[MetaCRS] RFC 1: MetaCRS PSC

[Frank Warmerdam]

Norm Olsen wrote:
> Hello Frank . . .
> 
> I think some clarification on how sub-projects are to be governed may be
> beneficial.
> 
> With regard to the sub-projects, are the following statements correct?
> 
> 1> Governance of sub-projects is provided by a committee consisting of the
> PSC appointed sub-project lead (Chair) and all committers approved for that
> specific sub-project.

Norm,

It was not actually my intent to keep track of distinct commiter lists
for different subprojects.  That is, once approved as a MetaCRS commiter
you could participate in any of the subprojects though clearly some common
sense would be required here.  So basically, if a proposal on the sub-project
mailing list does not achieve consensus amoung the commiters that choose
to be involved in that list, the topic would be kicked up to the PSC for
voting.

> 2> Issues which are within the domain of the sub-project committee shall be
> resolved by consensus.  In the absence of unanimous consensus, the issue
> shall/may be referred to the MetaCRS PSC.

Right, though I'm suggesting consensus amoung the involved commiters.  One
disgruntled end user does not necessarily count as failure to achieve
consensus.

> 3> Committers are approved for specific sub-project.  An individual can be a
> committer for more than one sub-project, but a separate MetaCRS PSC approval
> is required for each.

This was not my intention.  It was my intention instead that convention
dictate that commiters tread very lightly in projects they are not
already involved in.   This is certainly a matter we could reconsider as a PSC.

> If these are indeed true, then I believe that each sub-project should have
> its own source code and documentation repository and its own bug tracking
> system.

I've been avoiding opening that discussion till the PSC is established to
decide it, but that is my recommendation - at least for the major software
sub-projects.

> Finally, it might make some sense to consider definition dictionaries as a
> separate sub-project.  That is, a project which maintains a single database
> and code to generate dictionaries in a form specific to the code specific
> sub-projects.  That sub-project would have its own repository and bug
> tracking system.

My hope was to treat some efforts, such as dictionary maintenance as
"directly administered" by the PSC.

> Just thoughts.  I've been a one man band for 20+ years, so my experience
> concerning the organization of a cooperative effort is absolutely zero!!!

To be honest, this sort of "federated" project is a new thing for me too.
I'm not sure how to find a balance between cooperating enough to be a
meta project, while letting the substantial software sub-projects operate
effectively and recognising they will have their own user communities not
too interested in the broader MetaCRS effort.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org