On Jan 28, 2009, at 8:23 AM, Noah Slater wrote:
On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 08:03:17AM -0500, Jim Jagielski wrote:
Sorry, that's not how the ASF works. There is no concept of BDFL.
Everyone's vote and opinion on the PMC has the exact same weight.
Anyone can legally and officially veto anything (with a solid
technical
reason).
If the concept of BDFL is crucial to CouchDB, then it does not
belong under the ASF...
...
As long as it *is* the vision of the PMC, and not the vision of one
person and the PMC, like sheep, simply accept it...
I am really struggling to understand the comprehension failure here.
In summary:
* The ASF works by giving every member of the PMC a binding vote in
all
decisions. Each member of the PMC has the same power.
* By definition, each member of the PMC has the privilege to choose
how they
vote and for what reasons.
* If the members of the PMC decide on a personal basis that they
wish to
accept guidance from one person as a BDFL type figure that is
absolutely
their imperative.
* You can see from previous votes that we are all happy to disagree
with each
other, including Damien, when we feel a particular way about
something. I
resent your implication that there is any "sheepishness" about
the process.
* To suggest any alternative to this is to be encouraging us as a
PMC to
purposefully disagree with each other and cause problems simply
because we
have the power to do so.
* To imply that we *mindlessly* follow Damien about like lost sheep
is both
insulting and incredibly presumptuous.
As a PMC member I am happy to be guided by Damien's vision for
CouchDB.
If you wish to be a PMC member who isn't, there is a process in
place for that.
Yes, and it's called the ASF process.
All of the above seems to reinforce the concept that one person's vote
is more important than any else's on the PMC. I am struggling to
understand the comprehension failure here. This is *not* the way
the ASF works.
The ASF has for a long, long, long time avoided and actively restricted
such concepts as "key developer" or "main author" or other such things.
The idea is to create a community around the code that does not depend
on a single person, nor is revolved around a single person. It's to
create a community where people can make significant contributions
and know that their vote counts just as much as anyones. It's to create
a community that *survives*.
