Thanks for clarifying. Best,
On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 9:33 PM Yicong Huang <[email protected]> wrote: > > For the vote to promote new committers, my understanding is that this is > usually handled through a private PMC member vote, right? > > Yes, that's correct. it is voted within PPMC members on a private email > list. This is following ASF's policy. You can read more about this process > at > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://community.apache.org/pmc/adding-committers.html*tldr---inviting-a-new-committer__;Iw!!CzAuKJ42GuquVTTmVmPViYEvSg!Nu7mP6grMyMxggl6aaCJY3fPX2hEQACIcfi-xzhODeoJG0NfdJdUF-sO1DJ1RW4sWDQIha62TTt3_cW1eJ0lSz_nTw$ > . Basically one PPMC may start a disucssion about a candidate, if the > discussion goes well, then a formal vote will be casted. Result is based on > the vote. > > > Also, would it be possible to share the criteria or reasoning used to > promote recent committers? > > Well first of all, there is indeed no such a criteria.. That's why there > is a discussion first, then followed by a vote. A vote means there might be > ppl who disagree and it may not pass: each vote is case by case. And to > keep the privacy for Meng and Xuan or any prior committers/PPMCs, I am > afraid I or any PPMC member is not allowed to share you more details about > their particular discussions and vote... but there really isn't any > criteria. The reasonings for those cases are all aspects mentioned in the > above email, code, tests, documents, discussions, and all sorts of > contributions, you name it. In those discussions and votes I have > personally pushed every PPMC to provide as many evidence as possible, to > make each case stronger to pass and to be justified. > > > I ask because I had expected open-source projects to be more open in > many aspects, including criteria, rules, goals, and decision-making > processes.... Still, I was surprised to hear that other open-source > projects may follow similar practices. > > We are being very open on this.. there is really no such a criteria... And > it is true that most of Apache projects are the same on this. We are > following ASF's guidance post on how to become a committer: > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://community.apache.org/contributors/becomingacommitter.html__;!!CzAuKJ42GuquVTTmVmPViYEvSg!Nu7mP6grMyMxggl6aaCJY3fPX2hEQACIcfi-xzhODeoJG0NfdJdUF-sO1DJ1RW4sWDQIha62TTt3_cW1eJ2Z1_nO3Q$ > . I am quoting some from this post, and I hope you see that whatever I said > in the previous email was not came up only in the context of Texera: > > • "It’s important to remember that becoming a committer is not a reward, > or a recognition, so much as that it is the project expressing > self-interest. That is, people are added as a committer to a project > because it benefits the project, not because it’s some kind of pat on the > back for the individual in question. As such, every behavior suggested here > is about advancing the interests of the project. It is critical that you > think, first and foremost, about being a project owner, and working towards > the benefit of the project and its users." > • "Code contributions are not the only type of contribution that counts > towards becoming a committer, it’s just the most common. Design, > documentation, marketing, event management, and many other ways of > contributing to the success of a project are also often considered in > making someone a committer. While the term “committer” implies committing > code, it can also be interpreted as someone who is committed to the > project." > • "Finally, a reminder – there’s no way to guarantee promotion to > committer or the PMC. However, if you make your goal the improvement of the > project, rather than just about personal promotion, and approach these > recommendations as a path to project ownership, in good faith, these are > your best path towards that goal." > • “Nothing in this post should be construed as a guarantee. You can do > everything listed here, for years, and still not become a committer.” > > > > To me, the “open” in open source feels like a strong value, so I’m > trying to better understand where openness applies and where trust-based or > private decision-making is considered appropriate. > Yes, "open" is super important to us. Before incubating in Apache, we have > already been open source this project for years, and that matters a lot to > us. I hope you see that we are really being open, there is nothing to hide > here. Each case is being discussed and decisions are made in a group, there > is no particular rule or criteria, it just does not exist. One thing I can > say is that our group is very very supportive in the direction to get more > committers and PMCs, as our project is growing, and we hope you can be the > next one! We are in great need of ppl like you to help make Texera better. > I would once again encourage you, and everyone, to contribute more, here > and there! > > > > > Best, > Yicong Huang > [email protected] > > On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 7:32 PM Carlos Ernesto Alvarez Berumen < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Yicong, > > > > Thanks for sharing this. I have a couple of follow-up questions. > > > > For the vote to promote new committers, my understanding is that this is > > usually handled through a private PMC member vote, right? Also, would it > be > > possible to share the criteria or reasoning used to promote recent > > committers? > > > > I ask because I had expected open-source projects to be more open in many > > aspects, including