As always, everyone is invited to vote on everything. :) The website is still a little out of synch with what has been decided on the dev list. Right now, the best reference for the release process is the Release Checklist.
* http://struts.apache.org/release-checklist.html This document obsoletes the link to Jakarta Tomcat's guidelines, which cover more than the release process. We just have gotten around to removing the link yet. The Struts resolution includes an instruction to draft a set of bylaws, which we have done here: * http://struts.apache.org/bylaws.html As to who has binding votes and why: The copyright to Struts codebase is owned by the Apache Software Foundation and distributed under the Apache license. But, if the foundation's eyes, Struts "belongs" to the community. Through a corporate resolution, *http://www.apache.org/foundation/records/minutes/2004/board_minutes_2004_03_17.txt the foundation has delegated the task of creating and maintaining Struts to the Struts PMC. The PMC makes the day-to-day decisions, which includes determining whether a distribution is "ready for primetime" or not. Because the PMC is the body created by ASF corporate resolution, only the votes of the PMC members are "binding", in a technical, legal sense. But, if we have three PMC members voting "yes" and a dozen other people voting "no", I'm sure the PMC would reconsider. The foundation's goal is to create codebases that survive its creators and any given set of maintainers. The health of the community always comes first. The important thing to remember is that the Struts PMC is not a government, it's a team. Like most teams, we set up procedures so that we don't have to reinvent the wheel over and over again. But we do not serve the procedures, the procedures serve us. There are legal reasons why the PMC has to authorize a release on behalf of the foundation, but I believe most of us would give as much weight to votes of Committers, and Developers, and Users, as we do PMC members. For a while at Jakarta, the Committer's votes were considered "binding" too. But, from the ASF board's perspective, they were never binding in a technical, legal sense. I've strongly suggested that the Jakarta documentation be updated, but others felt it better to leave it alone. However, there is a now policy at Jakarta to make all the committers PMC members as soon as possible, to cure any procedural issues. Some of our procedures do have to be legally binding to ensure that there is no question of owns the Struts codebase and where it came from. All the ASF committers have agreements on file that assign the rights to our commits to the Foundation, there is a resolution by the Foundation that created Struts, there are regular PMC reports to the board about the status of Struts, and the PMC is responsible for vetting each and every change we make to Struts, either ourselves or through a committer. Legally, the Struts PMC that makes all the decisions on behalf of the Foundation, because the PMC is the legal body that the Foundation created. We make those decisions based on feedback from everyone in the community (including our own experiences, since we are also members of the community we serve). Inviting everyone to vote is one way that we collect feedback. -Ted. On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 21:57:02 -0600, Eddie Bush wrote: > I don't see a difference, Martin. > > It's moot to me. I haven't had time to test it, so I hadn't > intended to voice any input. I don't see what you're quoting to > say that only PMC members have voting rights on the quality of a > release though. In fact, I still feel my original view is valid: > PMC members are there to authorize the release, once committers > determine it's quality by a vote. > > I'm not trying to be thick :-) I just don't see what you're > "pointing" to as an authority on the matter. It's more for the > sake of my understanding, I suppose. I might care in the future ;-) > > Y'all have fun. I've got to make a road trip this weekend :-( No > rest for the wicked! > > Night, > > Eddie > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Cooper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Eddie Bush" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: "Struts Developers List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 9:31 PM > Subject: Re: [VOTE] Struts 1.2.6 Quality > > >> You're quoting from the Jakarta decision making page. We're not >> at Jakarta any more, and have our own process now. You have some >> catching up to do, Eddie. ;-) >> >> Here's what we're doing these days: >> >> http://struts.apache.org/releases.html >> >> -- >> Martin Cooper >> >> >> On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 20:55:47 -0600, Eddie Bush <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >> >>> I was of the impression that committers and up judged quality >>> and PMC members were in charge of deciding whether distribution >>> would happen or not. >>> >>> <quot> >>> After a new release is built, it must be tested before being >>> released to the >>> public. Majority approval is required before the release can be >>> made. Once a >>> release is approved by the Committers, the Project Management >>> Committee can >>> authorize its distribution on behalf of the Foundation. </quot> >>> >>> Am I misinterpreting that? >>> >>> Eddie >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Martin Cooper" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> To: "Struts Developers List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 12:49 AM >>> Subject: [VOTE] Struts 1.2.6 Quality >>> >>>> The Struts 1.2.6 test build has been available for about two >>>> weeks now. Once you have had a chance to form an opinion on >>>> the quality of this build, please respond to the following >>>> vote. >>>> >>>> ----- >>>> Based on its quality, the Struts 1.2.6 build should be >>>> classified as: >>>> >>>> [ ] Alpha >>>> [ ] Beta >>>> [ ] General Availability (GA) >>>> ----- >>>> >>>> If you are voting for Alpha or Beta, please state your >>>> concerns with the build as it is today. >>>> >>>> Only the votes of Struts PMC members are binding. However, >>>> all opinions and feedback are welcome. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Martin Cooper >>>> >>>> -------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> ------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev- >>>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e- >>>> mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>> >>>> >>> --- >>> avast! 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