>>972111
Original poster of that comment here with an addendum. Keep circling the message. Don't be afraid to post to other forums. The allies are worth it.
Learning To Code
I realize that not everyone here knows how to code or has actually done any serious projects. But it's clear that the only chance we'll have to stop the tide of whiny JavaScript kiddies is to establish a new regime of open source developers who both know their stuff and contribute enough that our opinions carry weight. If anyone had any doubts that you can program, or you want to learn more, we need to establish a regimen to prepare you and offer support. Realistically, most people here will get bored within a week without support and give up. Not anymore.
I will creating a place we can support each other to learn as well as share information. Threads are great for general discussion and directing a mob, but we are quickly entering the phase where finesse is more valuable.
Let us provide mentorship and coordination. Let us build a fraternity of /tech/ programmers who can watch each other's backs while contributing to FOSS. Let us work to retain our enclave from invaders.
I am taking suggestions for chat protocol to use. What would you guys prefer? I have been eyeing Matrix, but I can fall back to IRC or something if it's easier. I know a lot of people are on Discord, but would like to avoid that for many reasons. Please reply with your preferences and I will work on getting things up this weekend.
Providing Alternatives
This is a two-front issue. On one hand, we have people who are absolutely convinced that they need a CoC. There are already a number of alternatives out there, written by those who don't want politics running rampant but want to provide a simple set of guidelines. They are far less political and have tighter wording. If we can decide on one to push to CoCsuckers then we might be able to loosen the grip of the current cancerous one and turn the tide back a little. It's not ideal, but it's a step in the right direction. I don't think anyone opposes a CoC; we oppose ones that leave projects open to complaints from endless whiners who have a victim complex.
On the other hand, we need to actively promote the benefits of meritocracy. I would like to write a piece similar to this "Anti-Meritocracy Manifesto". Except Manifestos are for commies and psychopaths. We will write an oath of values for people to pledge to hold themselves to, not a mandate telling others how to live their lives. It will provide a public declaration of opposition to the values of the socialists.
Time To Get Political
It's time to fight fire with fire. You need to learn how to play the politics game. When you start out, keep your cards close to your chest. Build political capital. That just means other people trust you to act in good faith. Do it by acting in good faith without taking a direction stance on issues. It's easy to want to have an opinion on everything, but a little restraint goes a long way in politics. Play the game. Make allies. Isolate enemies. If we play our cards right, we can easily divide and conquer.
The key thing to remember is that we fight to disarm. We fight so that we may supplant the socialists, not become them. Tyranny begets tyranny, but we can break the cycle. Never forget that you need to be good at hammering nails to become a carpenter, but the best carpenter knows when to step aside and use another tool for the job. We make war so we may see peace, not so we can go to war.
Who's with me?
>>972136
As >>972156 said, you need to go looking for issues. Their issue tracker is here:
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/describecomponents.cgi
Alternatively, just e-mail a maintainer (if in doubt, hit up one of the guys against the CoC on the mailing list like Adam Borowski, Rene Herman, or opal hart) and explain that you are interested in contributing and that you'd like help getting started. Ask if they need help with anything or know of any good beginner tasks and could help you get started. Simple as that. See what kind of response you get and if you don't like it then move on to the next guy.
I'm hoping we can compile a list of helpful contributors to ask, or possibly even get enough of our own guys in there that we can just recruit directly. For now, we need an entry point, so ask around. It's fishy if we all ping the same guys, so try to spread it around.