Stuart Herbert | Gentoo

I’ve thrown my hat into the ring, and decided to stand in the upcoming elections for the Gentoo Foundation. A bit like Robin, and his one-issue stand on package signing for the council elections, I’m standing for election on one issue: creating an international developer conference.

My proposal goes further than simply running an annual conference, and discusses how turning the Foundation into a truly world-wide organisation could not only help us raise more money, but also could help us create an even broader community than we have now.

Please, have a read, post feedback below (or come talk to me on IRC), and come and help us make this happen.

After yesterday’s trouble with ordering a Nokia N770 tablet, I had an email through today confirming that my tablet will ship today, and thanking me for the suggestions I sent them about how to improve their security checks. Nokia didn’t send me the contact details I asked for, so that I could make a complaint, but even so I’m feeling pretty happy about this.

So, if everything goes to plan, it won’t be long before I have my N770.

Sorry to pick on you Chris (it’s just that you are the first person to say it this time around), but this comment pretty much sums up why Gentoo’s in decline:

Let developers … develop.

Gentoo’s a community distribution … our volunteer ranks are made up of folks who want to have fun. And for the majority of our volunteers, fun == packaging applications. But as long as folks only care about their own packages, I don’t see Gentoo’s trends reversing.

Nothing breeds decline like apathy. Why are folks apathetic about the state of things? Is it because a large section of our volunteers are young, and have yet to have to make their own way in the world? Do folks really not want to see Gentoo do better? Or is it that, during our recruitment, we’ve failed to make sure folks feel that they’re part of a movement that is larger than themselves? Add your own thoughts to the comments below this post.