[Dbix-class] ★ VOTE NOW: DBIC Governance and Namespace Control ★

Mon Dec 5 07:31:28 GMT 2016

Proposal A


On 05/12/16 06:15, David Golden wrote:
> Thank you to everyone who has been participating in or just reading 
> the various governance discussions since my initial email to the DBIC 
> list of Oct 3. [1]
>
> It's time to bring this to a conclusion.
>
> Peter suggests that the question to consider is merely which fork gets 
> the "DBIx::Class" namespace indexed on CPAN. While that may be all he 
> cares about, I feel it trivializes the discussions the community has 
> been having and the decision the community is being asked to make.
>
> Without restating all the history to date, here are the facts of the 
> case that I think are most relevant to consider in understanding the 
> proposals at hand:
>
> * Peter's original plan that started the dispute could be summarized 
> as "Peter takes sole control of the DBIx::Class namespace and does X", 
> where at that time the plan appeared to be "freeze and park 
> permissions with an unknown owner".
>
> * The dispute process clearly indicated that Peter didn't have the 
> support of existing maintainers or the community for such a plan 
> sufficient to disregard his prior permissions agreement with Matt.
>
> * Matt proposed a mechanism for the community to self-govern the DBIC 
> namespace and development, sharing power between maintainers and the 
> mailing list. (Revised proposal is linked as [2])
>
> * Peter revealed that his new employment situation allows him to 
> continue development. [3]
>
> * Given Peter's track record and renewed availability, some in the 
> community wanted to see an alternative proposal where Peter continued 
> DBIC and the community took forward "DBIC2"; Andrew Beverl formalized 
> a proposal [4].  In response to concerns about the proposal, Peter 
> volunteered to clarify the alternative proposal.
>
> * Peter delivered an alternative proposal that could be summarized as 
> "Peter takes sole control of the DBIx::Class namespace and does X", 
> where at this time the plan appears to be "kickstart a DBIx::Class 
> fork free of community bias". [5]
>
> Unfortunately for the community's deliberations, Peter has 
> consistently provided minimal details on his plans, particularly 
> regarding succession should he no longer be able to or wish to 
> continue development.  After Andrew Beverl's proposal, Peter said he 
> would clarify by Nov 1 [6].  This target date then slipped to Nov 5 
> [7], was pushed back again on Nov 7 [8], and pushed again to Nov 17 or 
> else Thanksgiving [9].  On November 10, in the middle of this sequence 
> of delays, I started a private email thread with Peter asking if there 
> was anything I could do to help him formalize his proposal, but the 
> thread stalled on the Nov 14.  On November 26, I received a separate 
> private email telling me I could set a deadline of Dec 1, if needed 
> [10].  In our continuation of the stalled thread at that point, Peter 
> and I briefly discussed what ultimately became his final proposal of 
> Dec 3.
>
> I think some details in those private emails are relevant to the 
> decisions at hand, so now that Peter has released his proposal and 
> because Peter originally insisted that all discussions about DBIC be 
> public anyway, I am now posting the content of that private email 
> thread in full. [11]
>
> Specifically, I want to call attention to Peter's description of the 
> future of DBIC as "two forks developed in parallel, by noncooperating, 
> openly adversarial teams" which I think is more indicative of the 
> stakes and situation than the simpler question of "where does the 
> DBIx::Class namespace point". What an adversarial fork means for the 
> future of the repository, mailing list, bug trackers, module 
> ecosystem, and community itself, etc. is undefined and community 
> members may wish to consider that in their decision process.
>
> Given Peter's stated intent to launch a "fork free of community bias", 
> it's clear there is no governance alternative for the community on the 
> table.  Matt's original proposal had enough support to be adopted 
> outright [12], has been amended with generally good feedback, and has 
> provisions for future self amendment.  I consider it operative in its 
> amended form as soon as this vote is concluded, with the only missing 
> piece being what specific namespaces it governs.
>
> The question thus comes down to whether the community feels "official" 
> DBIC is best developed going forward by a self-governed community or 
> by a single individual with absolute control (with both the good and 
> ill that comes of that).  The community may wish to consider the track 
> record and personalities of everyone involved for both scenarios in 
> weighing a decision.
>
> As there has been more than enough time spent on these topics and/or 
> waiting for clarification already, and since the options on the table 
> aren't materially altered from their earlier forms, I don't believe 
> further discussion, debate or new alternatives will provide better or 
> clearer options for the future of DBIC.  It is time for this dispute 
> to be resolved so everyone can move forward.
>
> Therefore, I submit to the list the following two proposals:
>
> * PROPOSAL A: Primary permissions for DBIx::Class and related 
> namespaces shall be managed under the amended DBIC community 
> governance structure proposed by Matt Trout. Decisions about the 
> future development of the project, including but not limited to 
> stability policy, new development, branching and freezing shall be 
> governed by the community under the same terms.  The community will 
> choose whether/how to continue active development of DBIC under that 
> name or a separate name.  Peter will choose whether/how to fork DBIC 
> to a new namespace for independent development.
>
> * PROPOSAL B: Primary permissions for DBIx::Class and related 
> namespaces shall be managed solely by Peter Ribasushi until he 
> transfers it to another of his choosing or appears permanently 
> incommunicado (whether by choice, accident or death).    Decisions 
> about the future development of the project, including but not limited 
> to stability policy, new development, branching and freezing shall be 
> made at Peter's sole discretion.  Peter will choose whether/how to 
> continue active development of DBIC under that or a separate name.  
> The community, under the governance proposal, will choose whether/how 
> to fork DBIC to a new namespace for independent development.
>
> List members should reply to this email with an email body indicating 
> clearly "Proposal A" or "Proposal B".  Other responses, such as "+1" 
> or "me, too" replies to others' votes will be disregarded.
>
> Voting will close 72 hours after this email is sent.
>
> I will tally and announce results shortly thereafter.  I will be sole 
> arbiter of any voting irregularities.  Once announced, I will transfer 
> namespace permissions accordingly and consider the matter resolved.
>
> Regards,
> David
>
> [1] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/IMPORTANT-A-discussion-of-DBIC-governance-and-future-development-td7578987.html
> [2] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/PROPOSAL-Governance-and-sustainability-td7579228.html
> [3] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/IMPORTANT-A-discussion-of-DBIC-governance-and-future-development-tp7578987p7579158.html
> [4] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/GOVERNANCE-Aggregation-and-conclusion-tp7579168p7579175.html
> [5] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/Decision-time-which-fork-inherits-the-existing-DBIx-Class-namespace-tp7579255.html
> [6] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/GOVERNANCE-Aggregation-and-conclusion-tp7579168p7579184.html
> [7] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/GOVERNANCE-Aggregation-and-conclusion-tp7579168p7579208.html
> [8] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/GOVERNANCE-Aggregation-and-conclusion-tp7579168p7579225.html
> [9] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/An-answer-and-a-question-tp7579248p7579250.html
> [10] https://gist.github.com/xdg/836e6341b757df8b67cf26f02b6899d6
> [11] https://gist.github.com/xdg/955519bee08658f9b60c6219a51fd0dd
> [12] 
> http://dbix-class.35028.n2.nabble.com/GOVERNANCE-Aggregation-and-conclusion-td7579168.html
>
> -- 
> David Golden <xdg at xdg.me <mailto:xdg at xdg.me>> Twitter/IRC/GitHub: @xdg
>
>
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