The Apache Way describes the community patterns and style of governance that all projects at the Apache Software Foundation are guided by. With a span of more than 20 years, and now more than 300 projects, the Apache Way has helped to establish long lasting, diverse communities of volunteers who collaborate to build software used by millions of users worldwide.
In this talk, I’ll outline the underlying principles of the Apache Way, what this means for projects and their ecosystems, and how the Apache Software Foundation is structured to support such a large number of projects.
Speaker
Brett Porter, Director, Apache Software Foundation
5. About the ASF
• Independent US non-profit
• Volunteer organisation
• Virtual world-wide organisation
• Began as the Apache Group in 1996
• Incorporated as the ASF in 1999
6. Purpose of the ASF
Provide open source software to the public free of charge
7. Purpose of the ASF
• Collaborative infrastructure for open source development
• Legal entity for donation purposes
• Shelter from law suits
• PR & Marketing
• Protection of the Apache brand
8. Structure of the ASF
Foundation Members
BoardOfficers Committees
Project Management
Committees
Project Management
Committees
Project Management
Committees
Project Management
Committees
Committers
9. Structure of the ASF
• Apache Members are the “shareholders” of the Foundation
• Members are nominated and elected by the current Members
• Currently 684, with 64 of them added this year
Foundation Members
BoardOfficers Committees
10. Structure of the ASF
• Board consists of 9 (volunteer) directors elected by the membership each year
• Rich Bowen, Shane Curcuru, Bertrand Delacretaz, Ted Dunning, Jim Jagielski, Chris Mattmann, Brett
Porter, Phil Steitz, Mark Thomas
• Board appoints (volunteer) Executive Officers
• Chairman
• President
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Executive Vice President
• Vice Chairman
11. Structure of the ASF
• Board committees
• Legal Affairs
• Security Team
• Operations are handled by President and appointed Officers
• Infrastructure
• Fundraising
• Marketing and Publicity
• Brand Management
• Travel Assistance
• Executive Assistant
16. Peer to Peer
• The ASF works with people, not companies.
• All votes hold the same weight.
• Participate based on needs.
• Community over code.
• Committers and members should hold one another with respect.
17. Consensus Decision Making
• Most decisions made on mailing list without voting, sometimes by way of
lazy consensus.
• For releases, 3 +1’s required, no veto
• A -1 veto requires proposal of alternate solution
0-1 +1
YesNo (veto) Abstain
18. Open Communication
• Communication is done online
• Email lists are preferred form of communication - dev@, commits@,
users@
• Most communication is publicly archived
• Most lists are open to any subscriber
19. Responsible Oversight
• Small commits, peer reviewed
• Security is mandatory
• Ensure license compliance
• Release only high quality software
• No abuse of Apache brand or community
20. Apache License
• “Liberal” open source software license
• Grants copyright and patent licenses
• Requires appropriate attribution
• Protects brand - cannot call your product “Apache XYZ”
• Easily reused by other projects & organisations
21. The Apache Way
• Govern of Merit
• Peer to Peer
• Consensus decision making
• Open, online communication
• Responsible oversight