but i'd like to offer (to the community) the reasons why i refused to roll any releases at jakarta and why i've changed my mind. hopefully other committers who have been put off volunteering through my reluctance will think about their own circumstances (rather than just drawing the most obvious conclusions). of course, i no longer have any official association with the ASF (i'm just a committer :), IANAL, IIRC and this is of course just my own opinion.
i've heard many times (and repeated it to others) that all release managers should be on the pmc. i think (after listening to many comments by the board folks to the pmc) i came to understand what should means in the context. it means that release managers themselves should be demanding to be on the pmc (rather than 'release managers must be on the pmc' as an edict).
release managers should be demanding to be on the pmc because the ASF can offer (limited) legal protection for people operating under it's instructions. when the ASF asks you to cut a release, they are accepting a measure of legal responsibility for the release and will be able to offer a measure of legal protection in the event of any legal challenge.
but this legal argument can only apply so long as and so long as the board can demonstrate proper supervision and so long as each pmc is able to demonstrate that it's able to correctly issue instructions to release managers. the jakarta pmc simply wouldn't stand up to legal scrutiny. so that's where (for me) the ASF legal theory falls down and that's why (after i'd resigned from the pmc), i refused to cut any more jakarta releases.
but i live in the UK where the laws in this area are now really pretty draconian (and likely to get worse in the future). the doctrine is 'differential enforcement' which means that the laws have been drawn very, very widely and parliament puts it's trust in the executive to only prosecute those who are guilty morally and ethically (as well as per the statue). whether i am acting for the ASF or not, whether the ASF are able to hire lawyers to act for me or not will (most likely) make no difference at all if charges are ever brought.
therefore, it makes no difference (in my case) whether the jakarta pmc can (in the eyes of the law) make any decisions. all that matters is that the jakarta pmc (and the board) are happy with the procedures in place. the jakarta pmc seems to be happy with committers not on the pmc cutting releases, so that's now good enough for me...
- robert
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