Thread: Re: [HACKERS] Decision Process WAS: Increased company involvement
> -----Original Message----- > From: Bruce Momjian [mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us] > Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:33 PM > To: Dave Held > Cc: PostgreSQL advocacy; PostgreSQL-development > Subject: Re: [pgsql-advocacy] [HACKERS] Decision Process WAS: > Increased > company involvement > > [...] > Here is a new FAQ entry: > > <H3><A name="1.13">1.13</A>) Who controls PostgreSQL?<BR> > > <P>If you are looking for a PostgreSQL gatekeeper, > central committee, or controlling company, give up, because > none exists. We do have a core committee and CVS committers, > but these groups are more for administrative purposes then > control. The project is directed by the open community of > developers and users of PostgreSQL. Everyone is welcome to > subscribe and take part in the discussions. (See the > <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.FAQ_DEV.html"> > Developer's FAQ</A> for information on how to get > involved in PostgreSQL development.)</P> > > Adjustments? "...are more for administrative purposes [then->than] control..." <p>Because PostgreSQL is a monolithic product, all of its features must work together in tight harmony. It is in the interests of the PostgreSQL community that new features be integrated in a way that preserves this harmony. Thus, new feature proposals are scrutinized and debated by the community to ensure that changes have sufficient technical merit. Be prepared to defend your proposal, and don't assume that a privately developed contribution will automatically be accepted by the PostgreSQL community. To maximize the chance of success in proposing a change, consider these suggestions: * Propose your change/feature publicly - OSS is about community, and a collection of contributors working independently without communication is not a community; this avoids duplication of effort and promotes collaboration/cooperation among parties that have a common interest * Research your proposal to see if it has already been discussed on the mailing list * Research your proposed solution to make sure it is the best of breed - database technology is a very active subject of academic research, and it is possible, if not likely, that someone has written a paper on the topic * Engage the community by participating in discussions and patch reviews - your credibility as a contributor depends on your willingness to contribute to the community in non-coding ways as well </p> I realize that this runs a bit far afield from the original question of "Who controls PostgreSQL?", but I think it addresses the points that someone who asks this question is likely to want to know. It also tackles the contribution question from a higher level than the dev-faq. Obviously, the bullet points would be formatted as a list or some other appropriate HTML construct. And as a minor point, it would be nice if the website validated to XHTML-strict, although XHTML-transitional would be a good compromise. __ David B. Held Software Engineer/Array Services Group 200 14th Ave. East, Sartell, MN 56377 320.534.3637 320.253.7800 800.752.8129
On Monday 02 May 2005 17:32, Dave Held wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Bruce Momjian [mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us] > > Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:33 PM > > To: Dave Held > > Cc: PostgreSQL advocacy; PostgreSQL-development > > Subject: Re: [pgsql-advocacy] [HACKERS] Decision Process WAS: > > Increased > > company involvement > > > > [...] > > Here is a new FAQ entry: > > > > <H3><A name="1.13">1.13</A>) Who controls PostgreSQL?<BR> > > > > <P>If you are looking for a PostgreSQL gatekeeper, > > central committee, or controlling company, give up, because > > none exists. We do have a core committee and CVS committers, > > but these groups are more for administrative purposes then > > control. The project is directed by the open community of > > developers and users of PostgreSQL. Everyone is welcome to > > subscribe and take part in the discussions. (See the > > <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.FAQ_DEV.html"> > > Developer's FAQ</A> for information on how to get > > involved in PostgreSQL development.)