Being a relatively new member of Hadoop community (just slightly over year and a half) and never been exposed to its politics I can't help but to wonder if such document didn't exist before?
If it did, then what's the difference between the current version and the previous one? What's causing that change to be introduced? If it didn't, then how Hadoop community has been governed beforehand? By the general ASF rules or differently? If the rules were the same for ASF and Hadoop why we need to deviate from them now and why? Clearly, having written bylaws is handy in case of a dispute. However it'd be great to know the history (or just a story) of this particular discussion. Appreciate any information on the topic. Thanks in advance. Cos On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 02:12PM, Owen O'Malley wrote: > Apache Hadoop Project Bylaws > > This document defines the bylaws under which the Apache Hadoop project > operates. It defines the roles and responsibilities of the project, > who may vote, how voting works, how conflicts are resolved, etc. > > Hadoop is a project of the <a > href="http://www.apache.org/foundation/";>Apache Software > Foundation</a>. The foundation holds the trademark on the name > "Hadoop" and copyright on Apache code > including the code in the Hadoop codebase. The <a > href="http://www.apache.org/foundation/faq.html";>foundation FAQ</a> > explains the operation and background of the foundation. > > Hadoop is typical of Apache projects in that it operates under a set > of principles, known collectively as the "Apache Way". If > you are new to Apache development, please refer to the <a > href="http://incubator.apache.org";>Incubator project</a> for more > information on how Apache projects operate. > > Roles and Responsibilities > > Apache projects define a set of roles with associated rights and > responsibilities. These roles govern what tasks an individual may > perform within the project. The roles are defined in the following > sections > > * Users > > The most important participants in the project are people who > use our software. The majority of our developers start out as > users and guide their development efforts from the user's > perspective. > > Users contribute to the Apache projects by providing feedback > to developers in the form of bug reports and feature > suggestions. As well, users participate in the Apache > community by helping other users on mailing lists and user > support forums. > > * Contributors > > All of the volunteers who are contributing time, code, > documentation, or resources to the Hadoop Project. A > contributor > that makes sustained, welcome contributions to the project may > be invited to become a Committer, though the exact timing of > such invitations depends on many factors. > > * Committers > > The project's Committers are responsible for the project's > technical management. Committers have access to a specified > set of subprojects' subversion repositories. Committers on > subprojects may cast binding votes on any technical discussion > regarding that subproject. > > Committer access is by invitation only and must be approved by > lazy consensus of the active PMC members. A Committer is > considered emeritus by their own declaration or by not > contributing in any form to the project for over six > months. An emeritus committer may request reinstatement of > commit access from the PMC. Such reinstatement is subject to > lazy consensus of active PMC members. > > All Apache committers are required to have a signed Contributor > License Agreement (CLA) on file with the Apache Software > Foundation. There is a <a > href="http://www.apache.org/dev/committers.html";>Committer > FAQ</a> which provides more details on the requirements for > Committers > > A committer who makes a sustained contribution to the project > may be invited to become a member of the PMC. The form of > contribution is not limited to code. It can also include code > review, helping out users on the mailing lists, documentation, > testing, etc. > > * Project Management Committee > > The Project Management Committee (PMC) for Apache Hadoop was > created by the Apache Board in January 2008 when Hadoop moved > out of Lucene and became a top level project at Apache. The > PMC is responsible to the board and the ASF for the management > and oversight of the Apache Hadoop codebase. The > responsibilities of the PMC include > > * Deciding what is distributed as products of the Apache Hadoop > project. In particular all releases must be approved by the > PMC > > * Maintaining the project's shared resources, including the > codebase > repository, mailing lists, websites. > > * Speaking on behalf of the project. > > * Resolving license disputes regarding products of the project > > * Nominating new PMC members and committers > > * Maintaining these bylaws and other guidelines of the project > > Membership of the PMC is by invitation only and must be > approved by a lazy consensus of active PMC members. A PMC > member is considered "emeritus" by their own > declaration or by not contributing in any form to the project > for over six months. An emeritus member may request > reinstatement to the PMC. Such reinstatement is subject to > lazy consensus of the active PMC members. > > The chair of the PMC is appointed by the ASF board. The chair > is an office holder of the Apache Software Foundation (Vice > President, Apache Hadoop) and has primary responsibility to > the board for the management of the projects within the scope > of the Hadoop PMC. The chair reports to the board quarterly on > developments within the Hadoop