is found by plugging the question into Google.

      I've always seen an inherent problem with source-based distros that don't actually make you get down in the muck and bugger with the source -- They give you a little more insight but really it's just a package-based distro which happens to use the source tarballs and prefab patches and Makefiles to make the build tool happy and consistent. You're really no further ahead with Gentoo or LFS than you are with Mandrake or Debian or SuSE.

      If you want to learn the internals stop using a hand-holding distro, grab Slack, cut your teeth building stuff that wasn't on the CD (or try remaking something from the CD!)... Then realize that it's a royal waste of time and a security risk requiring a compiler on every system and making your first few packages... Learn the intracasies of trying to make Perl module packages or Apache shared libs that can be used on several systems. Now grab something like CheckInstall to make your life just a tad easier and learn all its weirdnesses. Break things and try to fix them, and then realize that you now have some really solid foundations to truly learn how Linux works.

      Now that the foundations are laid, go build some small i386-based systems using nothing more than a dev environment and chroot. Don't cheat by grabbing a buildroot. LFS helps give some direction here, as do the busybox and uclibc mailing lists. When you can build these and understand what's going on, you've actually learned how Linux works and how the pieces fit together. Go tweak a kernel or write a driver for some nifty piece of hardware to round out your knowlege. You've now got enough of an education to get a decently-paying job in the embedded systems industry. Round it out with some good networking experience from packet dumps and screwing around with raw sockets and such and you have got a really solid technical background for practically anything Linux.

      Now I didn't say the process was for everyone, and I certainly didn't say that this is how everyone should learn it. I'm just getting sick to the teeth of people claiming they know how Linux works and how to build programs when all they've learned how to do was run "emerge someprogram" and give dumb looks if it doesn't go right.

    5. Re:D Robbins by 0racle · · Score: 1

      LFS Doesn't just make you run some scripts, and more often then you'd think, it just doesn't work they way its supposed to. If your going to be administering a Linux system, you learn a lot more then just how to type ./configure && make && make install. On top of that, the first time it doesn't work, its best to ask why, and then you'll know next time.

      Now I'm sure that its a slight over simplification of Gentoo to simply describe it as some scripts, but there is still a lot more to LFS

      Oh, and you will learn more from LFS then just running Slackware. At least I did, went back to Slack at 8, then when 9 was released, wiped it, installed the kernel, some libraries, glibc and gcc then used LFS as a guide to the rest. Learned a lot more doing that then just running the packaged Slack 8.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    6. Re:D Robbins by chevybowtie · · Score: 2, Interesting
      RH, Debian etc make a lot of decisions for you. With Gentoo, I learned more about how the system works as a cohesive unit since I had more input on it final configuration.

      If something was wrong with RH, google had the answer. Gentoo, on the otherhand, requires you to configure almost everything by hand. I knew where to start looking on my system to tweak it. That's how I learned.

      I am not saying it's the best way either but LFS was overkill. Gentoo kept me interested in Linux to the point I am now comfortable with it and feel confident I could 'get my hands dirty' in any distro. Before, I was afraid to make many changes since any failure would leave me in the dark since I really didn't have any idea how things were put together.

      I have dealt with a LFS install...I don't want to have to assemble an engine from scratch. Buying a crate motor works for me. While buying a car wasn't what I wanted (I am not going to get exactly what I want), neither was buying 2500 diffrent parts to assemble (too much time).

    7. Re:D Robbins by gaijin99 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Well, I'll disagree with you here. While its true that Gentoo and LFS aren't truly wacking on the bare metal, they do force more thought and awareness of what's going on than Mandrake or Redhat. Honestly, both Mandrake and Redhat are about as easy to install as Windows (I'm speaking about my personal experience installing all three here, YMMV).

      Personally I learned a lot about my system when I installed Gentoo. My next step is probably going to be along the lines you suggested, but if I'd tried that before Gentoo I would have hit a brick wall. There isn't an active LUG in Amarillo, so I don't have any people I can turn to for help, which means smaller steps like Gentoo are necessary for my learning.

      --
      "Mission Accomplished" -- George W. Bush May 1, 2003
    8. Re:D Robbins by tzanger · · Score: 1

      LFS Doesn't just make you run some scripts, and more often then you'd think, it just doesn't work they way its supposed to.

      I know, I built a few LFS systems to get the feel of it. I didn't say that LFS was just some scripts, but it is very much so a "cut and paste from the book" experience for most people. So long as you use the versions they give you end up needing to do little else. As soon as you start juggling software versions you start to hit the curve, and from my experience in the IRC channel and mailing lists, most people just don't even try to learn, hence my "Wuhh x broke, what do I do now?" comment.

    9. Re:D Robbins by tzanger · · Score: 1

      If something was wrong with RH, google had the answer. Gentoo, on the otherhand, requires you to configure almost everything by hand.

      Um, what part of "emerge foo" is configuring by hand? IIRC the default configuration settings and whatnot were emerged as well.

    10. Re:D Robbins by chevybowtie · · Score: 1

      So your apache.conf file was built entirely from 0?

    11. Re:D Robbins by 0racle · · Score: 1

      I was saying Gentoo is a collection of scripts, where LFS is a lot more hands on. I really am terrible at explaining things. I would also go out on a limb and say the people that just drool on themselves when it doesn't work are in the minority of LFS users. Not that *all* users of Gentoo drool on themselves, but i suppose thats a whole other conversation.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    12. Re:D Robbins by ezzewezza · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I really like the documents on the site too. Especially the one that quotes me as using some ridiculous string of compiler options that I tried once, had it break stuff and never used again. Good ol' Gentoo...

    13. Re:D Robbins by tzanger · · Score: 1

      My httpd.conf is built, like practically every other configuration file ever built, from the NCSA http.conf that came with Apache. It doesn't look much like it did when it came out of the box, and I use my own template now on new systems, but the point is the same -- the example config files are used as a template in practically every distro. I have serious doubts that you opened up your text editor on a totally blank file and started typing directives.

    14. Re:D Robbins by Halthar · · Score: 1

      Out of curiousity, how exactly is building packages not in either LFS or BLFS different from building packages not on the Slackware CD?

      It seems to me that the process would be similar. Generally requiring, at most, some diddling with configure options to ensure that parts of the package end up where you want them, that things you want are compiled in, and that things you dont want arent compiled in. Maybe a spritzing of compiler flags for flavor.

      Anyone familiar with LFS who I have spoken to has done this. There are applications that are not in LFS/BLFS/LFS Hints/etc, in fact, a great many aren't in there.

      I guess I just dont see how building stuff not on the Slackware CD is any different from building stuff on LFS for which there isn't documentation.

      I tend to agree however with the rest of your post. There is alot of "hand holding" involved with Gentoo, and to a certain degree with LFS also. However, with LFS once you get past the basic package list you have to do just as much "cutting your teeth" as you would with Slackware, unless I am missing some new development in Slackware which makes it harder in some way.

      The only thing I can think of that you could be refering to is creating packages after the initial build from source. If the packaging part is what you are refering to as "cutting your teeth" then ignore this post. Though I know quite a few people who build packages on one LFS system for dist. on other LFS systems, myself included, and there is no hand holding involved in package creation there. Granted, that may not be the norm for people using LFS.

    15. Re:D Robbins by ktulu1115 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you really want to find out how linux really "works" you should try Linux from Scratch.

      This I'm sure will help but to really, really know how Linux works, become a kernel hacker. Or write your own OS and make it Linux (POSIX?) compatible.

      --
      # fuser -v /dev/attention | grep work
      #
    16. Re:D Robbins by tzanger · · Score: 1

      Out of curiousity, how exactly is building packages not in either LFS or BLFS different from building packages not on the Slackware CD?

      No difference at all. I guess it was a bit of a reversal in my point of view -- I was saying to grab Slack and start your descent into the bowels of Linux, so to speak... Slack gives you a good grasp of the fundamentals without holding your hand like most other distros. LFS is a step below that, then truly rolling your own.

    17. Re:D Robbins by raodin · · Score: 1

      And this is different from how gentoo works how? The defaults need to be edited, generally. He probably started from the exact same example config file as you, this is often all that is installed when emerging a new package, or a slightly modified version.

    18. Re:D Robbins by tzanger · · Score: 1

      He's the one saying the configure process was different, not me.

    19. Re:D Robbins by raodin · · Score: 1

      He said "requires you to configure almost everything by hand".. and thats true. Starting from the default, you edit it by hand, unless you install GUI or whatever tools yourself. He never said he didn't start with a default config.

  6. Re:Offer from MS? by ObviousGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's probably not so far from the truth.

    As much as Linux is near and dear to Robbins' heart (and our own), it just doesn't pay like an industry job does, much less what a major player like Microsoft or IBM or Apple could pay.

    We'd all like to be doing what we love to do, but sometimes we learn to grow by doing what makes us more money and ultimately more leisure time to spend with friends and family.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  7. Gentoo's future by Mourgos · · Score: 1, Insightful

    1) Leader resigns
    2) Developers don't agree on future features, etc.
    3) Gentoo goes down the crapper.
    4) Distro gets forked.
    5) Both go down the drain.

    Pitty :(

    1. Re:Gentoo's future by tomstdenis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Doubt that. There are many many many people behind the scenes of Gentoo. Specifically each package you see there has at least one maintainer [most maintainers handle a slew of stuff].

      Thought yeah some central authority to guide the project is required asap to keep the momentum.

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    2. Re:Gentoo's future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      How about:
      1) Leader signs over copyrights currently owned by his company to nonprofit organization.
      2) Leader resigns position in non-profit organization, to avoid a conflict of interest.
      3) Other companies see that they can now work on project without signing rights over to their competitor.
      4) Other companies (esp. VARs) and people join project.
      7) Daniel: Profit! Daniel's competitors: Profit! Developers: Develop!

    3. Re:Gentoo's future by ttrafford · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think the number of people using the phrase "Gentoo zealots" has actually now surpassed said group.

