+1 to my own proposal. -Joan
----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joan Touzet" <woh...@apache.org> > To: "CouchDB Developers" <dev@couchdb.apache.org> > Sent: Tuesday, 5 March, 2019 3:18:01 PM > Subject: [VOTE] Bylaws change: Establish a Request For Comments (RFC) process > for major new contribution (revised) > > (Revised: The Reply-To field on the last email was incorrect. I am > also including the diff of the proposed changes to this email per > request.) > > ------------ > > PMC Members, > > This is a VOTE to create or amend our official documents. > > It establishes a new Request For Comments (RFC) process through which > all major changes to Apache CouchDB must pass. > > This includes modifying the Bylaws to explain the process, as well as > adding the new RFC template. > > There are also minor changes proposed to the Bylaws to improve links > to > external information resources, such as the new Pony Mail mailing > list > interface. > > The git branch with the proposed changes is here: > > https://github.com/apache/couchdb-www/compare/asf-site...add-rfc > > Two commits have been used to make it clearer which changes are > purely > cosmetic, and which directly affect the text of the bylaws. > > An important note: this vote explicitly excludes the mechanics of the > process in GitHub, focusing only on the proposal and voting > procedures. > (Whether we store the RFCs in our main tree or the docs tree, and > whether we use issues or PRs for them don't have to go in the > bylaws.) > > Per our process, this vote occurs on the Main development list > (dev@), > and requires a Lazy 2/3 majority, meaning it requires three binding > +1 > votes and twice as many binding +1 votes as binding -1 votes. Only > PMC > Members can vote on this issue, and no veto is allowed. > > This vote will run for one week, ending on 12 March 2019 23:59 UTC. > > -Joan > > > --------------------------------------------------- > > diff --git a/bylaws.html b/bylaws.html > index 77ad2c0..4aea136 100644 > --- a/bylaws.html > +++ b/bylaws.html > @@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ > > <h1>CouchDB Bylaws</h1> > > -<p><em>This document was officially adopted by the CouchDB PMC as of > 31 July 2014.</em> > +<p><em>This document was officially adopted by the CouchDB PMC as of > 31 July 2014.</em></p> > +<p>A full changelog is available <a > href="https://github.com/apache/couchdb-www/commits/asf-site/bylaws.html";>on > GitHub</a>.</p> > > <h2>Table of Contents</h2> > > @@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ > > <p>We value the community more than the code. A strong and healthy > community should be a fun and rewarding place for everyone > involved. Code, and everything else that goes with that code, will > be produced by a healthy community over time. > > -<p>The direction of the project and the decisions we make are up to > you. If you are participating on <a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/#couchdb";>the > mailing lists</a> you have the right to make decisions. All > decisions about the project are taken on the mailing lists. There > are no lead developers, nor is there any one person in charge. > +<p>The direction of the project and the decisions we make are up to > you. If you are participating on <a > href="https://couchdb.apache.org/#mailing-lists";>the mailing > lists</a> you have the right to make decisions. All decisions about > the project are taken on the mailing lists. There are no lead > developers, nor is there any one person in charge. > > <p>Anyone can subscribe to the public mailing lists, and in fact, > you are encouraged to do so. The development mailing list is not > just for developers, for instance. It is for anyone who is > interested in the development of the project. Everybody's voice is > welcome. > > @@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ > > <p><strong>The most important participants in the project are people > who use our software.</strong> > > -<p>Users can participate by talking about the project, providing > feedback, and helping others. This can be done at the ASF or > elsewhere, and includes being active on <a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-user/";>the > user mailing list</a>, third-party support forums, blogs, and social > media. Users who participate in this way automatically become > contributors. > +<p>Users can participate by talking about the project, providing > feedback, and helping others. This can be done at the ASF or > elsewhere, and includes being active on <a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?u...@couchdb.apache.org";>the > user mailing list</a>, third-party support forums, blogs, and social > media. Users who participate in this way automatically become > contributors. > > <h3 id="contributors">2.2. Contributors</h3> > > @@ -152,9 +153,9 @@ > > <p>Our goal is to build a community of trust, reduce mailing list > traffic, and deal with disagreements swiftly when they occur. > > -<p>All decision making must happen on <a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/#couchdb";>the > mailing lists</a>. Any discussion that takes place away from the > lists (for example on IRC or in person) must be brought to the lists > before anything can be decided. We have a saying: if it's not on the > lists, it didn't happen. We take this approach so that the greatest > amount of people have a chance to participate. > +<p>All decision making must happen on <a > href="https://couchdb.apache.org/#mailing-lists";>the mailing > lists</a>. Any discussion that takes place away from the lists (for > example on IRC or in person) must be brought to the lists before > anything can be decided. We have a saying: if it's not on the lists, > it didn't happen. We take this approach so that the greatest amount > of people have a chance to participate. > > -<p>Decisions should be made on the mailing list associated with the > decision. For example, marketing decisions happen on <a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-marketing/";>the > marketing list</a>. By default, anything without a specific list > should be done in public on the main development list. Anything that > needs to be private will be done on the private list. > +<p>Decisions should be made on the mailing list associated with the > decision. For example, marketing decisions happen on <a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?market...