criteria, rules, goals, and decision-making processes. > > My experience is limited compared to yours, and I understand that > > subjectivity is impossible to remove from any human project. Still, I was > > surprised to hear that other open-source projects may follow similar > > practices. > > > > To me, the “open” in open source feels like a strong value, so I’m trying > > to better understand where openness applies and where trust-based or > > private decision-making is considered appropriate. > > > > Thanks again for explaining this. > > > > On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 8:17 PM Yicong Huang <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > Hi Carlos, > > > > > > Thanks for asking this. This is a very good question. Let me put down > my > > > personal perspective. > > > > > > For Apache Texera, we do not have a fixed checklist or a formal > numerical > > > threshold for becoming a committer. This, I believe, is a common > practice > > > in many projects from Apache or other foundations. Committership is > usually > > > based on merit, trust, and sustained contribution, and the decision is > made > > > by the project community through discussion and vote. In Apache's > setting, > > > PMC members vote for committership. In practice, when existing PMC > members > > > believe that a contributor has demonstrated meaningful and consistent > > > contributions in the project, the PMC may discuss the candidate and > make a > > > decision through a vote. Contributions can come in many forms, > including > > > code, tests, documentation, infra construction, issue triage, PR > reviews, > > > design discussions, release validation, and helping other contributors. > > > > > > One thing I want to emphasize is that, human efforts are more > important in > > > the current agent era. With modern AI tools, producing code is > noticeably > > > becoming cheaper and faster. As a result, in 2026, the more valuable > part > > > falls on the human efforts: understanding what should be built, > discussing > > > tradeoffs, reviewing changes carefully, maintaining project quality, > and > > > supporting the community. Committership is therefore not just a > recognition > > > of past contributions, but also a responsibility. A committer is > trusted to > > > help maintain the project, make sound technical decisions, respect the > > > project’s processes, and act in the long-term interest of the > community. > > > This is a serious responsibility, and not every contributor is willing > or > > > ready to take it on. > > > > > > Speaking from my own experience, I have a full-time job, but I still > > > contribute, in a part time capacity, to Texera. This is indeed because > I am > > > a Texera committer, and PPMC, and I do care about the project and the > > > community. At the same time, I have also been trying to earn trust in > the > > > Apache Spark community to become a Spark committer, where there had > been > > > more than 2,200 contributors over time, but only around 100 committers > so > > > far. I contribute mainly to the PySpark component, there are still a > lot of > > > areas for me to learn before I can be granted with the committer > > > responsibility to make meaningful decisions for spark. > > > > > > Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to encourage anyone > > > interested in becoming a Texera committer to keep participating > actively in > > > the project. For instance, we are currently working hard towards our > first > > > Apache release, v1.1.0-incubating. This is a great opportunity for > > > contributors to get involved in concrete and meaningful ways! Texera > > > has been incubating for Apache projects for more than 1 year now, and > we > > > really need all of your help to get Texera graduated from the > incubation, > > > so that we can finally declare that Texera is an "Apache" project. > Before > > > that, those fancy names (committer, PPMC, etc.) still meant nothing > yet. As > > > a Texera PPMC member, I want to assure you that we will recognize > > > contributors’ efforts. We recently welcomed Meng and Xuan as new > > > committers, and we are always happy to see more contributors grow into > > > larger roles in the project! > > > > > > > > > Cheers, > > > and sincerely, > > > Yicong Huang < > > > > https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fyicong-huang.github.io__%3B!!CzAuKJ42GuquVTTmVmPViYEvSg!OWg6q9J1Hv9KFxn6doZfdHSmtyTkgkC5kqck5LX9surZQoLw8-9hiE3UchBpnDU-RC0CswcknuJsejjfMGt-dA%24&data=05%7C02%7Cyiconghuang%40umass.edu%7C9712c392a39447b745fa08deb097e467%7C7bd08b0b33954dc194bbd0b2e56a497f%7C0%7C0%7C639142363619609160%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0Wobok%2Bim69X6b759nB5sSyZ6F8m1rz9ARaDqCsilis%3D&reserved=0 > > > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > On May 12, 2026 at 5:21 PM -0700, Carlos Ernesto Alvarez Berumen < > > > [email protected]>, wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hi Texera community, > > > > > > I hope you are doing well. > > > > > > I wanted to ask about the criteria for becoming a committer on Apache > > > Texera. I am not sure whether open source projects generally have a > formal > > > process for this, or whether Apache projects in particular usually > define > > > one. > > > > > > Is there already a documented set of criteria or expectations for > becoming > > > a committer on Texera? If not, is there an expected timeline for > > > establishing one, or a reason why the project does not currently have > one? > > > > > > Thanks > > > > > > > > > > > > Best regards, > > > Yicong Huang > > > >