      Congratulations!

    4. Re:Gentoo's future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You're right. I'll just piss on you now.

    5. Re:Gentoo's future by Aneurysm9 · · Score: 1, Redundant

      You insensitive clod! We "Gentoo zealots" are far too busy waiting for glibc to recompile to waste time crapping in /. threads.

      --
      There was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never-ever land.
    6. Re:Gentoo's future by ron_ivi · · Score: 3, Insightful
      That might happen in a closed source world.

      More likely...
      1) Leader resigns
      2) Developers don't agree on future features, etc.
      3) Of dozen forks most never launch but 2-3 really shine (perhaps think
      - (a) knoppix/gentoo
      - (b) a gentoo focused on binary distros
      - (c) a gentoo focused on source hacking
      )
      4) One of those guys leaves, leaving room for newer and cooler forks.

    7. Re:Gentoo's future by boots@work · · Score: 1

      I think I preferred the one with the naked lady, the poodle and the salami.

  8. Re:Hmmm by eclectro · · Score: 3, Funny

    1. Open Non-Profit Organization
    2. ???
    3. Profit!!!!


    I think that it goes more like this;

    1. Resign from overseeing a linux distibution that requires long hours and thankless mind-numbing work.
    2. ???
    3. Profit!!!!

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  9. The future of Gentoo by klieber · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Daniel was an important, driving force behind Gentoo and his absence will undoubtedly be felt on the team. That said, he has laid the groundwork for a Not-for-Profit organization, lead by a Board of Trustees that will continue to ensure that Gentoo Linux remains a vibrant, capable distribution.

    For those of you concerned about this change, I remind you that Gentoo is one of the few remaining community-based Linux distributions. We are as successful as our community makes us. Thus, the best thing you can do to ensure the future success of Gentoo is to participate in its development, whether it be through testing ebuilds, writing documentation, fixing bugs on bugzilla or any one of the thousands of myriad tasks that make up Gentoo Linux.

    I'm not sure what Daniel's plans are for the future, but I wish him the best in whatever he chooses to pursue.

    --
    Gentoo Linux http://gentoo.org/
  10. Re:Offer from MS? by tbjw · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OSS is dominated by developers, which is a strength when it comes to the quality of the software. But that's not all they need, and we know that developers want to spend their time writing code, not managing growing projects.

    Perhaps we should find some zelous people to grow pointy hair and act stupid to be the OSPHBs.

  11. Reason for resignation by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Gentoo Linux has experienced rapid growth in the past year--much to the credit of Daniel Robbins, the founder and Chief Architect of the project. Earlier today, he announced his resignation from his role on the gentoo-nfp mailing list.

    After 4 years of compilation and rapid disk usage growth, the build was 98% complete when the hard drive became full and the the build failed. Daniel Robbins was then struck by a wave of despair and tendered his resignation. Last we heard of him, he was in a house for the mentally disabled, installing, formatting then reinstalling Mandrake and Debian on a 486 box over and over again, banging his head on the wall, munbling incomprehensible things about "precompiled" this or that...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Reason for resignation by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      munbling incomprehensible things about "precompiled" this or that...

      You misspelled GRP :)

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  12. An Etiquette question by Magickcat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Should one wear a "tux" to a Linux distro's funeral?

    --

    Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.

    1. Re:An Etiquette question by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      pick up the slack-ware a red-hat, and smoke mandrakes all night long.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    2. Re:An Etiquette question by LittleBigLui · · Score: 1

      And don't forget to call Deb,Ian and Susie and tell them about the tragic loss.

      --
      Free as in mason.
  13. Re:Hmmm by antic · · Score: 1

    1. Open Non-Profit Organization
    2. ???
    3. Profit!!!!

    I think that it goes more like this;

    1. Resign from overseeing a linux distibution that requires long hours and thankless mind-numbing work.
    2. ???
    3. Profit!!!!

    I think the step of resigning is the means of profitting. i.e., 1. start linux distro, 2. quit linux distro, 3. profit...

    --
    'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
  14. Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Its well enough. It goes to show that talent is something you cannot fake, not even with a committee. When I saw Gentoo three things really stood out for me,

    1) It was a truely refreshing outlook on a distribution
    2) It is source based
    3) I was free from being unwitting pawn in the software binary release freedom debate

    When I ran and got to know Gentoo I saw genius was at work, the light nimble free-floating kind of genius unencumbered by committee. Much of that was DRobbins shining through (as shown by his technical writings of frontier Linux applications for IBM.)

    I will be sad to see him go, but to me it looked as if his inspiration was diluted by so many faces long ago. Don't get me wrong Gentoo is still my favorite and I run it exclusively at home. I think its gained much from Seemant and the others. But you just have to admire sometimes what individual talent can do on its own.

    1. Re:Gentoo by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1, Funny

      1) It was a truely refreshing outlook on a distribution

      *COUGH* FreeBSD

      2) It is source based

      So? my apps will go 5% faster if I bother to wait 5000% more during the install?

      3) I was free from being unwitting pawn in the software binary release freedom debate

      Do they distribute a bag of coke with the Gentoo CD? What in the name of the Lord are you talking about?

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Gentoo by caluml · · Score: 4, Informative
      So? my apps will go 5% faster if I bother to wait 5000% more during the install?

      Arrgh. Time to feed the trolls. Let me explain. After the install, you never actually wait for the packages to compile/install. You can use kde-3.2.0 while (should you feel the need to upgrade) you are compiling 3.2.2.
      I've got you down as a friend, so you must have said something insightful in the past.

    3. Re:Gentoo by metallikop · · Score: 1
      3) I was free from being unwitting pawn in the software binary release freedom debate

      It's amazing how you use the term, unwitting pawn. I use Gentoo, don't bring the binary debate in to this... don't ruin it for me.

    4. Re:Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 4, Interesting

      *COUGH* FreeBSD

      That old hat is a refreshing outlook on a distribution? Surely you jest. Its a good outlook, don't get me wrong. But I don't know that I'd call it refreshing.

      So? my apps will go 5% faster if I bother to wait 5000% more during the install?

      You get some kick out of spending good money on hardware, and then running software on it that uses nothing more than what could have been done with a 386?

      Its true that one will probably never recover the clock-cycles used to compile a distro with the spead that the optomization brings. But then again, just how many spare clock cycles does your computer have? Chances are even while typing your post into IE your computer is using only 2% of its clock cycles. Think of all the clock cycles you wasted while sleeping last night.

      Those times you really need speed (games, heavy computation, etc...), it really pays for itself.

    5. Re:Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 1


      Hey, you are talking to a person who is running AFPL-Ghostscript, XFree4.4 and the one true gsview. Your speaking to the choir.

    6. Re:Gentoo by samhalliday · · Score: 1
      *COUGH* FreeBSD

      That old hat is a refreshing outlook on a distribution? Surely you jest. Its a good outlook, don't get me wrong. But I don't know that I'd call it refreshing.

      i think the parent got mixed up and meant to say that to your point 2... the source based distro. AFAIK FreeBSD has _always_ been source based. sure you can download the binaries... but they are usually so old they are not worth downloading. if you want the latest program in FreeBSD, you just gotta use the source ports (in /usr/ports IIRC).

      personally, i find the debian way of doing it is much more efficient... but then, the last distro i used was LFS... and it takes a hellova lotta time to maintain!!

    7. Re:Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 3, Insightful

      i think the parent got mixed up and meant to say that to your point 2

      Quite possibly. While the source based nature of the distro is often hearalded, the refreshing touches were things like; named (not numbered) runlevels, dependancies you can put directly in the init.d scripts, emerges way of letting you specify which configuration files get over-written during an update (not very great all the time), ramdisk for certain time-critical temporary files, etc...

      i find the debian way of doing it is much more efficient... but then, the last distro i used was LFS... and it takes a hellova lotta time to maintain!!

      A Debianite of good repute, came into #gentoo in the early days of its popularity and declared, "nice little distro, should mature into something good someday, but its pretty crappy now becuase it doesn't conform to the FHS." Drobbins (or one of the other top people) simply replied, "FHS compliance and good distro are not the same thing".

      While o-o's complaints were shown to not really be FHS non-compliance I appreciated the moral I took away from that as do it the best way you can first then worry about comprimise afterward.

    8. Re:Gentoo by Sloppy · · Score: 3, Informative
      I just want to mention, building from source has other advantages than speed. Some packages (Apache comes to mind) are so configurable and variable-featured, that it seems like binary packages are just never right.

      If you install a binary Apache, does it come with mod_foo? What if you wanted mod_foo? What if you didn't? The binary is going to be built one way or the other, and if your preferences aren't the same as the distribution maintainer's, then you're not a happy camper.

      It's not just about CCFLAGS; there's the USE flags too.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    9. Re:Gentoo by dAzED1 · · Score: 1
      some emerges take a while for me. On the other hand, it takes just a couple minutes to build my kernel. Happy tuning.

      and by that, yes, I mean "make && make modules_install" takes less than 5 minutes. And its just a 1.8Ghz cpu, too...256Mb ram. *shrug*

      use whatever suits you, man. If it suits you to use the same tired "wait, and wait 500 years for en emarge?!?!?!" line every time someone mentions the word Gentoo, then...hey. Me, I do indeed like having the control. Then again, when not using gentoo I just build from source on my own anyway.

    10. Re:Gentoo by DarkSarin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Obviously you don't want to be happy with Gentoo.

      That's fine. I personally feel that its no fun being miserable. I therefore suggest that you not use it.

      But for those of us who enjoy its flexibility, the ports system, and even like the idea of compiling from source (or using packages), then its a great distro.

      Personally I use XFCE4 with gdm and XF86 on a 2.6.3 kernel. I have a great custom set of cursors, the fonts look great, and I'm happy.

      Your experience may be different--that's fine.

      I just don't see railing against a particular distro unless they are doing things that are "anti-linux", like refusing to release source or some such.

