On Fri, 21 May 2010, Bertrand Delacretaz wrote:
I'd like to write a blog post (on the foundation blog, or might be a
good opportunity to start the comdev blog) about the basic rules of
Apache projects.
Looks promising to me. I've only a couple of points
ASF releases consist of source code, binaries are provided as a
convenience only (LINK).
I'd be tempted to say something different, since it's a contentious topic.
Maybe something like:
"ASF releases must include the source code, since we're an open source
foundation. Different projects place different weights on binaries to
accompany releases, and so many (but not all) projects will subject their
binary releases to the same degree of scrutiny as their sources"
A formal PMC vote is required to publish a release.
May add the all-important reason for this:
"By voting to accept and bless the release, the PMC then makes the release
one of the foundation, rather than simply one by the release manager, thus
granting the foundation's protection to the release"
or something like that...
Each PMC reports to the board of directors, at least every three
months, mentioning progress, problems and perspectives in terms of
community, releases, code and compliance with the above rules.
I think this is a topic for another, 2nd blog post! I think it would be
helpful to review a few reports from past board reports, and highlight the
things that help the board, and the ones where the board needs to know
more. I've certainly had people on my pmc ask me why I've included things
in the report, especially things that highlight issues, and it'd be great
to be able to point them at a blog post with examples rather than having
to write an email from scratch!
Nick
