Identifying potential new committers, calling a vote for their recognition as a committer and processing the relevant documents is something to which the whole community can contribute.
Each project has a different approach to managing new committers. This page describes a common process found in many Apache projects. It also provides drafts for the various communications that are necessary.
When voting, all PMC members need to make up their own minds as to whether a candidate should be approved to become a committer. They might search mailing lists and JIRA to see how the candidate interacts.
All new committers must adhere to the Apache Code of Conduct.
Each PMC may want to create their own supplemental committer guidelines; here are the Apache Forrest committer guidelines.
The following are some points to consider when assessing a candidate's qualifications for committership.
How do we evaluate?
How do we evaluate?
How do we evaluate?
How do we evaluate?
How do we evaluate?
This section describes a typical Apache project's process for handling the vote to add a new committer. Templates mentioned in the process appear at later in this document.
If they accept, then do:
We do the vote on the private mailing list to enable a frank discussion.
Start a separate [VOTE] thread for each new person. This makes it much easier to review the mail archives.
We need to be sure that they are committed people that we can work with. They will be our peers. We will have already observed that they are committed to the project and graceful toward users and other developers.
Don't wait too long before proposing and don't be too hasty. There is a trade-off and something about timeliness. A point is reached where it becomes obvious that we should invite them. This encourages them and keeps them enthusiastic. If we leave it too long, then we risk them becoming disillusioned.
On the PMC list we can each say exactly what we feel about each person, with no holds barred. Keep the discussion concise. The praise part can be done later in public. Keep in mind, however, that if the member becomes a PMC member later, they will have access to this discussion.
Let the Vote thread run for one week.
A positive result is achieved by Consensus Approval: i.e. at least 3 +1 votes and no vetoes.
Any veto must be accompanied by reasoning and the vetoer must be prepared to defend it. Other members can attempt to encourage them to change their minds.
New committers can be either quiet or active as they choose. If we find that certain people lapse and don't ever contribute, then each project can take steps to retire them.
After a positive result, record the result on the PMC list with a [RESULT][VOTE] subject and then invite the candidate. We give candidates a chance to decline committership in private. They can post a reply to the PMC mailing list.
After we reach a decision on the PMC list, and after the steps above, we will announce it on the dev list. We can then each follow up with our praise in public.
Other notes about the process are available on the main Apache site
This is the email to commence a vote for a new committer member. Some projects make committers PMC members automatically, if this is the case then merge this with the following template (PMC Vote Template)
------------------------------------------------------------ To: private@[PROJECT].apache.org Subject: [VOTE] New committer: Joe Bloggs [ add the reasons behind your nomination here ] Voting ends one week from today, i.e. midnight UTC on YYYY-MM-DD http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?year=YYYY&month=MM&day=DD See voting guidelines at https://community.apache.org/newcommitter.html ------------------------------------------------------------
This is the email to commence a vote for a new PMC candidate. New PMC members need to be voted for by the existing PMC members and subsequently approved by the Board (or Incubator PMC for Incubating projects).
------------------------------------------------------------ To: private@[PROJECT].apache.org Subject: [VOTE] New PMC candidate: Joe Bloggs [ add the reasons behind your nomination here ] Voting ends one week from today, i.e. midnight UTC on YYYY-MM-DD http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?year=YYYY&month=MM&day=DD See voting guidelines at https://community.apache.org/newcommitter.html
This is the email ends the vote and reports the result to the project. ------------------------------------------------------------ To: private@[PROJECT].a.o Subject: [RESULT] [VOTE] New committer (or PMC candidate): Joe Bloggs The vote has now closed. The results are: Binding Votes: +1 [TOTAL BINDING +1 VOTES] 0 [TOTAL BINDING +0/-0 VOTES] -1 [TOTAL BINDING -1 VOTES] The vote is ***successful/not successful***
See http://www.apache.org/dev/pmc.html#newpmc
This is the suggested invitation email to send to the newly elected committer, sent after a positive result from the vote for a new committer.
------------------------------------------------------------ To: JoeBloggs@foo.net Cc: private@[PROJECT].apache.org Subject: Invitation to become [PROJECT] committer: Joe Bloggs Hello [invitee name], The [Project] Project Management Committee] (PMC) hereby offers you committer privileges to the project [as well as membership in the PMC]. These privileges are offered on the understanding that you'll use them reasonably and with common sense. We like to work on trust rather than unnecessary constraints. Being a committer enables you to more easily make changes without needing to go through the patch submission process. [Being a PMC member enables you to guide the direction of the project.] Being a committer does not require you to participate any more than you already do. It does tend to make one even more committed. You will probably find that you spend more time here. Of course, you can decline and instead remain as a contributor, participating as you do now. A. This personal invitation is a chance for you to accept or decline in private. Either way, please let us know in reply to the [private@project.apache.org] address only. B. If you accept, the next step is to register an iCLA: 1. Details of the iCLA and the forms are found through this link: http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas 2. Instructions for its completion and return to the Secretary of the ASF are found at http://www.apache.org/licenses/#submitting 3. When you transmit the completed iCLA, request to notify the Apache [Project] and choose a unique Apache id. Look to see if your preferred id is already taken at http://people.apache.org/committer-index.html This will allow the Secretary to notify the PMC when your iCLA has been recorded. When recording of your iCLA is noticed, you will receive a follow-up message with the next steps for establishing you as a committer.
This is the followup email after the new committer has accepted the invitation
------------------------------------------------------------------------ To: JoeBloggs@foo.net Cc: private@[PROJECT].apache.org Subject: Re: invitation to become [PROJECT] committer Welcome. Here are the next steps. After that we will make an announcement to the [PROJECT]-dev list. You need to send a Contributor License Agreement to the ASF. Normally you would send an Individual CLA. If you also make contributions done in work time or using work resources then see the Corporate CLA. Ask us if you have any issues. http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas You need to choose a preferred ASF user name and alternatives. In order to ensure it is available you can view a list of taken ids at http://people.apache.org/committer-index.html Please notify us when you have submitted the CLA and by what means you did so. This will enable us to monitor its progress. We will arrange for your Apache user account when the CLA has been recorded. After that is done, please make followup replies to the [PROJECT]-dev list. We generally discuss everything there and keep the private@[PROJECT].apache.org list for occasional matters which must be private. The developer section of the website describes the roles and provides other resources: http://www.apache.org/foundation/how-it-works.html http://www.apache.org/dev/ The incubator also has some useful information for new committers in incubating projects: http://incubator.apache.org/guides/committer.html http://incubator.apache.org/guides/ppmc.html Just as before you became a committer, participation in any ASF community requires adherence to the ASF Code of Conduct: https://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/conduct.html [PROJECT should insert its own guidelines here; if none are available, the Apache Forrest guidelines are available as a template.] http://forrest.apache.org/guidelines.html Yours, The Apache [PROJECT] PMC
Follow the instructions here.
In summary:
If the ICLA identifies the project and a valid Apache id, and the [RESULT][VOTE] message has been posted to the PMC private list, then the account creation request is made by the secretary or assistant who files the ICLA.
Otherwise, the new account request should be made by the PMC Chair (or any ASF Member if the chair is unavailable).
The PMC chair needs to use the ASF New Account Request form to send a new account request. Members may use ASF New Account Request page for ASF members to use.
For elections held on public lists, please supply the mail-archives.apache.org url. For private lists, you can use the Mail Search tool to locate the apprpropriate url.
This is the email to announce to [PROJECT]-dev once the account has been created.
------------------------------------------------------------ To: dev@[PROJECT].apache.org Subject: new committer: ###Joe Bloggs The Project Management Committee (PMC) for Apache [PROJECT] has invited Joe Bloggs to become a committer and we are pleased to announce that he has accepted. ### add specific details here ### Being a committer enables easier contribution to the project since there is no need to go via the patch submission process. This should enable better productivity. Being a PMC member enables assistance with the management and to guide the direction of the project.
After the committer account is established. ------------------------------------------------------------ To: private@[PROJECT].a.o, ###JoeBloggs@foo.net Subject: account request: ###Joe Bloggs ####, as you know, the ASF Infrastructure has set up your committer account as the username '####'. Please follow the instructions to set up your SSH, svn password, svn configuration, mail forwarding, etc. http://www.apache.org/dev/#committers [If your project automatically adds committers to the PMC] Please subscribe to the [PROJECT] Project Management Committee mailing list private@[PROJECT].apache.org. [/If] You have commit access to specific sections of the ASF repository, as follows: [PROJECT] has various resources at: https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/[PROJECT] The general "committers" at: https://svn.apache.org/repos/private/committers You will probably need to 'svn switch" previous checkouts to now use https, for example: svn switch --relocate http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/[PROJECT] https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/[PROJECT] If you have any questions during this phase, then please see the following resources: Apache developer's pages: http://www.apache.org/dev/ Incubator committer guide: http://incubator.apache.org/guides/committer.html Naturally, if you don't understand anything be sure to ask us on the [PROJECT] dev mailing list. Documentation is maintained by volunteers and hence can be out-of-date and incomplete - of course you can now help fix that. A PMC member will announce your election to the dev list soon.