</P> > > > > Adjustments? > > "...are more for administrative purposes [then->than] control..." > > <p>Because PostgreSQL is a monolithic product, all of its features > must work together in tight harmony. It is in the interests of > the PostgreSQL community that new features be integrated in a way > that preserves this harmony. Thus, new feature proposals are > scrutinized and debated by the community to ensure that changes > have sufficient technical merit. Be prepared to defend your > proposal, and don't assume that a privately developed contribution > will automatically be accepted by the PostgreSQL community. To > maximize the chance of success in proposing a change, consider > these suggestions: > > * Propose your change/feature publicly - OSS is about community, > and a collection of contributors working independently without > communication is not a community; this avoids duplication of > effort and promotes collaboration/cooperation among parties > that have a common interest > * Research your proposal to see if it has already been discussed > on the mailing list > * Research your proposed solution to make sure it is the best of > breed - database technology is a very active subject of > academic research, and it is possible, if not likely, that > someone has written a paper on the topic > * Engage the community by participating in discussions and patch > reviews - your credibility as a contributor depends on your > willingness to contribute to the community in non-coding > ways as well > </p> > > I realize that this runs a bit far afield from the original > question of "Who controls PostgreSQL?", but I think it addresses > the points that someone who asks this question is likely to > want to know. It also tackles the contribution question from > a higher level than the dev-faq. Actually I think Bruces blurb is good for the general FAQ, and this would be good for the Developer FAQs -- Robert Treat Build A Brighter Lamp :: Linux Apache {middleware} PostgreSQL
Robert Treat said: >> * Engage the community by participating in discussions and patch >> reviews - your credibility as a contributor depends on your >> willingness to contribute to the community in non-coding >> ways as well > > Actually I think Bruces blurb is good for the general FAQ, and this > would be good for the Developer FAQs > I nat happy avout that last point - personally, I value most highly the views of those who contribute code or similar and least highly the views of those whose principal contribution is opinions. cheers andrew
Dave Held wrote: > > developers and users of PostgreSQL. Everyone is welcome to > > subscribe and take part in the discussions. (See the > > <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.FAQ_DEV.html"> > > Developer's FAQ</A> for information on how to get > > involved in PostgreSQL development.)</P> > > > > Adjustments? > > "...are more for administrative purposes [then->than] control..." Fixed. Would you please review the existing developer's FAQ and let me know what needs to be added in relation to your ideas below? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > <p>Because PostgreSQL is a monolithic product, all of its features > must work together in tight harmony. It is in the interests of > the PostgreSQL community that new features be integrated in a way > that preserves this harmony. Thus, new feature proposals are > scrutinized and debated by the community to ensure that changes > have sufficient technical merit. Be prepared to defend your > proposal, and don't assume that a privately developed contribution > will automatically be accepted by the PostgreSQL community. To > maximize the chance of success in proposing a change, consider > these suggestions: > > * Propose your change/feature publicly - OSS is about community, > and a collection of contributors working independently without > communication is not a community; this avoids duplication of > effort and promotes collaboration/cooperation among parties > that have a common interest > * Research your proposal to see if it has already been discussed > on the mailing list > * Research your proposed solution to make sure it is the best of > breed - database technology is a very active subject of > academic research, and it is possible, if not likely, that > someone has written a paper on the topic > * Engage the community by participating in discussions and patch > reviews - your credibility as a contributor depends on your > willingness to contribute to the community in non-coding > ways as well > </p> > > I realize that this runs a bit far afield from the original > question of "Who controls PostgreSQL?", but I think it addresses > the points that someone who asks this question is likely to > want to know. It also tackles the contribution question from > a higher level than the dev-faq. Obviously, the bullet points > would be formatted as a list or some other appropriate HTML > construct. And as a minor point, it would be nice if the > website validated to XHTML-strict, although XHTML-transitional > would be a good compromise. > > __ > David B. Held > Software Engineer/Array Services Group > 200 14th Ave. East, Sartell, MN 56377 > 320.534.3637 320.253.7800 800.752.8129 > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 3: if posting/reading through Usenet, please send an appropriate > subscribe-nomail command to majordomo@postgresql.org so that your > message can get through to the mailing list cleanly > -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 359-1001 + If your life is a hard drive, | 13 Roberts Road + Christ can be your backup. | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073