      Gentoo is a great system. I don't like the installer (I would rather see an *option* for a graphical installer, but that view seems to be heavily opposed by the developers), but that is my only real complaint.

      --
      "We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
    11. Re:Gentoo by Brandybuck · · Score: 1

      If FreeBSD is old hat, then what is a Linux distribution that deliberately copied it?

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    12. Re:Gentoo by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > And don't tell me to install binary package
      > either. I may as well use yum, up2date, Red
      > Carpet, YaST, urpmi, apt-get or any other binary
      > package management system in the first place and
      > be done with it.

      So um... do it. If you don't like Gentoo then you are certainly free to do what you want. After all, doing what you want is what Gentoo is all about.

      I don't know about you but... most of the time when I need a program for Linux (no matter which distribution), I usually end up downloading the source, untarring, reading the README and INSTALL files, ./configure, make, make install anyway. Gentoo does all that with the: emerge packagename command AND it resolves ALL the dependancies for you; it also will UNINSTALL the package for you a well as keeping your system up to date.

      Globally setting compile parameters makes package configuration automatic with maximum compatability and optimisation for your processor class.

      With a broadband connection, Gentoo is a breeze; it may be a bit slow to install on dialup but then again... what isn't? Anyway, you could always opt for a Stage3 install and shorten your install time.

      > I may notfeel like twiddling my thumbs an hour
      > or two waiting for them and all their
      > dependancies to compile.

      Ok. I can understand that. So, instead, you would wish to download all the source, compile manually and figure out all the dependancies by hand? Or maybe you want to try a precompiled binary that is statically linked?

      Talk about looking a gifthorse in the mouth. Sheesh.

      --
      Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
    13. Re:Gentoo by mattyrobinson69 · · Score: 1

      if you do make clean (which you should) before you compile, it will take longer - not a hell of a lot longer though (10 - 20 mins maybe)

    14. Re:Gentoo by Magickcat · · Score: 1

      Oh yes you do have a problem with homosexuals, a huge problem with them. You don't think that they're entitled to marriage or respect. You've already recently insulted them and made gross discriminatory generalisations against them. You're a hateful uneducated coward, and you imitate your betters.

      You probably think you're terribly clever by your vague and overally verbose prejudices. Go and get an education. Even at the very least a theology degree would make your fundamentalist prejudices a bit more interesting. Judging from you site, a web design course wouldn't harm you either.

      You've frothed things like "they sure publically portray a sense of entitlement and arrogance that puts the 15th century crusaders to shame. Just look at the "they have it so we should too" rallying cry. Shear unadulterated and spoiled selfishness.

      You've further said in your journal that homosexuals wish to be finacially subsidised by the government and that they parallel an Orwellian conspiracy. Of course, that's in between your embarasingly uninformed musings on Genesis.

      I have two university degrees, and so am indeed educated by any standard. What university would put up with your knuckle dragging? None unless the Hitler Youth are branching out.

      The only reason why you're not heavily moderated is that you've hidden your prejudice in lines and lines of overally verbose froth. Grow up.

      --

      Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.

    15. Re:Gentoo by jabapi · · Score: 1

      So? my apps will go 5% faster if I bother to wait 5000% more during the install?


      Sure, the marginal speed increase is nice, but for me the greatest advantage of Gentoo's source based package system is definitely the USE flags.

    16. Re:Gentoo by mvpll · · Score: 1

      All true.

      Also, reliance on pre-compiled libraries,etc is just asking for dependency nightmares.

    17. Re:Gentoo by LittleBigLui · · Score: 1
      If FreeBSD is old hat, then what is a Linux distribution that deliberately copied it?


      not sure... what color is that distro?
      --
      Free as in mason.
    18. Re:Gentoo by pennac · · Score: 1
      This could sounds perfectly like a "déjà view"; since everyone have seen a source development tree, a commit board, a bug traker and a mainstream development team.

      But how much did and still do i have fun sending my friends or job partners a fresh, newly and not already "main stream" released piece of software. Release candidate at least would you say ? Absolutly not ! CVS tree or close friends little projects. Thats it !

      With Gentoo, i can point them to a local ebuild that would do the fetch and build job for them. I can point them to every piece of code i liked or find usefull on the net ; they can easily add their touch/patch on my ebuild/source or they can easily uninstall whatever ive sent them they decided to install. It's the beauty of ebuild. And this is one great feature of Gentoo. Many other features like this one build up the Gentoo world. No doubt that the free speech relations was built upon those kind of features: share, get feedbacks, make up your opinion, build up feedbacks then share again. This is what i easily achieve with Gentoo system.

      So not only do i say thanks to Daniel for bringing me a "maintened" linux source tree, but i also say him a specially thanks for bringing me an easy way to share idea.

    19. Re:Gentoo by dan_bethe · · Score: 1
      The grandparent says that you never wait on source installations. Do yours compile in an instant? Yeah, I know what he meant.

      And the parent says that you waste clock cycles by sleeping, but what you didn't waste are filesystem space, attention span, and on a more globally conscious level, electricity.

      I don't mean to be a jerk, but I thought I'd post that since others are having fun with lame jokes about waiting on a compiler, and this one also is funny and true! Read the Gentoo Zealot Translator!

      I lost my bookmark to the bug report on bugs.gentoo.org requesting that the GAIM port for gentoo include a default irc username including "gentoo" in its string, so that people could automatically ban gentoo lusers from polluting their channels with whining about how their source based pseudo-distro broke all their stuff. :)

    20. Re:Gentoo by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      I am...

    21. Re:Gentoo by Cobron · · Score: 1

      Thanks for reminding me why I fled RH and Slack after ~1 week each (I must've installed them 10 times during that period).
      So with as good as no linux-experience I printed out the manual, spent 2 evenings making sure I understood everything, downloaded the cd and installed it.
      I've been a happy Linux-lover ever since... still running the same install of that first time more than a year ago. Chances are I would've had the same experience with debian, but I just never got around to it ;) .

      Then again, this is just mindless whining of Gentoo Zea... *grabs dictionary* ... ah no, just -User.

    22. Re:Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 1

      You don't think that they're entitled to marriage or respect.

      Absolutely not true. They can get married! I've never said otherwise. What they cannot do is take a social institution as valuable as marriage and simply re-make it in their image. We have laws protecting us from oppression like that.

      The rest of your comment is typical verbal abuse, insult and intimidation. Definitely not befitting a educated enlightened soul like yourself.

    23. Re:Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 1

      The great-grandfather post said that you have more control over installing stuff on Gentoo than on Redhat.

      A sentiment I agree with. While Redhat (or debian) you can download the source one at a time and compile in the options you wish, you can emerge your whole system (not an easy task, but it took me 1/10 the time as Redhat). And with RedHat/Debian, excersizing that control degrades your ability to upgrade and maintain your system (especially the deaper you control the libraries et. all) while with Gentoo its normal par for the course.

      By the way, you can do a custom Redhat install and leave off the bloat. Start by deselecting all the packages.

      My Gentoo firewall used 30 megs of disk space. The minimum redhat installation is 100+.

    24. Re:Gentoo by On+Lawn · · Score: 1

      We don't need to be subsidised - we have real jobs and pay taxes.

      If I understand what you say, then there is no need for same-sex marriages. If there is, please explain it to me without resorting to insults or saying "they have it so we should to". You can find the guidelines in this JE.

  15. If you love something truly, let it go! by aeoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think Daniel made a very wise decision. Gentoo is his child, and it looks like the child is reaching maturity and it's time for Gentoo to move out of the parents' house.

    1. Re:If you love something truly, let it go! by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1

      I think Daniel made a very wise decision. Gentoo is his child, and it looks like the child is reaching maturity and it's time for Gentoo to move out of the parents' house.

      Looks more like it's Daddy who's leaving the house in disgust. I guess Gentoo has entered its spotty teenager anarcho-punk years...

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:If you love something truly, let it go! by Squinky86 · · Score: 1

      Please read the mailing lists and announcements- it's not "leaving in disgust", it's moving on and leaving the development in the capable hands of the developers/NFP board. That said, Daniel has made sundry contributions to linux, especially with Gentoo, and his presence will be missed by the dev team.

  16. cant emerge a chief architect by craqboy · · Score: 5, Funny
    linucks root # emerge chief_architect
    Calculating dependencies
    emerge: there are no masked or unmasked ebuilds to satisfy "chief_architect".

    !!! Error calculating dependencies. Please correct.
    linucks root #

    1. Re:cant emerge a chief architect by green_crocadilian · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hm...
      root# ACCEPT_KEYWORDS=~x86 USE="chief_architect" emerge 'sys-distro/gentoo'

      Here are the packages that I would emerge, in order:

      [ebuild R ] sys-distro/gentoo-linux-20040426 0 kB

      Total size of downloads: 0 kB

      root# ACCEPT_KEYWORDS=~x86 emerge -pl 'sys-distro/gentoo-linux'

      Here are the packages that I would emerge, in order:

      [ebuild R ] sys-distro/gentoo-linux-20040426

      *gentoo-linux-20040426

      26 Apr 2004; Daniel Robbins gentoo-linux-20040426.ebuild:
      dreadfully sorry
      chief_architect USE flag removed
      so long, suckers

      root#

  17. Gentoo Copyrights by David+Hume · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the article:
    But before leaving, he has set up a non-profit foundation that will own all of the copyrights to Gentoo.


    Copyright Assignment to Gentoo

    Gentoo Technologies Inc. Copyright Assignment Form

    Gentoo Documentation Issues

  18. Re:Offer from BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We'd all like to be doing what we love to do, but sometimes we learn to grow by doing what makes us more money and ultimately more leisure time to spend with friends and family.

    Participation in the dog-eat-dog struggle is almost entirely unnecessary for most people. The poverty level in Western countries exceeds the upper middle class of most other countries.

    One could, if one were willing to give up one's lifestyle, live cheaply and have leisure time for friends and family in abundance. A trailer home in Kentucky can be had for $1000, and a diet of ground beef, flour, spices and vegetables can sustain a family for less than $5000 a year.

