On 12/08/2016 02:15 PM, Andreas K. Huettel wrote:
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Am Donnerstag, 8. Dezember 2016, 15:08:17 schrieb james:
On 12/07/2016 04:39 PM, Robin H. Johnson wrote:
On Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 04:01:53PM -0500, james wrote:
Can you cross post to gentoo-dev? I'm not subscribed to that list.
Should not a wider community, particularly devs be part of the
discussion?

Please DO subscribe.

Nope. I strongly believe that if your wider dev community had a deeper
understanding of the responsibility chain...
<snip>

Even if I'm repeating myself... Please keep the mailing lists on topic.

Problems caused by gentoo developer behaviors, are "on topic" for this list. Your position only serves to obfuscate remedies.


While the topics of gentoo-project are widespread, conspiracy theories and US
politics are definitely not on-topic here.


And this sort of analysis is at the heart of why Gentoo is going to be
categorized, as a "Boys Club" or a "tax dodge" or a "Fiefdom in the eyes of the IRS. The Gentoo Code of Conduct is quintessentially important to future viability of the distro. The devs all need to hear about these issues. Read on and you will see an action plan, the reasons for it and bit more detail, for those that require a bit more anecdotal evidence. Satisfactory resolution can not be achieved by the Council, nor the Foundation. It must be embraced by the wider gentoo dev community. In fact remedies proposed here can be implemented by a hand full of astute devs, should their convictions diverge from the council or foundation. Therefore, this is a paramount issue for those with dev status and those of us that have been participating with gentoo for quite a few years and have first hand witnessed these dev-induced malfeasant actions.



*please listen* and we can save this distro from the fiefdom of constrained control, largely made possible by the dev community and the senior (privileged) devs whom also have a tainted history with Gentoo. Many senior devs have "clean hands" as we all know. Gentoo is not alone, there is, Alpine linux, now the fiefdom of Docker, and the linux kernel project are both viable candidates too, for scrutiny. In fact there are many charity-tech organizations (particularly 501(c) which can be portrayed as not being open but merely tax-avoidance schemes; this effects us all, deeply.


Also, to confirm what robbat2 suggested, Gentoo Foundation organizational
questions including how to deal with the IRS (should that even be discussed on
a publicly archived list?) find their best audience on the nfp list.

This can all be cleaned up. But decisive action needs to occur. Just read on or lodge your complaints with the Council if you feel the need.


After all, whoever wants to participate can subscribe there, and whoever
doesn't subscribe there probably doesn't *want* to hear about it.

Where are you statistics? Let's hold a vote and ask gentoo-users to participate, if they like. A move to silence would be very interesting as a point of argument against your position. Perhaps Mr. Robbins can weigh on his experiences and perspectives? Other, bitter devs that have left? Countless others that have been mistreated (at least in their eyes) during their attempted journey to dev status?


SO::

Only three things need to occur, to fix this mess. The past is not a problem, if when confronted with the truth the distro leaders take significant corrective actions. Converting what accounting records are known to gnucash, is trivial. So here are (3) actionable steps that can be achieved in short order and some of the reasons from the IRS point of view as to why they are of timely, actionable significance.


(1) A GLEP that expedites and makes forking gentoo, relative as easy as possible.

(2) An easy and straightforward method(s) to install gentoo. Stage-4, CD, ansible, ignition etc etc.

(3) A documented pathway to become a dev on gentoo, with all requirements, tests and re-testing documented fairly and applied to all, new devs and existing devs alike.



Why (1):: This allows most anyone be a gentoo dev. Lots of viable forks can be a home for learning, training and development of a wide diversity of different levels on technical competence, demonstrated by successfully being 'a gentoo or gentoo-fork developer'. Technologies like Java, could easily be supported should they choose to allow non-sources into the ebuild process, for their gentoo-forked-distro. Each fork can have their own dev rules. Anyone can fork gentoo and the master of that fork, manages that gentoo-sub-culture as they deem reasonable. Migration to dev-proper, can be a more difficult pathway, but needs to be open and fair. Training is conducted in the forks; one fork could be just for training for those seeking dev-status in gentoo-proper. Seriously, being a dev is no big deal. The quintessential quality or skill, is knowing which ebuilds to monkey with which ebuilds to leave alone.

