On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 2:07 AM, lijiu zhang <zhangli...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi everyone: > > I am doing a study report about PHP, could anyone tell PHP governance? Such > as, who is project manager, package manager, how php make a decision? And > finance support situation?
This is an interesting question. I hope you find answers you can explain. I have had various contacts over 13+ years with the group, and have not, ever, found a consistent, repeatable, structure, that did not change massively over time. Sometimes, there is a vote, sometimes not, sometimes, different "votes" count, sometimes, not. There is not governance, so much as guidance. If you have not read it, I would suggest you read "The Cathedral and The Bazaar", by Eric S. Raymond, to get more exposure to the model, and mindset, of decentralized control. There are *many* project managers, *many* package maintainers, and *many* people who make decisions. People who have consistently been helpful to the project are listened to more often, as are people who have made larger contributions than others. They lead, but not everybody follows. Sometimes the person who "wins" is the person with the best ideas, regardless of any existing power structures. Sometimes, however, it is a person nobody knows, who just implements a feature, and is never heard from ever again. In short, there is no central committee, no central governance, no central cabal. Long term leaders get listened to more than others, but not because they are better people: It is because they have proven themselves though work, vision, and their guidance. If you want to know who is in charge of a specific project, or specific issue, that can be an easier question to answer, but within a decade, that answer will be completely different than it was 10 years ago. -Ronabop -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