    You are not working for leisure time, don't kid yourself. Almost any working American today could retire and move to a 3rd world country and live comfortably forever. You are working for DSL, the new Radeon, that huge TV, the laptop, your spiffy car, fancy dinners, nice clothes and every other element required to 'keep up with the Joneses'. You find those things more valuable than pursuit of what you love, if you are not doing what you love.

  19. More Gentoo Instability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    When you get fed up, we'll be here.

    1. Re:More Gentoo Instability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      In roughly the same place we were three years ago. :-)

    2. Re:More Gentoo Instability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Oh, please! If all the linux distros had a contest for best installer, Gentoo and Debian would be battling it out for last place.

      Oh, and don't bother with the newbie flames: My first linux install was a prehistoric version of Slackware with a 1.0.9 kernel downloaded onto 22 floppy disks over a 14.4 modem, and it had a better installer than either one of them.

    3. Re:More Gentoo Instability by jrockway · · Score: 1

      Umm, I've installed Debian many many times (on x86 and ppc) and I just love the installer. It works quite nicely. X would have been overkill, so I appreciate the simple curses interface. It Just Works, and that's nice.

      Ohh but I had to use my brain because the installer won't think for me. How sad...

      --
      My other car is first.
    4. Re:More Gentoo Instability by tweakt · · Score: 3, Interesting
      And how many times do you use the installer? Once?

      Personally, I couldn't really care about the installer (and Gentoo doesn't actually have one). I value the performance, access to current releases, and freedom of configuration above all else. Gentoo excels at all three of those.

    5. Re:More Gentoo Instability by Quattro+Vezina · · Score: 1

      Honestly, Gentoo's installer is my favourite, by far. I can't think of a single other Linux distro I've installed where I've had so much fun installing it.

      Well, LFS is a contender, but it goes too far in the other direction...IMO, Gentoo strikes the perfect balance between entirely-manual and point-and-click-boredom.

      --
      I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
    6. Re:More Gentoo Instability by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      I agree. "Best installer" depends on your definition of "best" and Debian's works for me. And like tweakt said, you only have to do it once, anyway :-)

    7. Re:More Gentoo Instability by J4 · · Score: 1

      Gentoo has an installer now?

      It was all by hand last year.

  20. Re:Offer from MS? by Duty · · Score: 1

    I think the parent may have been in reference to this web site.

  21. Has any reason been given? by bcore · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Out of curiosity, has drobbins given any explanation as to why he has made this decision? Too much work? Change in priorities? It's definitely sad to see him go... Gentoo forums don't seem to have an answer yet, and they're usually the first source of any gentoo news..

    On another note, is Gentoo ever gonna get it's own icon on /.? The time is now!

    1. Re:Has any reason been given? by arkhan_jg · · Score: 5, Informative

      No details yet - but this
      looks like it may well be part of the reason;
      specifically, he cannnot (and should not) have to shoulder the financial risk necessary to shift gentoo to its full Not For Profit status.

      Given that he has a young family to support, I for one can sympathise with his position.

      There's going to be an official announcement once the dust settles slightly, but thisappears to be the live gentoo forum thread.

      Go easy on it, the forums are pretty heavily loaded at the best of times, and the last thing the place needs is a full blown slashdotting!

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    2. Re:Has any reason been given? by Jason+Hood · · Score: 1

      Actually the first/best source of news for gentoo is:

      gmane.linux.gentoo.devel

      If you want to see what is really happening in the gentoo project listen there.

      --
      Are you intolerant of intolerant people?
  22. Gentoo corporation news. by David+Hume · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From OS News, Posted on 2002-05-14:

    4. How is Gentoo, the company, organized? What is its member structure? Also, how one can get CVS commit access?

    Daniel Robbins: At its heart, Gentoo Linux really isn't a company but a development team and user community. I do have a corporation called Gentoo Technologies, Inc. that holds the copyrights for the vast majority of our GPL code, but that's it. We aren't generating any income from Gentoo Linux (besides donations), and our development team is 100% volunteer. Generally, we have been completely supported by donations, particularly from a few of our developers. For example, our server is in a great datacenter thanks to a generous developer. As we grow, we plan to gradually wean ourselves from our dependence on donations by developing creative and "free software-friendly" ways of generating income.


    Does Robbins own all of the stock in Gentoo Technologies, Inc.? If so, conversion to non-profit status may be easy (though having the IRS recognize it as non-profit for tax purposes may not.) If others own some of the stock, it conversion may prove problematic as they might have to agree. Otherwise, there might be a shareholders lawsuit for corporate waste (i.e., in this case, making a gift of corporate assets without compensation).

    Why was Gentoo Technologies, Inc. initially set up as a for-profit company? It doesn't make sense. Since it was not a 501(c)(3) non-profit, donations to Gentoo Technologies, Inc. were not tax deductible. (Hell, it may have been the case that the donors were legally, albeit technically, responsible to pay gift tax on any donation over the annual limit.)

    1. Re:Gentoo corporation news. by zenyu · · Score: 4, Informative

      Why was Gentoo Technologies, Inc. initially set up as a for-profit company? It doesn't make sense. Since it was not a 501(c)(3) non-profit, donations to Gentoo Technologies, Inc. were not tax deductible. (Hell, it may have been the case that the donors were legally, albeit technically, responsible to pay gift tax on any donation over the annual limit.)

      I don't know the particulars with Gentoo, but I was party to the creation of a not-for-profit last year and started a corporation some years ago. That experience leads me to believe expediancy may have been the reason. Establishing a corporation is just a matter of filling out some forms and sending them off to the state capital. Establishing a not-for-profit is a labor intensive and expensive process involving lots of lawyers and consultation with the IRS. For the not-for-profit we got pro-bono legal help, but even so it hardly seems worth it in retrospect.

    2. Re:Gentoo corporation news. by fcgreg · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just some quick answers to your questions (link references posted below):

      1) Does Daniel Robbins own all of the stock in Gentoo Technologies?
      A: I believe so. However, that company will no longer hold the intellectual property/copyrights for Gentoo (as it currently does). Those are being transferred to the new, NFP entity, The Gentoo Foundation: From the Gentoo site:

      "In the proposal, Gentoo Foundation, Inc. will hold the intellectual property of the project..."
      From Daniel:
      "Gentoo Technologies, Inc. will transfer the copyrights and trademarks to the Gentoo Foundation. In exchange, the Gentoo Foundation will grant Daniel Robbins & Gentoo Technologies, Inc. perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free use of the "Gentoo" trademark and "G" logo. This will allow me to continue to run the Gentoo Store if I want."

      2) Why was Gentoo Technologies, Inc. initially set up as a for-profit?
      A: The project was supported by donations, but was also supported by commercial offerings through the Gentoo Store and other ventures. From past postings I've read it was easier to structure the company that way (at least initially), even though there were drawbacks to the tax exemption possibilities, as you point out. It was just simpler given the many things they were doing (Gentoo Store, Gentoo Games, etc.).

      --------------

      For more information you can check the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter edition for April 19, 2004.
      Please also see Daniel's transition plan.

      --
      Greg T.
  23. Purely Personal by metallikop · · Score: 5, Informative
    It seems like Daniel's reasons for leaving were purely personal/family related. Not that I can blame him

    Here's a snippit:

    "OK. The purpose of this is to allow me to continue to support my family by doing things like pay for a house, pay for food, and potentially pay off some of the $20,000 in debt I accumulated during my tenure as Chief Architect of Gentoo, etc."
    1. Re:Purely Personal by metallikop · · Score: 1

      Apparently someone who cares about what he's created.

    2. Re:Purely Personal by sashang · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Apparently Paul Allen has a 20 billion debt to shake off. Now that's retarded (if it's true).

    3. Re:Purely Personal by metallikop · · Score: 1

      No, not at all. Robbins cares/cared about Gentoo a great deal, put a lot of effort and personal love in to the project. I'm sure it paid off in other ways, money isn't everything, though pride in your work can't feed your family. Hardly a stupid bitch, but each to their own I suppose.

    4. Re:Purely Personal by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Insightful
      What kind of a retard goes into debt $20,000 to produce free software? It's not like you'll ever make a profit off of it......

      He can put down on his resume that he created one of the top 10 most popular Linux distros, and that he supervised quite a few interesting technical innovations unique to that distro.

      This experience would help qualify for a job with a salary quite a bit more than $20,000 (not to mention more influence and responsibility) over that of a random code monkey.

    5. Re:Purely Personal by Jagasian · · Score: 1

      What about donations? Heck, the BitTorrent creator made some good money on donations alone. Why wouldn't the same thing work with Gentoo?

    6. Re:Purely Personal by Trogre · · Score: 1

      Didn't this guy set up a donation system such as a paypal account?

      I would imagine that many happy Gentoo users globally would put in the effort to pay off that debt in a few days.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    7. Re:Purely Personal by miffo.swe · · Score: 1

      The same kind of people who goes millions in debt when trying to make any software. 20,000$ is small change considering what he has accomplished. Look at the dotcom burst and think again will you?

      --
      HTTP/1.1 400
    8. Re:Purely Personal by Spacejock · · Score: 1

      I'm off to check now, but does he have a paypal donations account set up? I don't mean buying a set of cds, that eats up the cash in time, postage, media, etc, just pure donations which will go to him directly. $20k is a lot of dough, but if a bunch of gentoo users threw some cash in there, I'm sure his debt burden could be eased. Cheers Simon

    9. Re:Purely Personal by Ledskof · · Score: 1

      Plus, he and his family apparently haven't starved to death. However, the trials he's faced in this process could greatly pay off and his prestigious entries on his resume now could get him a very respectful job that, from a financial approach, make the entire ordeal worthwhile.

      --
      This is my sig. The post is over.
    10. Re:Purely Personal by imr · · Score: 1

      This answer was made to a person asking why he kept the gentoo store and rights to use the gentoo name, not to why he was leaving.

