Hi Mick,
The ASF's official Release Policy lives here:
https://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy
The policy text itself is up-to-date and authoritative. (The associated FAQ,
also on that page, does not live up to the same standard.)
On 2019/02/25 09:05:30, "Mick Semb Wever" <m...@apache.org> wrote:
> ii) "There is documentation _all over the place_ and it's not possible to
> know which of it is outdated and which is still current especially in
> the face of conflicting information." – Lars Francke.
The Incubator cannot solve the problem of excessive and inconsistent policy
documentation, because the Incubator doesn't make Foundation-level policy.
What the Incubator should do is request in its monthly report that the Board
endorse and maintain an authoritative, bounded list of all ASF policy
documents -- to say "only these and no more".
It should back up this request with illustrations of how the current unbounded
morass of documentation burdens our contributors -- both podlings trying to
absorb and IPMC trying to explain -- and how the ensuing confusion foments
conflict.
> b) legal but not fully ASF compliant,
The Incubator has the flexibility to make releases which deviate from ASF
policy (though not law). It just has to exercise sound judgment and to keep
the Board informed of what it's doing.
Deviations are actually expected (within reason) and accounted for in the text
of Release Policy:
https://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy.html#administration
Projects MUST notify the Board of Directors of any deviations from
recommended or required policy directives.
This applies to other top-level projects, not just the Incubator. The Board
exercises a certain flexibility when enforcing policy -- if you can articulate
why what you want to do is consistent with the ASF's values, the Board will
work with you.
This assumes you have grokked the ASF's values well enough to make your case.
And that goes to show why policy per se cannot be the primary focus of
incubation -- well-developed soft skills (such as biasing towards action) and
an understanding of the rationales behind why the ASF is the way it is are
fundamental to project success.
Marvin Humphrey
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