project. > > When the current chair of the PMC resigns, the PMC votes to > recommend a new chair using lazy consensus, but the decision > must be ratified by the Apache board. > > Decision Making > > Within the Hadoop project, different types of decisions require > different forms of approval. For example, the <a href="#Roles > and Responsibilities">previous section</a> describes several > decisions which require "lazy consensus" > approval. This section defines how voting is performed, the > types of approvals, and which types of decision require which > type of approval. > > * Voting > > Decisions regarding the project are made by votes on the > primary project development mailing list > (general@hadoop.apache.org). Where necessary, PMC voting may > take place on the private Hadoop PMC mailing list. Votes are > clearly indicated by subject line starting with [VOTE]. Votes > may contain multiple items for approval and these should be > clearly separated. Voting is carried out by replying to the > vote mail. Voting may take four flavours > > * +1 "Yes," "Agree," or "the action > should be > performed." In general, this vote also indicates a > willingness > on the behalf of the voter in "making it happen" > > * +0 This vote indicates a willingness for the action under > consideration to go ahead. The voter, however will not > be able > to help. > > * -0 This vote indicates that the voter does not, in > general, agree with > the proposed action but is not concerned enough to > prevent the > action going ahead. > > * -1 This is a negative vote. On issues where consensus is > required, > this vote counts as a <strong>veto</strong>. All vetoes > must > contain an explanation of why the veto is appropriate. > Vetoes with > no explanation are void. It may also be appropriate for > a -1 vote > to include an alternative course of action. > > All participants in the Hadoop project are encouraged to > show their > agreement with or against a particular action by voting. For > technical > decisions, only the votes of active committers are binding. > Non binding > votes are still useful for those with binding votes to > understand the > perception of an action in the wider Hadoop community. For > PMC decisions, > only the votes of PMC members are binding. > > Voting can also be applied to changes made to the Hadoop > codebase. These > typically take the form of a veto (-1) in reply to the > commit message > sent when the commit is made. > > * Approvals > > These are the types of approvals that can be sought. > Different actions > require different types of approvals > > * Lazy Consensus - Lazy consensus requires 3 binding +1 votes > and no binding vetoes. > > * Lazy Majority - A lazy majority vote requires 3 binding +1 > votes and more binding +1 votes than -1 votes. > > * Lazy 2/3 Majority - Lazy 2/3 majority votes requires at > least 3 votes and twice as many +1 votes as -1 votes. > > * Vetoes > > A valid, binding veto cannot be overruled. If a veto is cast, > it must be accompanied by a valid reason explaining the > reasons for the veto. The validity of a veto, if challenged, > can be confirmed by anyone who has a binding vote. This does > not necessarily signify agreement with the veto - merely that > the veto is valid. > > If you disagree with a valid veto, you must lobby the person > casting > the veto to withdraw their veto. If a veto is not withdrawn, > any action > that has been vetoed must be reversed in a timely manner. > > * Actions > > This section describes the various actions which are > undertaken within > the project, the corresponding approval required for that > action and > those who have binding votes over the action. > > * Code Change > > A change made to a codebase of the project and committed > by a committer. This includes source code, > documentation, website > content, etc. > > Lazy consensus of active committers. > > * Release Plan > > Defines the timetable and actions for a release. The > plan also > nominates a Release Manager. > > Lazy majority of active committers > > * Product Release > > When a release of one of the project's products is > ready, a vote is > required to accept the release as an official release of > the > project. > > Lazy Majority of active PMC members > > * Adoption of New Codebase > > When the codebase for an existing, released product is > to be > replaced with an alternative codebase. If such a vote > fails to > gain approval, the existing code base will continue. > > This also covers the creation of new sub-projects > within the project > > Lazy 2/3 majority of PMC members > > * New Committer > > When a new committer is proposed for the project > > Lazy consensus of active PMC members > > * New PMC Member > > When a committer is proposed for the PMC > > Lazy consensus of active PMC members > > * Committer Removal > > When removal of commit privileges is sought. Note: Such > actions will also be referred to the ASF board by the PMC > chair > > Majority of active PMC members (excluding the committer > in question if a > member of the PMC). > > * PMC Member Removal > > When removal of a PMC member is sought. Note: Such > actions will also be referred to the ASF board by the PMC > chair. > > Majority of active PMC members (excluding the member in > question) > > * Modifying Bylaws > > Modifying this document. > > Majority of active PMC members > > * Voting Timeframes > > Votes are open for a period of 7 days to allow all active > voters time to consider the vote. Votes relating to code > changes are not subject to a strict timetable but should be > made as timely as possible. >
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