    11. Re:Purely Personal by metallikop · · Score: 1

      Don't you think this would be directly related to why he left?

    12. Re:Purely Personal by imr · · Score: 1

      The thing is that I don't know.
      It wouldnt cross my mind to put my wonderings about someone else's life and behavior on a public site, especially if I was misquoting him.
      If he wants to tell people why he leaves, it seems he is able to do so, he seems to be fairly grown up, don't you think?
      I also don't doubt that a lot of people would immediatly join to help him as much as he has himself helped a lot of people already. But perhaps that's not the reason why he is resigning, don't you think?

    13. Re:Purely Personal by 4of12 · · Score: 1

      This experience would help qualify

      As a side note, I'll say the IBM developerWorks articles on OpenSSH Key Management by Daniel Robbins (I don't know how much they paid him for these) are well-written and a useful introduction to any newbie wondering WTF is going on with ssh.

      I'm hoping that the inspiring leadership of Daniel Robbins and his ability to get volunteers worldwide to work together on Gentoo will continue even if he isn't personally at the helm.

      --
      "Provided by the management for your protection."
  24. Re:Offer from BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Have running water? Then your standard of living is too high. How can the US IT industry possibly compete with India if they demand such frivolities?

    On top of that your "diet" including ground beef is for rich Americans. I'm not sure if you really know what poor people eat.

    Ground beef is extremely expensive, out here it's $3-$4 per pound (california). But you can get some tougher meats for $2-$3 and you can get tofu or whole chickens from the asian grocery store for $2 . Sometimes I can get steaks when they are on sale for the same price as ground beef, and they have less water and fat in them to cook off than ground beef so you end up with more cooked meat for every pound of raw meat.

    As somone who had to live on a tiny amount of money with no job I can tell you that buying raw ingredients isn't usually the cheapest way to go.

    I really enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables. But to save money I often bought frozen or canned veggies and things like macaroni and cheese. Turns out you can get fiber and vitamins from fruit roll-ups for a fraction of the price of fresh apples or oranges.

    Canned fruit can sometimes be a good deal if you go with a generic brand. And you can save the syrup and make a sweet sauce to put over pancakes. pancake mix is really cheap, maple syrup or cane syrup is not cheap. boil some syrup from canned peachs and/or pears and it's like a treat over maple syrup and you can pretend you aren't actually poor.

    If you are living without electricty because you bounced too many checks you can get fast food cheaper. Often fast food is cheaper than buying the ingrediants and making it. McDonalds sells double cheese burgers for $1 each. (regular cheeseburger is $0.99, so spring for the double and just buy half as many as you normally would) If you get a double cheese burger, and split a biggie fries and a bottle of Shasta with a friend you can have a hot meal for under $3. The trick of fast food is never pay the $1.50+ for the drink. And beware of menu items that have advertisements.

    Taco bell is also quite cheap. KFC is not that cheap unless you only buy sides or you buy a large bucket and split it with a few people.

    Frozen pizza is another option, often you can find the generic brands for under $3. Sometimes they will go on sale for only $1. If you still have electricity you can pick up 8 of these, and when you find some fresh veggies on sale you can slice them up and add them.

    But the all time best way to save money is beans. not canned beans, those are expensive. But go to a mexican store and they will sell bulk beans, rice and other things. You can get a 10lb bag of beans for couple dollars, and it will end up making 20lbs+ of food. I'd beware of beans in a little plastic bag they sell at most stores. They are generally 4x-5x the price of buying them 10lbs at a time. The only problem with beans is you have to soak them for a few hours before cooking them and you have to clean the stones out of them.

    Another helpful hint to living on the cheap is to simply eat less food. you can live fine on 1200 calories, and it's easy to get that many with hardly any food at all. Generally energy dense foods. fats and carbs are the cheapest food. And many things are vitamin enriched now so children don't get rickets or scurvy because thier parents are too poor to buy them healthy food. (that's not to say rich/normal people bother buying healthy food).

  25. People need to set their humor CFLAGS by bonch · · Score: 1

    Come on...that made me spit my soda.

    1. Re:People need to set their humor CFLAGS by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1

      I agree that that was funny. I think the reason it was modded down isn't that it was unfunny; it was that a joke about compiling his letter (actually, the press release about the letter) had already been made, and this really is the same joke.

      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
  26. 123 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    1) Open non-prophit distro 2) Compile 3) Compile 4) Compile 5) ??? 6) Compile

    1. Re:123 by mattyrobinson69 · · Score: 1

      shouldn't that be:

      1) open non-profit distro
      2) type in compile commands
      3) do while x == X
      4) Compile
      5) Compile
      6) Compile
      7) loop
      8) Profit

  27. From the weekly newsletter by ChaserPnk · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is from the Gentoo Weekly Newsletter:

    "While Daniel Robbins is busy converting Gentoo into a not-for-profit
    organisation on his side of the Atlantic, the German Gentoo developers
    have finalised all the necessary steps for registering an almost identical
    legal entity, called "eingetragener Verein" (registered association) under
    the German law. It'll take the commercial courts another four to six weeks
    to acknowledge the setup, but the association[11] is already operational,
    has opened a bank account, and started raking in bushels of money via
    their new online shop[12], whose main advantage over the Gentoo store[13]
    in the US lies in its comparatively low-cost deliveries to customers in
    Germany."

    --

    "A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age." -Robert Frost
  28. Credit where credit is due by bonch · · Score: 1

    1) It was a truely refreshing outlook on a distribution
    2) It is source based
    3) I was free from being unwitting pawn in the software binary release freedom debate


    Thank goodness FreeBSD began the ideas behind Portage. People have been using BSD's ports tree for years and years.

    I actually prefer Portage, though...would be nice if it was ported to BSD

    1. Re:Credit where credit is due by On+Lawn · · Score: 1


      I dunno, I still wish Gentoo had a "make World".

      (yes there is rmerge -e, but that doesn't have the same litterary value)

    2. Re:Credit where credit is due by EvvL · · Score: 1

      If your interested in Portage or the Gentoo system running on *BSD you might want to take a look at the Gentoo-Alt project. Their getting portage and the rest of the system working under different kernels. Most of the *BSD ports aren't completly done yet but its usable and theirs always room to help out.

      --
      I'm not taking sides anymore...
      I'm just gonna sit back and be a pest.
  29. Consider This by birukun · · Score: 1, Informative

    www.gentoo.org

    jump into the forums and see the community, they welcome all with open arms.

    Read the *complete* documentation, and if you still don't get it, ask the question in a forum. No one will answer with an elitist attitude, just a gentle nudge in the right direction.

    High Speed, Cross Country, Linux - just what my processor with all those silly extensions I paid for (SSE, SSE2, 3DNow!) needs.

    Compile times? Check out distcc - www.distcc.org

    Want binaries? no problem - Binary installs also supported.

    Stable - oops, Fedora crashed again during an update, switched to Gentoo and never looked back. If your Gentoo crashed, that is because you used the wrong mask - RTFM - I know, cause I did it.

    Hardware Support - ANY BSD I tried :-( need I say more?

    Hopefully the community can handle the shock, but Dave Robbins has a family that needs him as well.

    To Dave, best of luck. We will take the torch and do our best to keep it burning, trolls be damned!

    Birukun

    --
    Self Defense - A Human Right www.a-human-right.com
  30. sorry to see him leave by towaz · · Score: 1

    Gentoo is the only linux distro I have used that impressed me enough to move a few machines from freebsd.

    But at least the community is strong, I don't think this will have any effect on gentoo's future.

    ___

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire
  31. Re:Pronouncing Gentoo? by ColinAnderson · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's "Gen" as in "generator" like you said. It's actually named after the Gentoo penguin, which is reputed to be the fastest swimming species of penguin in the world. And as Gentoo has a reputation of being fast, it's only fitting.

  32. Study some history by yoshi_mon · · Score: 1

    If you study some history you will find that many people went into debt for their ideas. Some of them for far worse ideas than what Gentoo has become.

    --

    Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
  33. Re:Pronouncing Gentoo? by green_crocadilian · · Score: 2, Informative

    Straight from the FAQ: 'the "g" in "gentoo" is a soft "g", as in "gentle"'. You know, as in the name of the penguin species, or as in Gen(eration) Two?

  34. great guides great distro, whats not to love? by big+daddy+kane · · Score: 1

    gentoo is fassst, sure you could compile everything but you dont have to, even a lot of the portage tree is avaliable as a prebuilt package. its a terrific distro thats worth the extra effort and it stays quite true to bsd which is an extra plus i suppose.

  35. In Some Ways Linux is Still in its Infancy by Uggy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I empathize. I started a Linux based company in late 1999. We got VC, hired people, tried to get the business going, expand it, realized that Linux was not going to peak any time soon in our geographical area, had to lay off people, went almost entirely broke... well, you know the deal. It's been over 4 years now, but we're still hanging in there, and now the Linux landscape is starting to look better, things are picking up, and who knows?

    I understand the dilemma of a new family and a lot of debt. Been there, done that. But I think we're just on the cusp of something grand. I hope Daniel doesn't get so far out that he can't come back and reap some of the rewards when this thing pays off. I know it will! Gentoo and Linux are just too great to write off. And I hope that once a lot of the bottom feeders (myself included) making a living off X free distro, start taking responsibility, and budget R&D funds, maybe then we'll see some joy. We at least are looking ahead to make it part of our budget, a percentage of each sale.

    Good luck, Daniel, hang in there.

    --
    Toddlers are the stormtroopers of the Lord of Entropy.
  36. And the executives of Red Hat are rich... by wintermute42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The story of Daniel Robbins and Gentoo Linux seems to me to be an example of software as art and Daniel as a starving artist. And yes, I realize that many other people were involved in the Gentoo project. But one of the leading forces behind Gentoo seems to be leaving because he can't afford to take part in the project anymore.

