Re: Re[2]: project status

On Sat, 2005-01-15 at 18:16 -0500, David Longo wrote:
> Chris,
> I am not a joe user, I understand Linux, programming, Gentoo, etc.  I
> have been using Linux for...6 years...programming for around 8, and am
> planning on using Gentoo for a long, LONG time.  I love it as much as
> anyone and hope that it doesn't become Mandrake bullshit.  However, I
> am also a student, an admin, a researcher, etc.  I don't always have
> time to sit and go through config files.  It would be VERY nice if
> there were config tools on the GUI side.  Things can't always live in

I agree.  At the same time, it is more likely that we will build
configuration tools that work on the command line, as every tool we
build *must* be available from the command line, as that reaches 100% of
our users.  Once the command line tools are written and being used, then
I can guarantee you that GUI tools will come to follow.

> a shell.  And btw, mainstream is a thing to look for because more
> users = more feedback = more contribution.  So i understand if you are
> coding the distro for yourself, but I think I speak for many people
> when I say that most code for the progression of the community. i.e.
> Linux.  I am forced to use Windows on my main computer right now

Well, most Linux people that I've ever met code to scratch their own
itches.  After all, if you have  apiece of hardware that only half works
under Linux, are you more likely to fix that driver, or the driver of a
piece of hardware you do not own?  It seems that some of you took what I
said to mean that I only work on things that I can directly benefit
from.  This is not the case with me, or most of the other developers.
Instead, we "code for ourselves" in the fact that we work on what we're
interested in at the time, not necessarily what others are asking us to
do.  This won't change, as far as I can see, until we start getting
paychecks from the Gentoo Foundation for our work and are told what
projects to focus our efforts.

> because of the program support (i.e. OpenOffice is just not where I
> would like it to be right now), and the ease of use (i.e I can plug
> something in and it works, i.e. I can plug in a second monitor and
> have it magically work, etc). I understand what you are saying, but
> there are times when a system has to just work, and I love the way
> gentoo works, but sometimes it doesn't just work.  Auto hardware
> integration, and config file editing, etc. is extremely necessary. 
> Maybe not in a way that takes away from more functional development,
> but as a supplement.  Ok, end of rant.

Exactly.  It cannot take away from our primary goal of improving the
distribution.  Right now, none of us has the time nor the energy to
remake YaST or the *drake tools.  That doesn't mean that someone could
not take YaST and modify it to work with Gentoo.

My point is that these things aren't that important in the grand scheme
of things.  At least, not yet.  There's thousands of other areas where
we could vastly improve before we even bother touching the configuration
tools.  Remember, that in the life of a distribution, Gentoo is in its
infancy, especially considering that unlike most of the other newbies,
Gentoo wasn't built from an already established distribution like Red
Hat or Debian.

-- 
Chris Gianelloni
Release Engineering - Operations/QA Manager
Games - Developer
Gentoo Linux

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