Hello, Thanks everyone for comments on the first version of this proposal both on and off list. Below is our second attempt. The changes revolve around two points:
* First, only two of the positions are explicitly tied to the Mozilla Corporation, the rest are left unspecified. This felt like a better compromise between the intent of the module system and the reality of the Mozilla Corporation's role in Firefox development. * Second, it explicitly calls out the responsibility of the Module Owner Module (Mitchell) to revisit this makeup if the relationship between Firefox development and Mozilla Corporation or other entities funding Firefox development. Introduction ============ The Mozilla Module system was historically structured with the assumption that Brendan Eich was responsible for the software side of technical decisions (as the former owner of the Module Ownership System). Brendan is also listed as the current owner of the top-level directory module (with no peers), but is no longer involved in Mozilla engineering. The result has been a lack of clarity about technical decision making, and some avoidance of decisions when escalation paths are unclear. It seems clear that the module system should document ownership for the technical side of Firefox code, development practices, and tools.. We propose to restructure the Firefox-related modules under control of a new “Technical Leadership Module Committee” (TLMC), as described below. FTLM Scope and Operation The FirefoxTLM is responsible for engineering coordination and escalation among the modules that make up Firefox. The TLMC (described below) would generally try to avoid day-to-day involvement in module operation, but would be involved in case of either decisions which are explicitly cross module or issues cannot be resolved at lower levels, such as: * Resolution of decisions that don’t fall clearly into any specific module or set of modules * Escalation of disputes beyond the module owner level In addition, the Module Ownership System module would delegate its responsibilities for the modules that make up Firefox to the FTLM. This delegated authority includes topics such as those listed below. Escalations regarding this set of issues would escalate to the Module Ownership System module: * Filling vacant roles where appropriate * Ensuring module owners are fulfilling their responsibilities, and replacing those who are not * Creating and staffing new modules where new parts of the project evolve. * Figuring out what to do if a module isn't getting enough attention * Resolving conflicts among module owners The TLMC decision making process would be to attempt to form consensus among stakeholders, with the committee empowered to resolve disputes when that consensus cannot be reached, and the chair empowered when consensus can’t be reached within the committee. FTLM Proposed Structure ======================= Instead of a single owner, the Technical Leadership would be governed by a Technical Leadership Module Committee (TLMC). The TLMC would consist of the CTO and VP of Engineering from the Mozilla Firefox organization, plus additional members that reflect the technical leadership of the project. The additional members will be selected as needed to reach a six member minimum and ensure broad coverage of domain knowledge. In most cases, we would expect those leaders to be more or less full-time on the project. These additional members will serve two-year terms. The initial proposed members are: * Eric Rescorla (Firefox CTO) - Chair * Dave Camp (Vice President, Firefox Engineering) * Boris Zbarsky * David Baron * Dave Townsend * Luke Wagner The Module Ownership System module owner (currently Mitchell Baker) is expected to revisit these membership criteria upon any substantial changes to the management structures or relationships to corporate entities with the project. Appendix: Proposed List of Applicable Modules ============================================= * Firefox * Toolkit * Core * Submodules * Browser * Tier 1 Platforms * Other: - Add-On SDK - Android Background Services - Firefox for Metro - BrowserID - Firefox Accounts - Devtools - Fennec - Sync - MLS - Mozstumbler - URL Classifier - Tree Sheriffs * Governance - Security Policy - CA Certificate Policy - Code Review Policy - Performance Regression Policy - CA Certificates - Commit Access Policy On Fri, Mar 2, 2018 at 11:49 AM Dave Camp <dc...@mozilla.com> wrote: > Hello Governance folks, > > I've been working with Mitchell and some other folks over the past few > months to better reflect Firefox technical leadership in the module > ownership system. I think we're at a point where we're ready to make the > first proposal: > > Introduction > ========= > > The Mozilla Module system was historically structured with the assumption > that Brendan Eich was responsible for the software side of technical > decisions (as the former owner of the Module Ownership System). Brendan is > also listed as the current owner of the top-level directory module (with no > peers), but is no longer involved in Mozilla engineering. The result has > been a lack of clarity about technical decision making, and some avoidance > of decisions when escalation paths are unclear. > > It seems clear that the module system should document ownership for the > technical side of Firefox code, development practices, and tools. We > propose to restructure the Firefox-related modules under control of a new > “Technical Leadership Module Committee” (TLMC), as described below. > > FTLM Scope and Operation > ===================== > > The FirefoxTLM is responsible for engineering coordination and escalation > among the modules that make up Firefox. The TLMC (described below) would > generally try to avoid day-to-day involvement in module operation, but > would be involved in case of either decisions which are explicitly cross > module or issues cannot be resolved at lower levels, such as: > > * Resolution of decisions that don’t fall clearly into any specific > module or set of modules > * Escalation of disputes beyond the module owner level > > In addition, the Module Ownership System module would delegate its > responsibilities for the modules that make up Firefox to the FTLM. This > delegated authority includes topics such as those listed below. > Escalations regarding this set of issues would escalate to the Module > Ownership System module. > > * Filling vacant roles where appropriate > * Ensuring module owners are fulfilling their responsibilities, and > replacing those who are not > * Creating and staffing new modules where new parts of the project > evolve. > * Figuring out what to do if a module isn't getting enough attention > * Resolving conflicts among module owners > > The TLMC decision making process would be to attempt to form consensus > among stakeholders, with the committee empowered to resolve disputes when > that consensus cannot be reached, and the chair empowered when consensus > can’t be reached within the committee. > > FTLM Proposed Structure > ==================== > > Instead of a single owner, the Technical Leadership would be governed by a > Technical Leadership Module Committee (TLMC) consisting of the > DE/Fellow/CTO cohort and the head of Firefox Engineering. Additional > members will be selected from the technical staff as needed to reach a six > member minimum and ensure a broad coverage of domain knowledge. These > additional members will serve two-year terms. The initial proposed members > are: > > * Eric Rescorla (Firefox CTO) - Chair > * Dave Camp (Vice President, Firefox Engineering) > * Boris Zbarsky (DE) > * David Baron (DE) > * Dave Townsend > * Luke Wagner > > If any of the existing members cease to be active, or upon the expiry of > the non-DE members’ two year terms, new replacement members would be > proposed by the remaining members and selected by the Module Ownership > System module owner (currently Mitchell Baker). > > Appendix: Proposed List of Applicable Modules > > * Firefox > * Toolkit > * Core > * Submodules > * Browser > * Tier 1 Platforms > * Other: > - Add-On SDK > - Android Background Services > - Firefox for Metro > - BrowserID > - Firefox Accounts > - Devtools > - Fennec > - SyncLoop > - MLS > - Mozstumbler > - URL Classifier > - Tree Sheriffs > * Governance > - Security Policy > - CA Certificate Policy > - Code Review Policy > - Performance Regression Policy > - CA Certificates > - Commit Access Policy > > > _______________________________________________ governance mailing list governance@lists.mozilla.org https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance
