On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 1:51 AM, Jochen Wiedmann
<[email protected]> wrote:
> 1.) Graduate as a new TLP, as ant has already suggested. I would expect
> that the board would approve a corresponding request. (After minor
> discussions, perhaps.)
If VXQuery is to graduate as a TLP, there are some concerns that I think we
ought to address.
The presumptive PMC currently consists of five people, which is small. A PMC
with fewer than three active members cannot even make a successful release
vote. However, the Incubator has voted to recommend graduation with small
PMCs in the past, so it's not necessarily a blocker. It is good that VXQuery
has no single dominant developer and that contributions are spread out pretty
well.
My chief concern is whether VXQuery's small presumptive PMC has enough
collective ASF expertise to govern itself effectively as a TLP.
To be candid, the issue of offlist discussions raised in the "Transparency"
thread[1] is significant -- it's a problem that they weren't nipped in the
bud. The requirement that all project decisions must be made on the dev list
is common knowledge around the ASF, and we need the future VXQuery PMC to be
aware of such things.
On a similar note, while it's encouraging that you're all still here after
four years, I'm concerned that VXQuery has stalled a number of times. Yes,
the Incubator PMC has not always very responsive, but it is always possible to
bull through -- and that's the kind of resolve you need to succeed as an
Apache project, that's the *norm* for successful TLPs. As Martin Dashorst
recently put it on general@incubator:
http://s.apache.org/UFm
Self governance doesn't just mean the ability to answer messages on
users@ or to have civil discourse on dev@, or the ability to commit
code without having too many merge conflicts. It also means taking
responsibility for your project. You are responsible for getting a
release out of the door: it is your project! You are responsible for
ensuring the status page is completely checked off: it is your
project! You are responsible for completing a trademark search: it is
your project! You are responsible for filing a board report on time:
it is your project!
Till knows his way around Apache pretty well by now, having served as release
manager and having been VXQuery's point person when dealing with Infra and
Legal Affairs. Cezar has plenty of Apache expertise, as well, but does not
seem very active. With only five potential PPMC members, VXQuery will do
better as a TLP if more community members gain additional familiarity with the
ASF's traditions, institutions, and infrastructure.
My first suggestion for those who might wish to increase their Apache-fu is to
subscribe to general-interest ASF mailing lists:
* general@incubator
* legal-discuss@apache
* infrastructure@apache[3]
* community@apache
Another good activity would be for VXQuery to make a second incubating release
with someone other than Till serving as RM.
More generally, it would be good for people other than Till attend to various
tasks such as updating the VXQuery website (thus having to learn how the
Apache CMS works), maintaining the Incubation status page[4], filing quarterly
reports, running votes and so on.
Signing up to be an Incubator shepherd[3] for a little while would be
educational, as you get to see other podlings in action.
Attending Apache-themed events such as ApacheCon is also a great way to learn;
The next ApacheCon is currently in the planning stages and has no firm date or
location just yet, but you have the chance to attend any event where other
Apache people are around, though, real-time conversations can deliver a lot of
info very quickly.
Theoretically, reading the documentation under http://www.apache.org/dev and
http://incubator.apache.org/ can help. Be warned, though: it's pretty
meandering and verbose, so you have to be the kind of person who is adept at
consuming such documentation methodically.
Finally, I have a suggestion for an activity which would put you on the fast
track: serve as the Incubator's guinea pig for the PPMC-binding-votes
experiment (which is what the pTLP proposal has morphed into)[5]. I'll
address that in another thread.
Marvin Humphrey
[1] http://s.apache.org/LUi
[2] If you subscribe to infrastructure@apache, you may want to filter out
messages which match "To:[email protected]".
[3] http://incubator.apache.org/projects/vxquery.html
[4] I'd suggest a max of one podling. More info in this thread:
http://s.apache.org/MzY
[5] I see that while I was writing this up Dave Fisher posted a message
conflicting with this suggestion. Welcome to the Incubator.
