Dave, thanks for the historical context. Taking this into account, I propose making the following changes to the Default Project Guidelines document:
1) Change the title to Default Project Bylaws 2) Replace all occurrences of "guideline" with "bylaw." 3) Add language to the beginning of the document stating that these bylaws are subordinate to the ASF's bylaws. Thoughts? - Carl On Wed, Jul 3, 2024 at 1:02 PM Dave Fisher <w...@apache.org> wrote: > Top post, but if my memory serves me properly Guidelines was used because > the ASF’s ByLaws - https://www.apache.org/foundation/bylaws.html - must > not be overridden by project “bylaws”. > > Best, > Dave > > > On Jul 3, 2024, at 12:35 PM, Carl Steinbach <c...@apache.org> wrote: > > > > In 2018, Justin McLean led an effort to draft a set of project bylaws > that > > a) apply to projects that don't have bylaws and b) serve as a convenient > > starting point for projects that are drafting their own bylaws. This > effort > > ultimately resulted in the Default Project Guidelines [1] document > > located on the Incubator wiki. One change that didn't trigger any > > discussion at the time [2] was the decision to use the word "guideline" > > instead of "bylaw." This strikes me as odd since there is a major > > substantive difference between the meaning of these two words. > > > > Here's how the two words are defined in the Cambridge Dictionary: > > > > - Bylaw: "a rule that GOVERNS the members of an organization." [3] > > [emphasis added] > > > > - Guideline: "information intended to advise people on how something > SHOULD > > BE done or what something SHOULD BE." [4] [emphasis added] > > > > Wikipedia, while not an authoritative source, provides useful context on > > how these terms are used in practice: > > > > - "A bylaw ... is a set of rules or law established by an organization or > > community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some > > higher authority." [5] > > > > - "A guideline is similar to a rule, but are legally less binding as > > justified deviations are possible." [6] > > > > I am neither a lawyer nor a lexicographer, but it seems clear that a > > guideline carries no more weight than an officially approved suggestion, > > while a bylaw is a binding rule. While it's up to each PMC to decide > > whether they want to adopt a set of non-binding suggestions that SHOULD > BE > > [7] followed or a set of binding laws that MUST BE followed, I think it's > > important for the IPMC to clarify that the former are called guidelines, > > the latter are called bylaws, and that PMCs need to be aware of the > > difference. > > > > Thanks. > > > > - Carl > > > > [1] > > > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/INCUBATOR/Default+Project+Guidelines > > [2] https://lists.apache.org/thread/h15qjp35ghg446xr5bnmmlg06p3hdoj9 > > [3] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/bylaw > > [4] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/guideline > > [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=By-law&oldid=1215430864 > > [6] > https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guideline&oldid=1185185478 > > [7] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2119 > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org > >
