Sorry, but I don't think VXQuery should accept this approach (yet) but should hold out for something better. This is disempowering at a point where we should be impowering VXQuery members.
Firstly just try to graduate. You've done everything thats required and aren't getting any value at all from being in the Incubator. Its possible some Incubator members may vote against graduation but take it to the board anyway as they are aware that you've been let down by the Incubator and will be supportive. If for whatever reason graduation doesn't work out try for a pTLP with the initial PMC including all the current VXQuery members + others. That way everyone maintains all their current powers like voting in new committers and any oversight that may be needed is provided by the others. The board are open to this and i think Incubator PMC people are now too. The only reason we didn't progress the pTLP approach at the last board meeting was because your release had finally got the last +1 vote and one of the board members strongly in support wasn't able to attend that meeting. Next month i think it would work. ...ant On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 5:01 AM, Marvin Humphrey <[email protected]>wrote: > Hello, VXQuery community, > > Everyone here is well aware of how long it took to get enough "binding" > IPMC > votes to approve your release. Unfortunately, this is not the first time > that an Incubator podling has experienced such difficulties. > > The twin problems of binding vote scarcity and Mentor attrition have > plagued > the Incubator for much of its history, and several of us on the Incubator > PMC > have been trying to improve things for years. Finally, we may be on the > verge > of a breakthrough: consensus support has been painstakingly assembled for > running an experiment where a podling's contributors are allowed to earn > binding votes. > > I believe it would be to the benefit of all if VXQuery were to serve as the > test case. > > Here's the current proposal, a variant on the "pTLP" option discussed > earlier > but run entirely within the scope of the Incubator: > > http://s.apache.org/atG > > 1. The initial PPMC shall be composed exclusively of IPMC members. > 2. PPMC votes are binding for every release except the first. > 3. One IPMC vote is required for each release after the first. > > The conditions assume a podling which is just starting out. Here's the > proposal, adapted for VXQuery specifically: > > 1. The VXQuery PPMC shall be reconstituted to consist solely of > Incubator > PMC Members Ant Elder, Marvin Humphrey, Till Westmann and Jochen > Wiedmann. > 2. Additional VXQuery PPMC members will be voted in using existing > Incubator procedures. > 3. Votes cast by VXQuery PPMC members shall henceforth be considered > "binding" for VXQuery incubating releases. > 4. One +1 vote must be cast by a member of the Incubator PMC in order > for > a VXQuery release vote to pass. > > Of course we would immediately set about discussing nominees drawn from the > list of PPMC members as it exists today, and it is highly likely that we > will > end up with the same group of people. However, we will also be discussing > what each nominee brings to VXQuery in terms of Apache governance > expertise. > I would expect to participate actively in these conversations (though I > hope > others will take initiative with nominations and such). > > There are two benefits to VXQuery for participating in this experiment. > > First, every PPMC member who gets voted in this way gets a binding vote on > incubating releases, so you will probably not have trouble getting them > approved ever again. But let's be straight: with Till now on the IPMC and > Ant, Jochen and myself now on board as active Mentors, you probably were > not > going to have difficulty anyway -- so binding votes, as useful as they > might > have been for the last release in theory, are not really that big a deal > any > more. > > The second benefit is that the exercise of rebuilding the PPMC with an eye > towards governing effectively as an Apache TLP will serve as intensive > education in the Apache Way. In my view, this is much more valuable, as it > will not only help us to assess the readiness of the podling for > graduation, > but to fill in many gaps over the course of a running conversation. In the > July report, VXQuery asked for more active mentoring; this process would > deliver just that. When it concludes, I expect that a plan will have > coalesced leading inexorably towards graduation and beyond -- to a robust, > healthy life as a TLP. > > But beyond the direct benefits to VXQuery, I hope that you will weigh the > considerable benefit to the wider Apache and Incubator communities of your > participation: if this model works and we can get it adopted as Incubator > policy, you will be helping to spare future podlings from some of the > frustrations you've experienced. > > If you are amenable, I will present the proposal on general@incubator. Feel > free to cast votes. :) > > But also please feel free to close out an "ordinary" incubation. It is my > opinion as Mentor that VXQuery's small PPMC needs to beef up its Apache-fu, > but that can be done either using the structured framework of this > experiment > or in a less formal, unstructured environment. At Apache, we believe that > distributed self-governance is essential, so the choice is yours. > > Marvin Humphrey >
