As mention in a previous thread, all the particulars of what encompasses the Apache Way was learned from years of experience, based on learning what works and what doesn't, usually after some painful semi-disasters. They don't exist because we love process nor are they something a bunch of old-timers pulled out of our arses.
Without going into a history lesson, look at what bootstrapped the ASF (well, we were the Apache Group then): an "open source" project, which many of us depended on, was dropped, and so the effort was picked up again by us to ensure that such a thing would never again happen to us, or anyone else. We wanted to ensure that no matter who came or went within that community, the project and the community survived. This was the start of our focus on community and rewarding individual merit. We wanted new blood to always feel welcome. And since most of us were doing this as volunteers, we wanted to make it easier for us, and others, who were doing this in our spare time, and as a combined work of passion and necessity. So what is it that volunteers lack? An over-abundance of free time to work on the code. So as volunteer cycles ebb and flow, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to help when then can and return when they can, hence the idea that merit doesn't expire. Hence the idea that all development must be done on mailing lists (so decisions are archived and asynchronous). Hence the need for voting and consensus and that vetoes can be cast at any time, and must be honored. Hence the "several days" before significant changes are made, Hence etc etc etc. And finally, we wanted it to be fun, and where we could enjoy hacking and stuff and be protected from legal action. So all those questions you ask are related to the Apache Way, but only in so far as how they help, or hinder, how the project abides by, and *fosters* that sense. And, of course, there are legal and IP provenance issues as well which must be abided by, which also factor into such things as where-they-code-is and what-is-a-release and where-are-releases-done,... Another way to look at the Apache Way is as a musical composition. Sure, it was written for a specific arrangement, but sometimes it's played as a jazz piece, other-times as a classical, or maybe with a blues flavor. But it is always (or *should be*) recognizable. If you *don't* recognize it, then you've taken the "interpretation" too far, if you get my meaning. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org