This enables (by active promotion) any individual, corporation or business to benefit from a deployment of gentoo or a customized version of gentoo, just like a privileged few corporations have benefited (google, CoreOS etc). Without many companies at least testing and some using gentoo, Gentoo is mostly a fiefdom of certain companies. This is evidenced by the history of devs that work at these companies and have been or currently are gentoo devs. It's back-channel control, evidenced by irc and other venues where only certain folks can listen. Since we can assume the IRS and various other governmental agencies, and some private companies like google, pretty much have every bit and byte of gentoo's history logged; let's not pretend that the past is some big unknown. It is hidden and camouflaged from the public, particularly the older issues and evidence streams, but that's really not a problem, once lawyers get involved. Much is publically available too. It's just how things occurred.

Forking Gentoo just opens up and encourages all to benefit from 100% source builds, gentoo style.



Why (2):: When the IRS looks at gentoo, the most common tool and metric they'll use is "What do the other charities in this category do?"

Statistically, linux distros have 'an automated or semi-automated' installation. Since gentoo has had many, including stage-4, CD and usb and such, it can be viewed as a vindictive policy that only serves to block others while creating a control mechanism to the point of exclusion. The current artificial barriers to installation, aka "follow the handbook" will be viewed by discerning eyes as a significant and unnecessary obstruction to wider public use. Any dev can make arguments as the virtues of a painful, manual install, but economically it is an unnecessary blocker or a recalcitrant hindrance to progress and that is one of easy pathways to justify re-classification of gentoo, as a fiefdom. A lack of easy installation semantics, is intentional, destructive, and economically disadvantages small companies and most individuals from the wonderful benefits of Gentoo. In the eyes of the IRS, a fiefdom is often more serious than a known "criminal enterprise". If you do not believe me, find a retired IRS agent and ask them in their experiences, what the IRS does to a fiefdom, masquerading as a charity?



WHY (3):: Update the exam every (2) years and require all devs take the exam to re-qualify. Publish the old exams and correct answers, once the exams are updated. It's about ensuring a basic knowledge base and should be allowed to be re-taken, without restriction until correct. IRC is vindictive and there are numerous cases where than can easily be established by the legal community as corrosive, at best, to those that are the victims. That's why everybody else has written exams, once they have been sued (in the corporate world). Linux distros live in a different world and no doubt many enjoying the benefits of 501(c) status, and have many of the same types of problems as Gentoo.



The dev community is constrained and undocumented as to how to become a dev., historically. Immediately create a written exam that is all one has to pass be a gentoo dev and combine that with other reasonable requirements and a few ebuilds created from scratch. Require all devs to take the written exam, on a bi-annual basis. As many retries as necessary to pass should the exam should be generously available. New EAPI skills are just one temporal development that should be the target of the dev exams. Dev status should be about a fair and open assessment of skills and historical accomplishments (your body of ebuild works). The current irc-oral-nighmare examination is merely a prejudicial blocker (ask an attorney) that can be and has been applied subjectively. There is nothing wrong with posting the questions and answers to previous exams; in fact that should be routine. Being a gentoo dev, to be legally fair, should be about obtaining a certification, much like RHEL or Cisco or other relevant technical standards. Right now, it a boys club, that can easily be viewed as a significant and unnecessary 'cost barrier to entry' to an extraordinarily valuable fiefdom.


CoreOS is little more than binary gentoo, with a few slick management tools, although I guessing they'd beg to differ. It's easy to install and easier to manage, with our without a formal business relationship. I like CoreOS, I think it's great. But my point is they have automated installation, and share those codes. So Gentoo's position on making it so dam convoluted to install and refusing to offer any form of simple, CD based install, is extremely prejudicial to new folks interested in the power of gentoo. That is the essence of a fiefdom. We have assimilated a wide variety of CoreOS ebuilds into gentoo, to lower their cost of ebuild management, one could argue. But the complete set of CoreOS ebuilds required to bring gentoo up to commercial viability has intentionally been not supported. Just go read about CoreOS's "ignition" or "bare-metal" it's a robust method to install from bare metal, before systemd or other init system commitments have to be instantiated. Simply brilliant and totally awesome!