    The world does not owe artists, writers or software engineers working on open source/ Free Software a living. But what is interesting to me is that if, for the sake of argument, some commercial entity, like Red Hat, were to come along and start selling Gentoo at some point in the future, Daniel Robbins and the rest of the Gentoo developers would get as much as the Linux developers got from Red Hat going public (e.g., very little).

    If software engineering jobs were not moving overseas and our income was not under constant downward pressure this might not be such a big deal. There is a lot to be said for doing something you love. For many people money can't replace this. But when it gets to the point where you can't pay your bills or are unemplyed, survival becomes the important issue.

    Speaking for myself, the current state of our industry throws into question any open source project that can be picked up by slick marketeers and resold to end users. Since I'm not independently wealthy, why should I work for free? I have to wonder if Daniel Robbins is not asking himself similar questions as he looks at the state of his finances.

    For more on this see my essay Freedom Can be Slavery

    1. Re:And the executives of Red Hat are rich... by miffo.swe · · Score: 1

      Dont blaim a failed business on free software. There are plenty of failed propriarity software to go. Drobbins could just as well have been in millions of debt from a failed propriarity software company (dont forget what all the free labour would have cost him if he had forked the dough himself to the developers).

      --
      HTTP/1.1 400
    2. Re:And the executives of Red Hat are rich... by Advisador · · Score: 1

      Yes, but how many "popular" proprietary programs failed? If a proprietary program becomes popular for whatever reason, there is a well-understood potential for the author(s) to be rewarded for their effort. Granted, they may make some stupid decisions about marketing, pricing, distribution deals, etc, but in general they have a well-worn path to follow to gain financial rewards.

      With free software, even if it becomes very popular, there's still a big question mark beside the infamous "Step 3." (yeah, i hear the guy in the back yelling "Service & Support!! Service & Support!!")

      There's a built-in Catch-22 -- it's easier to make money off of propreitary software if lots of people want to use it, but it costs a lot of money to convince them that they do.

      With free software, it doesn't cost anything to get people to try and like a new project, but it can be very difficult to figure out a way to make money on the back end of a popular project. (and i don't need a list of the eternally popular free mass-market applications that have gone on to make some money for some of their developers -- that list never changes)

      So, don't blame a failed business on proprietary software either...failed businesses usually all have one thing in common, bad business decisions.

  37. Gone by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

    emerge sync && emerge --unmerge drobbins

  38. If Any Of You Have The Gaul.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful



    You can take your personal criticisms of Dan and politely ram them up your ass.

    Let me make something clear here. I don't know Dan. Never met him, never talked with him. What I do know, however, is that he fits a mold i've seen over and over again in the past 10 years. There's a certain spirit of selflessness and altruism that underpins pretty much everything "major" going on in the Linux community. People like Dan give hours upon hours of their time, building, creating, fixing, and helping people they can't even see, and know they will never meet. They do it because it's fun, and they do it because it makes them feel good to know they're helping someone else. That's all there is to it.

    Just incase you weren't in school the day they taught this, here's basically how it works: Criticizing the character or works of someone who shows charity, thoughtfulness, and selflessness makes you a royal fucking asshole. Infact, ANY form of criticism of people like Dan aught to be promptly rejected, returned, then rammed tightly up the ass of it's issuer.

    You, the beneficiary of the hard work of people like Daniel Robbins and the Gentoo development community, have absolutely no right to complain, question, or laugh at any decision he happens to make in regard to his own life. Looking back at the Linux community landscape over the past 5 years, we can see what happened to people who continually gave blindly, and asked for essentially nothing in return. Dan's decision to pull back from the front lines is one of the smartest moves he could possibly make at this point of the game. Criticisms about software are one thing. Commentary on someone's financial status are something entirely different, and something you have no fucking right to criticize..Especially from someone who did nothing but give you shit for free.

    And even if that weren't the case here....that he's turning the reins over for a totally different reason...WTF have you done that gives you the right to criticize him, or anyone who in his position?

    Cheers,
    Bowie J. Poag

    1. Re:If Any Of You Have The Gaul.. by NorthDude · · Score: 1

      F*ck my karma, but this should have been modded up to 5. Reading some of the post here makes me want to puke. Wow, what a community...

      --


      I'd rather be sailing...
    2. Re:If Any Of You Have The Gaul.. by TheRealSlimShady · · Score: 3, Funny
      f Any Of You Have The Gaul

      Which one - Asterix? Obelix? Vitalstatistix? Or just some random Frenchman?

      Please, if anyone has the Gaul, return him to Bowie J. Poag. He can't sleep without him.

    3. Re:If Any Of You Have The Gaul.. by LittleBigLui · · Score: 2, Funny
      Asterix? Obelix? Vitalstatistix?


      Unix, obviously.
      --
      Free as in mason.
    4. Re:If Any Of You Have The Gaul.. by Xerithane · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What disturbs me even more is that Starwars Kid received more in donations.

      Thinking of Slashdot as a representative Linux Community is like thinking of Al Quada as a representative Islam Community.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    5. Re:If Any Of You Have The Gaul.. by utopyr · · Score: 1

      Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres...
      (J. Caesar)
      Enough to divide into three parts, eh?

  39. $20,000 in debt by joeljkp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    From this post, it looks like Daniel built up quite a hefty debt working on Gentoo.

    How 'bout some support? Visit the Gentoo homepage and click the donation button in the upper left corner.

    The man's got to feed his family after all.

    --
    WeRelate.org - wiki-based genealogy
    1. Re:$20,000 in debt by MightyMike · · Score: 2, Informative

      as stated in the gentoo forums, the money doesnt go directly to him...

    2. Re:$20,000 in debt by sracer9 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, if you want to help Daniel, buy a T-Shirt, CD or something. It appears that the donations just go to the NFP. Not that that's bad mind you, just ineffective for Daniel.

      --

      No thanks. I don't smoke anymore.
    3. Re:$20,000 in debt by (H)elix1 · · Score: 1

      How 'bout some support? Visit the Gentoo homepage and click the donation button in the upper left corner.

      Forget the $5 paypal thing... Given the opportunity, I'd give this man a job in a heartbeat. Considering the caliber of talent, I would have no qualms going all the way to the CEO to snag him. I suspect there are many more thinking the same thing!

    4. Re:$20,000 in debt by MrIrwin · · Score: 1

      Does he have a 'personal' PayPal account?

      --

      And if you thought that was boring you obviously havn't read my Journal ;-)

  40. Re:WHY MOST SLASHBOTS ARE NOT FUNNY by smittyoneeach · · Score: 3, Funny

    See now, you just killed off a humorous hypothreadical skit entitled "The Four Yorkshiremen Get Their Gentoo On."
    I hope you inadvertantly enter the door marked "Abuse" when searching for the Argument Clinic and never find your way out, you insensitive clod!

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  41. Re:Offer from BS by toiletmonster · · Score: 2, Insightful

    right. i'm not sure which 3rd world country you're dreaming about, but the $20,000 debt daniel robbins has isn't going to let him live comfortably anywhere forever. how do you live off of negative money?

    not to mention he has a wife and kids. i don't think you can support a wife and kids for less than $5000 a year.

  42. What is there to copyright? by beforewisdom · · Score: 1

    Isn't Gentoo all GPL and or OSS with compatible liscences?

    1. Re:What is there to copyright? by VValdo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Stuff that is released under the GPL is still copyrighted. If it weren't, authors wouldn't be able to license it under the GPL or any other license. The whole point of the GPL is to say "you can license this copyrighted code, but under these conditions..." (where "these conditions" include an agreement to license any distributed contributions to the code under the GPL too)

      That said, other non-GPL'd stuff regarding Gentoo might also be copyrighted. Like original documentation or scripts, configuration program, help files, etc..

      W

      --
      -------------------
      This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    2. Re:What is there to copyright? by mattyrobinson69 · · Score: 1

      gpl is just a licence - you still own the copyright

    3. Re:What is there to copyright? by ectospasm · · Score: 1

      Most, if not all, of the Gentoo Documentation is released under the Creative Commons License.

      --


      We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of the dreams.
  43. Re:Common response to "You should use Linux!" by The+Infamous+Grimace · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You see fragmentation, I see choice.

    I see the desire to give users choice leading to fragmentation. This is quite different from seeing one or the other.

    If you're the type who dislikes having many choices that do similar tasks in general and simply want a tool that does the job - maybe Windows or Mac is a better choice for you for now.

    The Macintosh platform is my preferred choice. However, this has nothing to do with configurability, and everything to do with ease-of-use. In fact, I take exception to Apple forcing me to use the Aqua interface. Sure, it's pretty to look at, but there are certain aspects about it that drive me nuts. The Dock sucks. Menulettes suck. Why they couldn't just stick the OS 7/8/9 Platinum interface on Unix, like they did with AUX, I'll never know. And there are asects that are inconsistent within the interface itself. It definately needs more work. But if I go sit down at any other Mac with OS X, I'll know how to find my way around and get work done. The same can't necessarily be said of the different Linux desktop environments.

    Some linux distro's will always gravitate towards maximum choice (i.e. Gentoo), some will hopefully keep evolving towards the layperson, as you put it, with maximum use right out of the box with minimal configuration. As much flak as they get from the rest of us hardcore geeks, I think Linspire and Xandros will serve their target market well.

    I agree. But will someone who just got up from the Xandros desktop be able to sit down at a Linspire desktop and be just as productive? This is what I think should be the goal; unity for the masses, with choice available for those who desire it.

    Thanks for the response. It's nice to get a reasoned response to such a hot-button topic.

    (tig)
    --
    Ignorance and prejudice and fear
    Walk hand in hand
  44. Top Ramen, 10 for $1 by EvilStein · · Score: 1

    ..but dude, your sodium level will be higher than that of the Red Sea in a matter of months. :P

    I guess you can dilute it with some Pabst Blue Ribbon, tho.

    1. Re:Top Ramen, 10 for $1 by Jad+LaFields · · Score: 1

      >> Top Ramen, 10 for $1

      > I guess you can dilute it with some Pabst Blue Ribbon, tho.