@couchdb.apache.org";>the > marketing list</a>. By default, anything without a specific list > should be done in public on the main development list. Anything that > needs to be private will be done on the private list. > > <p>Our decision making processes are designed to reduce blockages. > It is understood that people come and go as time permits. It is not > practical to hear from everybody on every decision. Sometimes, this > means a decision will be taken while you are away from the project. > It is reasonable to bring such decisions up for discussion again, > but this should be kept to a minimum. > > @@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ > > <p>For this to work properly, active committers are expected to be > paying attention to the project. Objecting a long time after a > change has been made may require large amounts of additional work > to be thrown away or redone. > > -<p>Sometimes, you might not be sure what the community would want. > If this is the case, you can post a note to the appropriate <a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/#couchdb";>mailing > list</a> with an outline of what you intend to do. If nobody objects > after 72 hours, you can safely assume consensus and proceed with > your plan. > +<p>Sometimes, you might not be sure what the community would want. > If this is the case, you can post a note to the appropriate <a > href="https://couchdb.apache.org/#mailing-lists";>mailing list</a> > with an outline of what you intend to do. If nobody objects after 72 > hours, you can safely assume consensus and proceed with your plan. > > <p>An important side effect of this policy is that <em>silence is > assent</em>. There is no need for discussion, and no need for > agreement to be voiced. If you make a proposal to the list and > nobody responds, that should be interpreted as implicit support for > your idea, and not a lack of interest. This can be hard to get used > to, but is an important part of how we do things. > > @@ -251,7 +252,7 @@ > </tr> > </table> > > -<p>There are three types of voting: informal, formal, and vetos. An > informal vote is a quick way to get people's feelings on something. > A formal vote, on the other hand, requires an approval model and a > <a href="#decisions">decision type</a>. More detail on <a > href="#approval">approval models</a>, <a href="#rtc">vetos</a>, and > <a href="types">decision types</a> is available in sections 3.4, > 3.5., and 3.6 respectively. > +<p>There are three types of voting: informal, formal, and vetos. An > informal vote is a quick way to get people's feelings on something. > A formal vote, on the other hand, requires an approval model and a > <a href="#decisions">decision type</a>. More detail on <a > href="#approval">approval models</a>, <a href="#rtc">RTC and > technical vetos</a>, <a href="#rfc">RFCs</a>, <a href="#api">API > changes and deprecations</a> and <a href="#types">decision types</a> > is available in the following sections. > > <p>All formal voting must be done in an email thread with the > appropriate <a href="#tags">subject tag</a>. Formal votes may > contain multiple items for approval and these should be clearly > separated. Formal voting is then carried out by replying to the > vote mail. Formal votes are open for a period of at least 72 hours > to allow all active voters time to consider the vote. Votes can be > held open longer than this at the discretion of the person who > initiated the vote. > > @@ -286,11 +287,9 @@ > > <p>For electing a new Chair, the PMC may opt to use <em>Single > Transferable Vote</em> (STV) which comes with its own rules. <a > href="http://steve.apache.org/";>Apache STeVe</a> was specifically > designed to enable this process. > > -<h3 id="rtc">3.5. Review-Then-Commit, API Changes and Technical > Vetos</h3> > +<h3 id="rtc">3.5. Review-Then-Commit and Technical Vetos</h3> > > -<p>Typically, CouchDB uses the <a > href="http://www.apache.org/foundation/glossary.html#ReviewThenCommit";>Review-Then-Commit</a> > (<em>RTC</em>) model of code collaboration. RTC allows work to > proceed on separate feature or bugfix branches, and requires at > least one other developer to review and approve the changes before > they are committed to a release branch. A release branch is any > branch that a release might be prepared from, such as > <code>master</code>, <code>1.6.x</code>, and so on. Notifications of > these changes are sent to <a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-commits/";>the > commits mailing list</a>. It is expected that the rest of the > community is regularly reviewing these changes. > - > -<p>Whenever a change is proposed to a release branch or > <code>master</code> that removes or changes an existing HTTP API > endpoint in a way that breaks backwards compatibility with a > released version of CouchDB, the proposed change > <strong><em>must</em> be announced on the developer mailing list, > and a minimum of a <a href="#lazy">lazy consensus</a> decision is > required.</strong> This policy is not intended to preserve bugs in > HTTP API endpoints across released versions of CouchDB in > perpetuity, nor shall it be used to assert consistency of > undocumented, implementation-specific behaviour across major > releases. Additions of new endpoints, or changes that do not affect > backwards compatibility, do not require this notification and > process, but announcement to the developer mailing list is still > strongly encouraged.