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

Mon Dec 5 08:50:40 GMT 2016

Proposal A

On 12/05/2016 07:15 AM, 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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