Funtoo Linux, the brainchild of its Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL) Daniel Robbins and the original founder of Gentoo Linux, is taking a step back to what its founder describes as “Hobby Mode.”
“I’ve decided to keep Funtoo Linux going in a limited capacity. Funtoo Linux will be entering “Hobby Mode”. It will continue as a personal project of mine, maintained for myself. You will still be able to
ego syncand get periodic updates. You can still use it if you want to.”
As we informed you at the end of last month, Robbins announced the termination of the project. Three weeks later, however, he has changed that original intention.
Okay, what does this “Hobby Mode” mean? In short, it will continue to receive his personal attention and maintenance. Funtoo users will still be able to perform updates and maintain their systems, ensuring that despite the scaled-back approach, the OS will remain functional and largely up-to-date for those who choose to stick with it.
However, significant changes are on the horizon for the Funtoo community infrastructure. The project will discontinue its bug tracker and community code repositories, shifting the forums and wiki to read-only mode.
This move suggests a departure from active community collaboration, directing users towards platforms like Reddit for self-support and discussion rather than the project’s Discord channel.
Robbins has offered a lifeline for those deeply integrated into the Funtoo ecosystem, particularly those using Funtoo containers. He is prepared to maintain certain container hosting services and plans new infrastructure to support future projects.
So, what can we conclude from this situation? We’re looking at a one-man-show operating system, calling it a personal project, and now it’s cutting off its official community channels. Honestly, this sounds more like “Coma Mode” than “Hobby Mode” to me.
Given these circumstances, uncertainty about the project’s future, and the owner’s unpredictable moves, it’s challenging to see who would rely on Funtoo from here on out. But, whether we like it or not, these things are part of the open-source world. Anyway, thanks for everything, Funtoo!
For more information, refer to the Robbins’ announcement.