</p> > +<p>Typically, CouchDB uses the <a > href="http://www.apache.org/foundation/glossary.html#ReviewThenCommit";>Review-Then-Commit</a> > (<em>RTC</em>) model of code collaboration. RTC allows work to > proceed on separate feature or bugfix branches, and requires at > least one other developer to review and approve the changes before > they are committed to a release branch. A release branch is any > branch that a release might be prepared from, such as > <code>master</code>, <code>1.6.x</code>, and so on. Notifications of > these changes are sent to <a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?comm...@couchdb.apache.org";>the > commits mailing list</a>, with GitHub discussion appearing on <a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?notificati...@couchdb.apache.org";>the > notifications mailing list</a>. It is expected that the rest of the > community is regularly reviewing these changes. > > <p><strong>Any change made to a release branch or to the > <code>master</code> branch is a <em>technical decision</em> of the > project. If a committer wants to object to a technical decision, > they have the option of casting a -1 vote. We call this a > veto.</strong> Vetos can only be made for technical reasons. A -1 > vote is not considered a veto in any other context. Vetos should be > used sparingly, and only after careful consideration. > > @@ -308,7 +307,25 @@ > > <p>If the discussion did not reach consensus, Alice could challenge > the validity of Bob's justification. At that point, the PMC would > vote on the issue. If the PMC found that the justification was > valid, Alice would have to revert the change or petition Bob to > withdraw the veto. If the PMC found the justification invalid, the > veto is null and void. > > -<h3 id="types">3.6. Decision Types</h3> > +<h3 id="rfc">3.6 Request For Comment (RFC) process</h3> > + > +For major changes to the fuctionality of CouchDB, a Request For > Comment (RFC) process has been established. The intent of an RFC is > to ensure sufficient public discussion has occurred on the design of > new features, that the proposal is adequately captured in a summary > document, and that there is community acceptance of the proposal. > The completed RFC template for the proposal then becomes the basis > for the new functionality's documentation. > + > +The process is: > + > + <ul> > + <li>Start a [DISCUSS] thread on <a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@couchdb.apache.org";>the > developer mailing list</a>. Discuss your proposal in detail, > including which modules/applications are affected, any HTTP API > additions and deprecations, and security issues.</li> > + <li>When there is consensus on the approach from the community, > <a href="https://s.apache.org/CouchDB-RFC";>complete the RFC > template</a> and work through any final revisions to the document, > with the support of the developer mailing list.</li> > + <li>Start the RFC <strong>vote</strong> on the developer mailing > list. Hold the vote according to the <em>lazy majority process</em>: > at least 3 +1 votes, and more binding +1 than binding -1 votes.</li> > + </ul> > + > +<h3 id="api">3.7 API changes and deprecations</h3> > + > +<p>Whenever a change is proposed to a release branch or > <code>master</code> that removes or changes an existing HTTP API > endpoint in a way that breaks backwards compatibility with a > released version of CouchDB, the proposed change > <strong><em>must</em> be announced on <a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@couchdb.apache.org";>the > developer mailing list</a>, and a minimum of a <a href="#lazy">lazy > consensus</a> decision is required.</strong> > + > +<p>This policy is not intended to preserve bugs in HTTP API > endpoints across released versions of CouchDB in perpetuity, nor > shall it be used to assert consistency of undocumented, > implementation-specific behaviour across major releases. Additions > of new endpoints that fall short of the need for an RFC, or changes > that do not affect backwards compatibility, do not require this > notification and process, but announcement to the developer mailing > list is still strongly encouraged.</p> > + > +<h3 id="types">3.8. Decision Types</h3> > > <p><strong>This section describes the various decision types and the > rules that apply to them.</strong></p> > > @@ -326,12 +343,22 @@ > <tr> > <td>Technical decision > <td>A technical decision is any change made to a release > branch. > - <td><a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-commits/";>Commits > list</a> > + <td><a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?comm...@couchdb.apache.org";>Commits > list</a> > <td>Allowed for trivial changes > <td>RTC > <td>No > <td>Committers > - <td> Yes > + <td>Yes > + </tr> > + <tr> > + <td>Request For Comments (RFC) decision > + <td>A decision on a specific proposal to alter CouchDB in a > significant way. > + <td><a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@couchdb.apache.org";>Main > development list</a> > + <td>No > + <td>Lazy majority > + <td>No > + <td>Committers > + <td>No > </tr> > <tr> > <td>Non-technical decision > @@ -354,7 +381,7 @@ > <br> > <br> > A veto is only valid when it is justified with a sound technical > argument. > - <td><a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-dev/";>Main > development list</a> > + <td><a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@couchdb.apache.org";>Main > development list</a> > <td>No > <td>Lazy 2/3 majority > <td>No > @@ -368,7 +395,7 @@ > <br> > <br> > Release candidates can be prepared by anyone. > - <td><a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-dev/";>Main > development list</a> > + <td><a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@couchdb.apache.org";>Main > development list</a> > <td>No > <td>Lazy majority > <td>No > @@ -446,7 +473,7 @@ > <tr> > <td>Create or amend official document > <td>Create or amend any document marked as official. > - <td><a > href="https://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/couchdb-dev/";>Main > development list</a> > + <td><a > href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@couchdb.apache.org";>Main > development list</a> > <td>No > <td>Lazy 2/3 majority > <td>No >