      In other words, the college student's diet.

      --
      [SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
  45. Re:Offer from BS by ryanvm · · Score: 5, Funny

    A trailer home in Kentucky can be had for $1000, and a diet of ground beef, flour, spices and vegetables can sustain a family for less than $5000 a year.

    Your ideas intrigue me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

  46. Re:WHY MOST SLASHBOTS ARE NOT FUNNY by Brandybuck · · Score: 1

    But apparently it's still not often enough when you know to the hour the last time it was. People who it it regularly would have just said "this morning". But that 6:57AM quickie must have been pretty special.

    --
    Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  47. Re:Pronouncing Gentoo? by Bensmum · · Score: 1

    An undeserved and unproven reputation. "I think its faster cause I fed my buggy compiler a shitload of flags I don't understand" is a great way to go though, really. Until you do some benchmarks and realize you've slowed things down a fair bit, and you can't even complete all the benchmarks now because the compiler has produced broken output.

  48. With the death of the king... by AlexanderYoshi · · Score: 1

    This is the end of the Gentoo monarchy. I fear as its greatness shall plummet without the guidance of its great ruler, and become engulfed in the powers of beaurocracy. -Alex

  49. Thank you Daniel Robbins by Codifex+Maximus · · Score: 1

    I wish to thank Daniel Robbins for all his hard work and creativeness. Gentoo Linux is really a gem and I'm glad I tried it. I'm totally sold on this fine piece of work that makes my everyday maintenance tasks on my Linux box a breeze.

    I hope your next opportunity or idea is as well received.
    Thank you again!

    --
    Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
  50. Speed isnt really the point by UnseenEnigma · · Score: 1

    Yes u gain some extra performance (im certain far more than the 2% estimates some have given based on my experience). The great benifit of gentoo as i see it is the ability to maintain a soft of preference profile between your use flags, cflags and world file and keep it as up to date as any other system out their with a single command. Its also nice to be able to avoid the bs surounding media players dvd capabilities and other contravercial (legally uncertain) features. I used to run suse and i had a list a page long of packages which needed to be installed manually because suses was either really old (mozilla 1.2 when 1.6 was out) or altered (xine/k3b). I like to know my system is always up to date essentially with packages as the author wrote them with the options and optimizations i want with that one magical command to unleash the dark magic of portage

    emerge world

    PS. Yes the install is a pain. deal with it or help make the new graphical installer

  51. Thanks Robbins by ktorn · · Score: 2

    I installed Gentoo for the first time this weekend. It has an issue with my hardware (NIC drops net connection sometimes) but other than that they were by far the most enjoyable hours that I spent using Linux since 1999 when I first gave Red Hat a try.

    I used to be a just-get-RPMs-that-work guy, and hadn't even compiled a kernel until 2 days ago. Now I enjoy every bit of each kernel compilation and emerge. I think I've learnt more about Linux in the past 2 days than I did the 4 years before.

    The community behind Gentoo is as strong as I've seen (both in IRC and the Gentoo forums). It's been great to have joined the Gentoo bandwagon.

    I didn't even know who Robbins was until I read this article, but now that I know just let me say this: Thanks, thanks, thanks.

  52. A different spin by Sangui5 · · Score: 3, Informative

    While he certainly was the driving force behind Gentoo, it wasn't all good.

    To put it bluntly, Mr. Robbins is an utter PITA to work with. Many of the same things that have been said about Theo de Raadt (true or not) could be said about drobbins. This has alread caused a fork in Gentoo. My very limited exposure to dealing with Mr. Robbins left me with such a bad taste in my mouth I just decided to drop it rather than put up with it.

    Gentoo is a wonderful distribution, which I still use. But like several other open source projects (*cough*xfree86*cough*thebsds*cough*), those running the project were operating disconnected from their user/developer base. It isn't that central control is bad (Linus keeps control of final say) but that a central control that doesn't play nice with others is going to spell trouble.

    I hope that Gentoo will end up better for it.

    1. Re:A different spin by shadowbearer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Those who are running the project are often "disconnected" because they get loaded down with so many responsibilities that are not directly connected with the users/developers that they cannot respond directly anymore.

      IMO, Theo's biggest failure is in NOT disconnecting himself with the day to day details. I don't know if it explains his attitude, but it certainly may contribute to it.

      IFO suspect that Daniel is leaving the project because it's become such a burden to him that he no longer can spend any time doing anything else. Now, if he'd quit during the early days, a couple years ago, yeah, I'd have a beef with that. But he stuck it out, and now he's turning it over to other people whom he trusts so he can go on to things that are just as important (or maybe more so) to him.

      Perhaps he's a PITA to deal with, for you, because you don't realize that he's overloaded. I'm not in his position, but I am in one that is similar (if perpendicular) and I can understand quite well why he's done this.

      No offense, but there's a limit to how much one can take before you want to say "fuck this, there's other things I want to do". I reached my limit in that respect several times in the last 18 years in various jobs. Can you say the same?

      I'm older than Daniel, I don't have a family, but I've been in that situation enough that I understand why he's doing this. The lesson that Theo hasn't learned is that when you start burning out you should walk away and hand the reins to people you trust, rather than sticking it out and pissing people off.

      Sorry for the rant, and maybe I'm wrong but ....it had to be said.

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    2. Re:A different spin by Sangui5 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      First, I am not commenting on the Why of drobbins' departure. I saw many posts complementing Mr. Robbins on his work (complements which he does deserve), and making statements to the effect of "this will be bad for gentoo". I felt the need to respond to the second half of these posts.

      By disconnected, I don't mean unresponsive to day-to-day issues. Two examples of disconnect that come most readily to mind are the xfree86 license snafu and the legendary tightness by which core *BSD source trees are controlled. The first is ignoring the needs/wants of your support base, the second is ignoring the partipation of your support base.

      Supposing you are right, and that drobbins is walking away because his is burnt out, then I applaud that. The trouble comes in that the "pissing people off" part started some time ago. It hasn't cause major damage to the project (like xfree86's self-immolation), but there was a non-negligable negative effect. His departure would have been better 9 months ago (prior to the Zynot fork). On the other hand, hindsight is 20/20--it is quite likely that staying on was the best decision given the information available at the time.

      Really, I'm just trying to put a different light on the end effect of the departure. Whatever the reasons, drobbins is leaving, and that will have an effect. As an administrator, drobbins had his faults, and they were starting to wear on the project. While a committee is not as focused as an individual, committees scale better. It isn't the end of the line for gentoo, just another step.

    3. Re:A different spin by rsidd · · Score: 1
      This has alread caused a fork in Gentoo.
      ...(*cough*xfree86*cough*thebsds*cough*)

      Well, and what became of the zynot fork?

      Theo de Raadt could fork NetBSD, and more recently Keith Packard and friends could fork XFree86 and Matt Dillon could fork FreeBSD, because these people are developing the system itself and have really innovative ideas on how to do it. A linux distro is basically a collection of other people's software, and the scope for innovation is limited. Gentoo has some genuine innovation in its portage system, which is why it became so successful, but I don't see what role zynot can fill in the linux landscape.

    4. Re:A different spin by Sangui5 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      but I don't see what role zynot can fill in the linux landscape.

      If it does nothing else, it consumes resources that would have otherwise been used by Gentoo. Forks can be a good thing, but they can also be a bad thing. The OpenBSD fork ended up being a good thing--OpenBSD fills an entirely different role from NetBSD. The GCC/EGCS fork also ended up being good--the new totally replaced the old.

      In a way, I agree with you--the Zynot fork probably is hurting more than helping. There was a window of time to get moving, and that window has passed. Now all the fork is doing is diverting resources. On the other had, that a fork was created can have a positive impact just by existing. It highlights problems with the original project, and creates a drive to fix those problems. And if the problems aren't fixed, the secondary project is waiting in the wings to take over.

      My point in noting the fork was this: you don't create a fork unless there is a problem. Generally a big problem, where a lot of effort has been put in to try and resolve, but nothing has come of it. Regardless of whether Zynot amounts to anything, there was a fork, and that is signifigent in and of itself.

    5. Re:A different spin by Willard+B.+Trophy · · Score: 1
      That site has the following:
      • Results 1 - 10 of about 1,080,000 for gentoo linux
      • Results 1 - 10 of about 861 for zynot linux

      The Nielsens are in, and they're not looking good for zynot ...

    6. Re:A different spin by shadowbearer · · Score: 1


      Excellent points, but let me respond to a couple of them:

      On the other hand, hindsight is 20/20--it is quite likely that staying on was the best decision given the information available at the time.

      Given the stubbornness it takes to start a project such as he did, does it surprise you that he stuck it out longer than he should have? :) My grandfolks used to have a saying; "There's stubbornness and then there's bloody stubbornness" - and to be honest, it's the bloody stubborn types that tend to accomplish the most - and make the most enemies.

      As an administrator, drobbins had his faults, and they were starting to wear on the project. While a committee is not as focused as an individual, committees scale better. It isn't the end of the line for gentoo, just another step.

      Any administrator is going to piss off some fraction of the people they are administrating. *grin*

      I'm not so sure about committees. A committee without a strong leader who can cut thru the bullshit in disagreements will not survive; it will fragment or become useless.

      I don't think this is the end of Gentoo either. I am almost willing to bet, however, that we see another fork within six months. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing - often I think that any project that *doesn't* get forked may be becoming monolithic and stagnant; and Gentoo is a powerful enough concept that it perhaps *should* be forked in a way similar to the *BSDs so that the various niches it can fill get the best the community can deliver.

      In any case, Gentoo is the dist I will continue to use, no matter where it goes...

      Cheers!
      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  53. Gentoo _MADE_ Me. by MarcQuadra · · Score: 1

    I WANTED to like linux since I started using it in 1998, with Debian. I always dual-booted with Windows though, no matter what distro I used because Debian, Redhat, and Mandrake would always be just short of what I wanted, they were either too bloaty or too cryptic.