One could argue that systemd is being promoted as an additional false blocker on gentoo and the wider linux distros. This "favoring of systemd" when the rank and file users of gentoo favor anything but systemd, only furthers the arguments of collusion between distro and linux kernel blockers to competition. Before you argue, show me the cluster codes and the wiki pages within gentoo, and detail how to build a Gentoo cluster, that does not rely on Systemd. I do not wish to argue systemd at the gentoo level, but do wish to include systemd policy at the linux-kernel-level as a blocker to free and open competition from traditional Open source /linux/uinx. In the entire history of linux there has never been such an orchestrated and contrive and required piece of linux kernel code, that violates so many historical semantics of both linux and open source as systemd. CHOICE, the mantra of FOSS and linux is being severely and artificially constrained by the commercial interests behind systemd. The uptake of systemd is the smoking gun of evidence that many tech projects, proclaiming to be charities are, in deed, a ruse for constrained, monopolistic behavior, orchestrated by the few that have beneficial relationships with specific corporations. It's not speculation it is the basis of valid economic arguments that can be use by the IRS, in the name of taxation, Homeland security, and in the name of a national security threat. Any number of hungry lawyers that just need a payday can participate. So this tainted behavior by the linux kernel folks now infects most linux distros and it is anti-competive at best and most likely monopolistic and vindictive, were it to be litigated fully. Luckily, I'm not sure the new administration has the talent to litigate or resolve this sort of monopolistic behavior. The fact that such actions can bring in billions of dollars to the federal treasury, well, I'm not so sure that's not of extreme interest to the new leaders of the IRS.





Now any senior Gentoo dev and the council may classify this next part as "conspiracy theory" but it's not. It's reality and it does effect all of the gentoo linux community, the wider linux user folks and 501(c) organizations that use or are integral to the linux community::

The new administration is going to need billions/trillions of dollars to finance the rebuilding of American industry (fact). The IRS is their chief agent to "bring in the revenues" (fact). The IRS can reclassify the linux kernel project, as a tax dodge, a fiefdom and a threat to national security, for a large array of previous "sins". (needs to be proven, but the way the IRS works, they "squeeze" but one company, the word get's and the deal cutting commences in a fury-rush to settle) (so FACT). This "squeeze" automatically makes any number of Large Corporations, around the world, tax liable (fact) and motivated to appease the new leadership team (we shall see).

Many global corps will sell out to cut a quick deal, and pay all sorts of fees, penalties and back taxes to cover the value of what the linux kernel has done for their product sales. I.E. they pay the linux kernel taxes on behave of their interest and gains for using a tax-dodge like the linux-kernel. There will be a rush to move industry back to the US. Trump has to do very little, other than grant audiences and take victory laps, as he chooses. Naturally, Trump, being a deal maker will bring back millions of jobs and thousands of manufacturing facilities to US controlled soil. This return is strategic to national defense, so even what's left of the establishment-corrupted-republicans are going to have to get on-board (speculation), they'll be allowed to funnel some proceeds to the DoD, as is always the goal of establishment republicans. Democrats will be glad and supportive as jobs for their constituents will also be in the mix of benefits.

Likewise Brexit, Italy, china and others will smartly-rush to complete their industrial bases and local markets so all the world will prosper. Those H1B visas folks here in the US, dude, international VCs and Globalist organizations are all going to start a rigorous recruitment of that talent, so as to build up their home nations. India reigns supreme here, but all will look to incentivize those H1B folks to return home and enjoy commercial prosperity and be part of their own, national resurgence. Trump will champion the prosperity rights of those H1B visa folks that return home asap and their homeland governments will join in to, welcoming home those H1B visa folks, many which have been abused by global corporations while here in the US.

The world shall proper, without limit, and 'Trump the Chump' ( propular Democratic chant) then becomes hailed as 'Trump the Champ' of human rights and prosperity for all peoples around the world. Yes the global elites will pay some new taxes (to their designation home country) but they'll financially heal up, just fine, and peace will flourish around the globe. Can you imagine how Pakistan and Iran and others will prosper when most of their smartest citizens return home to start new businesses? America will prosper mightily too, probably the most, as deep patriotism rebound and economic prosperity is had, but all. There is more than sufficient talent and new talent available, despite the BS that TECH purpots, right here now in American. Numerous experts have kept tabs on the numbers of STEM college kids, who are US citizens, that are routinely discriminated against for jobs. Fully one half of them never get stem jobs. California has class about lawsuit against quite a few TECH giants for discrimination against older (particularly white-male) workers. Stupid hyperbole like "goolyness" is the defense.

A Tsunami is coming in that direction, once it is branded a "national defense" issue. TECHs intentional efforts to marginalize millions of American Citizens, is not going to play well with the new leaders of the IRS. (fact and already a deep promise). And yes a forkable gentoo, can and should lead the charge of global tech prosperity. In fact, Gentoo is uniquely positioned to be in a position of leadership. Do you have any idea of the millions and millions of dollars in government program grants that are going to be available to those 'charities' that assist the new administration ? Prosperity and nationalism for all nations, despite what academics and globalist say, is going to very, very good for middle class folks and wise, fleet-footed business leaders.


