The Apache Way
Download as PPTX, PDF2 likes262 views
The document outlines the principles and structure of the Apache Software Foundation, highlighting its non-profit nature and the governance model that prioritizes community over corporate interests. It details the roles within the organization, emphasizing meritocracy, collaboration through public communication channels, and consensus-driven decision-making. Additionally, it discusses the Apache license, trademarks, and the benefits of participating in the Apache community for both employees and companies.
The Apache Way
- 1. The Apache Way Alan Gates ASF Member, Apache Hive, Pig, Incubator PMCs
- 2. 2 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Introduction To Apache A non-profit foundation that manages open source projects – Vast majority of work done by volunteers, a few paid positions (e.g. infrastructure) About 180 top level projects (TLPs) as of May 2017 – Covering many spaces such as big data, web serving, and J2EE – Example TLPs: Hadoop, Spark, Tomcat, httpd – Each one is managed by a Project Management Committee (PMC) – Each project has a fair amount of room to make its own culture and rules Community over code – The goal is to build communities that produce and support software New projects enter Apache through the Incubator – Mentors train the project in the “Apache Way”
- 3. 3 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Apache Roles Users – the millions who download and use Apache projects Contributors – those who contribute to an Apache project – Not only developers, contributing tests & documentation, finding bugs, and helping others counts Committers – those who have write permission for the project Project Management Committee (PMC) – Determines committers and other PMC members – Approves releases – Assures the project is operating in the “Apache Way” – Reports regularly to the Apache Board – All PMC members are also committers Apache Members – shareholders and caretakers of the foundation itself – Can serve in the Incubator, on the Board, or in various other roles Apache Board – governs Apache, elected every year Apache Officers – appointed by board to define and execute policy
- 4. 4 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved The “Apache Way” – No Corporate Affiliations Everyone works in Apache as individuals, not employees of his or her company – Some volunteers – Many people paid by their employers to do open source Companies have no voice at Apache – This means even those paying their employees to do open source cannot direct them how to vote, which patches to approve, etc. – It also means no one company runs the project, controls the process, etc. – Companies can pay their employees to work on particular projects, add particular features, fix particular bugs, etc. Many companies sponsor Apache
- 5. 5 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved The “Apache Way” - Meritocracy People are recognized in Apache for “just doing it”, leading by doing rather than by talking Contributors who consistently make quality contributions and work well with the project typically are voted in as committers by the PMC Committers who continue to contribute, work well with the team, and show they can help guide the project typically are voted in as PMC members by the PMC Committers and PMC members who consistently contribute across projects or in positions of leadership in the foundation are typically voted in as Apache members by the other members Merit does not expire Merit does not transfer – Being on one PMC does not give you standing in another
- 6. 6 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved The “Apache Way” - Collaboration The mailing lists are the official record of Apache interactions – “If it didn’t happen on the lists, it didn’t happen” – Non-list discussions need to be reported to the list – JIRA, svn, git, etc. count, as all comments are copied to the mailing lists – All lists archived Every project has a set of lists – dev – for those developing the project, including feature discussions, releases – private – only things that must be private, this list is only accessible by PMC and Apache members – user – for users of a project, new projects often don’t have this – some projects have commits, issues, or security lists as well Everything in Apache that can be public must be public – Only personnel, security, legal, or other delicate matters should be discussed on private lists
- 7. 7 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved The “Apache Way” - Consensus Decisions are reached by consensus, not by force Votes formalize decisions – +1: “do this, I am willing to help make it happen” – +0: “do this, but I am not willing or able to help” – -0: “I disagree, but will not stand in the way” – -1: “I disagree because ...” All -1s must have a valid reason, else they are void All votes are equal, i.e. long time committers’ votes do not override newbie committer votes Voting done for many different decisions, by different groups, with different consensus required Decision Who Votes? Consensus Min Votes Add committer or PMC PMC Unanimous 3 Release PMC Majority 3 Review of patch committers Unanimous 0 or 1
- 8. 8 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Who Decides What Gets Done? In proprietary software someone in management declares what will be done In Apache, no one is in charge – BDFLs (benevolent dictators for life) specifically prohibited Each contributor works on what he or she wants to – “Everyone scratches their own itches” A contribution can be blocked if – It does not fit in the project (e.g. a contributor wants to turn Hadoop into an app server) – It needs work and is not technically ready – It breaks other things in the project But not if others aren’t excited by the feature
- 9. 9 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Licenses All Apache projects use the Apache License Apache license is corporate friendly: users can copy, repackage, and even sell Apache licensed software Some licenses are copyleft, meaning that if you make any changes or additions to the code you must also open source your changes/additions (e.g. GPL) Apache license != Apache software, anyone can use the license
- 10. 10 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Trademarks Some of Apache’s project names are registered, some are not – e.g. Apache Hadoop® is registered, Apache Pig™ isn’t – All are claimed by Apache as trademarks When referring to Apache projects in your documentation, slides, talks, etc. please have the first reference include “Apache X”; after that it can just be “X” Your cannot say things that imply you own, drive, or control an Apache project; examples of what not to do: – Hortonworks Hadoop – Hortonworks, the masters of Hadoop – Hortonworks, the Hadoop company You can brag all you want about your contributions to the Apache projects, e.g. the following is fine – Hortonworks, the largest contributor to Apache Hadoop See the Apache Trademark page for full details
- 11. 11 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Why Apache? Apache is a known and respected brand in the open source world Developing open source software owned by a 3rd party gives developers and users confidence in the longevity and availability of the software Open source through a trusted group like Apache can be a big accelerator to market adoption Working in Apache allows developers to collaborate with customers, partners, and competitors to develop the best possible software
- 12. 12 © Hortonworks Inc. 2011 – 2016. All Rights Reserved Letting Your Employees Contribute Only you can answer whether they should, but some thoughts if you decide they can Benefit for you employees to be able to participate in open source communities – Recognition outside your company – A chance to work with great people all over the world on great software – Can help you attract and retain talent Benefits for your company collaborating with customer, partners, and competitors Know that your employees speak for themselves in Apache – You can tell them what you want them to work on – You cannot tell them to block competitors’ work, committers, etc. Know that your employees will need to spend some time on community activities (reviewing others patches, answering questions on the lists, reviewing releases, etc.)