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This document describes a typical Apache project’s process for handling the vote to add a new PMC (Project Management Committee) member - when it is separate from becoming committer.

Templates mentioned in the process appear [#NewPMCMember-EmailTemplates](later in this document). If your PMC adds automatically committers as PMC members, the process for doing both at the same time is described in the New committer advice.

The Contributor Ladder helps explain different roles.

TL;DR - Inviting a new PMC member

  1. Discuss the proposed PMC member. (Use this template.)
  2. If the discussion seems to be going positively, call a vote. (Use this template.)
  3. Close the vote. (Use this template.)
  4. If the result is positive, invite the new committer. (Use this template.)

If they accept, then:

  1. If the new PMC member is already is already a committer, and they have Apache id, you should grant them appropriate PMC privileges. Use the committee roster tool (or ppmc roster tool for incubating projects) on Whimsy to update the roster.
  2. Announce the new PMC member. (Use this template.)

Guidelines for inviting a new PMC member

Frequently adding new PMC members to your project helps to ensure the sustainability and longevity of your project, and brings new ideas into the discussion.

As a PMC member, you should frequently look at your project’s active committers and contributors (including non-code participants) and consider whether having their voice in the decision-making process would better serve your stakeholders, and contribute to the Foundation’s mission of providing software for the public good.

Discussion

Any PMC member may propose a potential PMC member. This is not the sole responsibility or right of the PMC chair.

We do the discussion and vote on the private@ mailing list to enable a frank discussion. But do keep in mind that if the candidate is elected, they will be able to inspect the archives, so keep your discussion respectful and professional, with that in mind.

We invite people to join as PMC members, not github ids. It is fine to refer to the candidate’s github id for context, but the person should be referred to by their name. It is not necessary to have their full legal name (that will be kept private) but it is important to use their name, as they refer to themselves in email. If a person is known only by their github id, it is ok to ask them for their real name prior to holding a VOTE.

Vote

Start a separate [VOTE] thread for each new person. This makes it much easier to review the email archives.

We need to be sure that they are committed people with whom we can work. 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.

Let the Vote thread run for one week.

A positive result is achieved when there are at least 3 +1 votes and no vetoes, as per the ASF voting process document.

Invitation and welcome

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 PMC membership in private. They can post a reply to the PMC mailing list.

After we reach a decision on the private@ list, and after the steps above, we announce the new PMC member on the dev list. We can then each follow up with our praise and welcome messages in public.

Other notes about the process are available on the main Apache site.

Email Templates