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

Mon Dec 5 15:50:54 GMT 2016

Proposal A

--
Mike Rylander
 | President
 | Equinox Software, Inc. / Open Your Library
 | phone:  1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
 | email:  miker at esilibrary.com
 | web:  http://www.esilibrary.com


On Mon, Dec 5, 2016 at 1:15 AM, David Golden <xdg at xdg.me> 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> Twitter/IRC/GitHub: @xdg
>
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