The history of the linux kernel project is littered with dead companies, many because they could not get their devices to be supported by the linux kernel project. Regardless of reason, all of those technical arguments will not hold up in a court of law, because
most of the kernel is optional; just don't compile in those sources
you do not like. Do no harm. Dirt simple, economically. Blockers, regardless of good intentions, standards, or whatever, have disadvantaged companies to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. Some filtering might be justifiable, but a large amount of what has occurred, was baseless and destructive to competition. Other corporations did the exact same thing and it was blessed and included in the sources. The linux kernel project is ripe for labeling as any number of disruptive, noncompetitive or national security threats.


The IRS, and any number of agencies can pierce this 'holy vial' of economic hippocracy, with trivial effort, because legally all you have to do is find one example, historically, where one company did something and others were not allow the same opportunity and the entire hoax is legally exposed. Corporate American and many international companies have been "doodling the linux kernel" for a long time to their competitive advantage over other competing companies. It continues on today:: here is a prime example where it can be argued that Intel and Nvidia are the economic beneficiaries of blocking AMD [1] as a competitor, via verbiage and hubris that others have been allow to orchestrate. If I were AMD, I'd go public, go legal and to Home Land Security and start pleading their case. This clearly shows deception as blatant economic discrimination by the linux-kernel-folks. Just make it modular, for now, and AMD can use profits from the sale of equipment, to hire folks to do things as 'the brain trust' at the linux kernel so demand. As a blocker, AMD will be burdened and unnecessarily delayed, so Intel and Nvidia continue to prosper in an unfair and unreasonably contrived deception.


The linux kernel project is the 'one stop shop' Where Trump/Pence have most of the tech industry, "by the balls". And it is known in keen circles as such. That's why "TECH" is already the "bitch" of the ICEMAN. Unknown is the size and methods of relief that shall be extracted. If Trumps fails the citizens on fixing jobs and manufacturing and the nation, then he'll be a one-term president. Trump needs revenue and squeezing TECH is his best most fair alternative. After all, TECH, under Obama have paid a tiny fraction, of what they should have paid in taxes, while many other industries where heavily tax and regulated into oblivion.


Trump/Pense are the GoodCop/ICEMAN team and they are looking to clean things up a bit and bring in revenue to fund a more equitably and distributed industrial base in American. TECH, has run afoul. TECH, particularly the purveyors of the Internet, went to ridiculous extremes to defeat Trump/Pense in the election and they lost. There is a house-cleaning coming, including the civil rights violations of many American by TECH. The new government is going to get cart-blanche permission to violate citizen's privacy, for national-security reasons only, but TECH's days are numbered. All of this will either be embraced by TECH (the wise ones that read the tea-leafs) or by the IRS and Homeland Security, as part of a cleaning up of the IoT industries that have become a national security threat and a haven for nefarious activists. Home much of the illegal and nefarious activities of the IoT Bots has ended up in the databases of TECH? Somebody has to pay, and TECH has deep pockets, that mostly support democrats and are due to pay some taxes.


GENTOO can be cleaned up, quite easily, and become the wonderful readily available linux distro to fork or install, as it once was when installation was a snap. In can and should be used, globally and thus should play a key role in re-repatriating H1B folks into their own homeland, in a most prosperous position. If Gentoo's leadership becomes wise, we can save this distro and make it shine like no other linux distro can, and the readers of this list know what I am saying is truth and empowering to all people and to small to mid-sized businesses. A small team of devs could pull off (1-3) if they decide to clean up gentoo, without Council/Foundation approval. Let's remove the blockers and make gentoo readily accessible to the masses, as all charities should do. Perform task (1-3), rapidly and I'll personally put together a team that handles the corrupted (jaded?) past problems of Gentoo and that also launches gentoo into outstanding status at the IRS and a pristine charity of good and moral conduct, quite worthy of donations and research grants and philanthropic gifts. Guaranteed!


Right now, Gentoo is at best a boys club; probably a fiefdom, if the IRS wants to use it as a stepping stone to those with deeper pockets in TECH. God know we have lots of unemployed STEM folks that can economically benefit, should the ICEMAN decided TECH needs to be audited both the history and source codes in use by those TECH companies. Think about it, TECH starts to pony up taxes and fines and all sorts of revenue, to the ICEMAN and his teams, and millions of underemployed US citizens get employed to audit these TECH companies, line by line. Why TECH could create paychecks for millions of jobs here in the US and the benefits would be widely distributed to other companies and places around the US.

Regardless *THE ICEMAN COMMETH*. and how do we prepare?



[1] https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/dri-devel/2016-December/126516.html


Andreas K. Huettel
Gentoo Linux developer
dilfri...@gentoo.org
http://www.akhuettel.de/


James Horton,
Optimist

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