Re: A GNU Distribution

[Christophe Poncy]

On Mon, 2 Apr 2012 19:50:36 -0700, Dave Crossland wrote:
> [...]
> As others have mentioned, there are unofficial distributions of GNU
> that started with Gentoo that use the 'portage' package management
> system that also makes it easy to install source code in a 
> predictable
> location, modify the code, recompile and install the new package;
> additionally, it makes it easy to systematize that process so that eg
> a single Emacs package can be compiled to integrate tightly with
> (only) the other packages installed on the local machine.
>
> [...]
>
> So, while I have a neutral opinion about the GNU project making an
> official GNU distribution, I personally can think of no reason that a
> new package management system would be useful to develop :-)

If I understood correctly, Daniel Robbins is currently writing a new 
version of portage. My feeling is that we need experienced hackers on 
this project. And another way to launch such a project could be to use 
an existing distro. Nobody asked for that, but my dream is to initiate a 
dialogue between Daniel and RMS. I cross-posted this on their mailing 
list in the aim to know if they are interested, if they are willing to 
replace the Linux kernel by Linux-libre (and create another branch for 
the Hurd?); just a note to say that it's so easy to confugure this 
system to accept only free software... So, daniel, if you are reading 
this post, please, come and share your thought here ;)