    The Gentoo install system taught me more about *NIX in the course of a few days than three years of other distros did. I fell in love instantly.
    It didn't hurt that I could FINALLY build binaries tuned for my CPU, while other distros were much more 'generic'.

    I stopped using Windows in 2002, switching my small network of a Mac G3 server, an Athlon, a PIII laptop, and whatever else I had laying around totally to Gentoo.

    It was the best thing I ever did with computers. Ever.

    Now I live in the blissful world of roaming profiles that work between Windows, Macs, and Linux boxes, automatic synchronizing and updating with emails telling me when config files need to be updated, and universal config files (XF86Config anyone?) that dynamically adjust to whatever host they reside on.

    I've switched a few friends over to Linux using Gentoo, they really dig how I can call up all sorts of window managers and apps compared to whatever Microsoft foists on them. I've even sold some Gentoo boxes to small businesses as file/print/domain servers, they're so stable that I have to charge the customers for when I _DON'T_ have to go service them.

    I had an NPTL/2.6-based distro built on gcc-3.3 and 2.6 headers WAY before anyone else did. Gentoo lets me live comfortably on the 'frontier' in a 'mobile home' that I had 'custom built' and it's truly exciting, and it helps pave the way for the rest of the people who need bugs shaken out and versions pushed.

    I don't think I'd ever be able to do all this if I hadn't learned the 'basics' from a Gentoo install.

    Thanks Daniel!

    --
    "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
  54. "they took my underpants again!" by aixou · · Score: 1

    1. story gets posted on slashdot 2. numerous posters mimic undewear gnome's profit scheme 3. pray to get modded up 4. profit?

  55. subscription will cost you a $1000 plus ... by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 1

    a year supply of ground beef, flour, spices (no curry please) and vegetables for a family ...

  56. Re:Pronouncing Gentoo? by LittleBigLui · · Score: 2, Funny
    which is reputed to be the fastest swimming species of penguin in the world. And as Gentoo has a reputation of being fast, it's only fitting.


    No no, you got it all wrong. It's the penguin species with the longest incubation time. Gentoo penguins breed their eggs for up to thirteen months while their babies compil^w mature.

    j/k, using gentoo myself.
    --
    Free as in mason.
  57. he's moving to another job... by millette · · Score: 1
    ...is zynot?

    Yes, I'm only kidding.

  58. D Robbins by dcstimm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Man I am going to miss him, I first learned about D Robbins when he was writing for IBM, and he really had some great ideas on how linux should function. He then surprised me by building one of the best distros I have ever used. He has even gone as far as helping me personally in the irc chat rooms, and I even helped him once with a DECSS issue he was having with xine and dvdnav. I truly think he was a great person, I have even donated to gentoo linux just because I wanted to help D Robbins idea grow and for him to find gentoo worthwhile. I am sad to see him go and he will be well missed, but Im sure we will see him in the #gentoo-dev forums when he is bored. :-) I love you drobbins!

  59. Installer/not installer??? by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1
    tweakt wrote:
    I couldn't really care about the installer (and Gentoo doesn't actually have one).
    Quattro Vezina wrote:
    Gentoo's installer is my favourite, by far.
    So, which is it?
    Does Gentoo have an installer, or not?
    (Personally, I use Slackware.)
    --
    Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    1. Re:Installer/not installer??? by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

      Installation on Gentoo is a very manual process. Your most sophisticated tool (aside from gcc) is tar.

    2. Re:Installer/not installer??? by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, I've never tried Gentoo, but my understanding is that it does NOT have a real installer. But it's still easier to install than Debian!

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    3. Re:Installer/not installer??? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Basically...YOU are the installer. But, they do have a very well laid out and informative, step by step install manual on their site...

      Gentoo Install Guide Start

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    4. Re:Installer/not installer??? by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1

      OK, thanks for the info.

      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    5. Re:Installer/not installer??? by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1

      OK, thanks.

      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    6. Re:Installer/not installer??? by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the info.
      Yeah, I've read the documentation (or an earlier version of it, at least), but I was wondering whether there was a script of some kind that did everything (or almost everything) for you.
      The two posters that I quoted conflicted with each other; hence my question.

      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    7. Re:Installer/not installer??? by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the info.
      I think that if I want to get a deeper understanding of how Linux works, I'll probably go with LFS, rather than Gentoo.
      The documentation that I've read for both LFS and Gentoo installation seem to be step-by-step recipes for how to get a sytem up.
      What I'd like to see is a thorough explanation of why each step is done.

      I am familiar with the general principles of UNIX, as I was a UNIX administrator back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and I also developed some system software for a fault-tolerant UNIX-like kernel shortly thereafter (device drivers, filesystems, etc.).
      I also delved into BSD UNIX internals at about that time.
      It would be interesting to see how Linux differs.
      One of these days, I might get back into it.

      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    8. Re:Installer/not installer??? by RealityThreek · · Score: 1

      Installing Gentoo is basically like installing LFS for newbies.

      You untar the basic framework onto your root partition. (you may have to compile some of this framework, depending on what stage you start from) You edit some config files in here, fstab, net, etc. Then you sync your portage tree, compile a kernel, setup grub/lilo, set up a logger and cron. Reboot.

      To some people, myself included, this is remarkably easy and painless. To others, who don't like touching their fstab file it's archaic and difficult. But either way you look at it, Debian's installer is worse. :)

      --
      :wq
  60. Complaining about compile time? by HenryKoren · · Score: 1

    You should have installed the STAGE 1 BINARY build.

    You should have used emerge -k when you installed your packages.

    I guess Gentoo linux is not really for you, because you didn't RTFM enough to find out about these basic options.

  61. Re:Pronouncing Gentoo? by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

    It's a soft G, as in "Ladies and Gentoomen".

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  62. Nick Petreley Loves Gentoo by jg21 · · Score: 1

    There's a piece at LinuxWorld on Daniel's resignation, quoting how Nicholas Petreley made Gentoo his favorite distro a year ago...

  63. Daniel needed to do this $$ by Zapdos · · Score: 1

    Changing to a NFP costs a lot of money $7,000 - $10,000. Daniel already has debt around $20,000 due to gentoo. He has a young family to support, and no savings. He needed to remove himself from becoming a larger financial black hole.

    Maybe if people were to DONATE this would not have happened.

  64. Thanks man! by miffo.swe · · Score: 1

    I would just like to send a big thank you to drobbins. He has laid out the foundation to one of the best distributions out there for us tinkers. There is no doubt that portage has taken computing a step further. To always be able to have the latest without reinstallation is something ive always dreamt of and is now a reality.

    Just because he doesnt do everything everyone wants just because they say so isnt any reason to bash the man. Someone have to take decisions and if people doesnt like them they are free to fork. If they are right about their complaints people will follow the fork, else its just going to be a stub fork without users.

    Forks is for incompabilitys amongst developers and i think forks is whats best about Open Source.

    Whiners on the other hand is something i cant stand!

    --
    HTTP/1.1 400
  65. Re:all compiling jokes aside by SQLz · · Score: 1

    Of course, it was modded to zero because god forbid Fedora, Debian, and Mandrake loose even more users to Gentoo.

    Gentoo is a young distro with lots of young people learning how to troubleshoot/install source packages and learning how to build a linux system from the ground up. These people are learning system maintainence skills that transfer to ANY distro. Someday, a Gentoo guy is going to take your job. Considerng, many of the users are 15 and under, by the time they graduate college they'll have like 7 or 8 years hard core linux experience. Throw in Java and C++ learned at school and you'll be standing in the unemployment line with 'RPM' listed as a legacy skill on your resume.

  66. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  67. all of your bitching and complaining.... by hyperstation · · Score: 1

    is silly. his reasons are clear - he's taking care of what comes first, his family. i have to assume that > 70% of you have no idea what kind of responsibility and self-sacrifice is required of parents of small children, but maybe someday you will...

    this man deserves a pat on the back as he leaves, not a finger in the air...

  68. hmm by Flunitrazepam · · Score: 1

    i have never used this Genitools, so I wont post a comment

    --
    1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
  69. Re:Offer from BS by bdowne01 · · Score: 1

    Two points (I know I'm feeding the Anonymous Troll ,but): 1) Show me the statistics that show that you can feed a family of four for less than $5000/year. 2) As a multiple-business owner, and family man this kind of post is just disgusting. Part of what made the United States as comfortable, powerful and sucessful entities in the world was simply the pursuit by her citizens of something better. Remove that single aspect, replace it with your belief and this country will fail. Most people in the U.S. were born and raised with the luxury of living in the most powerful country in history. Because of this, there is an unawareness of why our forefathers worked as hard as they did. Personally, I'm going to work my ass off while I'm young so that I can retire early. Yes I'm on track to do so in 10 years. Then I'll watch in retired comfort as the radical people that thought they were making a difference by not doing anything are in their 60's with $400 in the bank with medical expenses no place to live. I suppose I'll be supporting them via taxes anyway. So it is that the buren of the lazy is placed on the hard-working.

    --
    -brain
  70. Re:Common response to "You should use Linux!" by n1ywb · · Score: 1

    One of the things that's been pissing me off lately when using various X apps, is that unless the app is native to KDE or Gnome or something, they ALL have different file-open dialog boxes. Don't bother explaining to me why it is, I know why it is, but it still sucks. What MacOS gave it's users back in 1984 was consistancy. It's nice that I have so many options, but for once I just wish that every X app had the same god damn file-open dialog box!

    --
    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  71. Re:Common response to "You should use Linux!" by metamatic · · Score: 1

    Why they couldn't just stick the OS 7/8/9 Platinum interface on Unix, like they did with AUX, I'll never know.

    Well, that's a matter of taste. Personally I hated Platinum, to the extend that I ran with a monochrome theme on my Mac to avoid it. I was absolutely delighted to see the back of its ugly grey visage. Aqua, on the other hand, is beautiful.

    I also find the dock works well for me. I wish I could get the KDE kicker to be more like it. So not all Mac addicts share your distate for the X UI...

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak