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The Apache Way

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Jim Jagielski
Jim Jagielski

The document discusses The Apache Way, which are the governance principles and guiding tenets for how Apache Project Management Committees (PMCs) operate. It focuses on why understanding the origins and reasons behind The Apache Way is important. The Apache Way was developed to optimize for volunteer contributors, focus on community over code, and encourage long-term sustainable open source projects and software. Some key aspects of The Apache Way discussed are meritocracy, peer-based communities, consensus decision making, transparency, and collaborative development.

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APACHECON North America 9-12 September, 2019 The Apache Way Not only the WHAT but, more importantly, the WHY
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag About Me Apache Software Foundation Co-founder, Director Emeritus, Member and Developer Director Emeritus Outercurve, MARSEC-XL, OSSI, OSI (ex)… Developer Mega FOSS projects O’Reilly Open Source Award: 2013 European Commission: Luminary Award InterCon: Top 50 Tech Leaders of 2019 Open Source Chef: ConsenSys
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag What is “The Apache Way” “The Apache Way” relates to how the ASF (and its projects) work and operate Basically, the least common denominators on how PMCs operate (or are expected to operate) Basic governance principles Guiding tenets for strategic decision making
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So why focus on Apache? The ASF is a 501(c)3, non-profit foundation Membership-based Large number of success stories (and some “failures”) Recognized and acknowledged by peers and press.
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag ASF “Org Chart” Development Administrative Users Patchers/Buggers Contributors Committers PMC Members Members Officers Board ~700 9 ~200 ~5500 ~3000 Technical Oversight Organizational Oversight PMCs (TLPs) ~200 Elects ReportsAppoints Creates & Updates
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So why this talk? There is a lot of FUD about what the Apache Way is, or isn’t There is also a lot of confusion Partly, this is our fault “lots of interpretations” Not doing a good job in education, training and mentoring Partly, this is just a weird concept A lack, IMO, of a real appreciation of the Apache Way exists: How core it is to who, and what we are How guiding it is “convenient forgetfulness”
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Why is “why” so important Understanding the origins, the root cause, increases appreciation for why the principles exist It serves to answer questions we haven’t asked yet It serves to support the answers to the questions we’ve asked, and debated, already The Apache Way is being used as the model for other Open Source projects, organizations and movements (eg: InnerSource). Allows for “fine tuning”
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Origins of “The Apache Way” History of Pre-“Open Source” days History of The Apache Group and the ASF The Need The Opportunity The Insights Focus on community Optimize for the un-aligned, self/group-interested volunteer contributor
 We never want anyone else to be stuck in the situation we were.
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Origins of “The Apache Way” We sometimes distill this down to:
 
 Community Over Code
 The idea is that healthy, viable communities resulting in long-term, sustainable Open Source projects (and software)
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So what did we do: #1 Created the Apache Software Foundation Governing bylaws make it member-based, member focused Avoid pockets of power (learn from the bad experiences of the FSF and the early Perl foundations) Only really works w/ an engaged board and membership
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So what did we do: #2 Come up w/ The Apache Way
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Apache Way: Basic Memes Meritocracy Community : Peer-based Individual Participation Vendor Neutrality Collaborative development Consensus decision making Open, Public, and Transparent
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Meritocracy “Govern by Merit” Merit is based on what you do Merit never expires Those with more merit, get more responsibility Provides incentive to Do More It’s NOT a dirty word aka “do-acracy” What you do, NOT who (or what) you are!
 WHY: Encourage participation, new blood, fairness
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Community: peer based / individual Developers represent themselves - individuals Mutual trust and respect All votes hold the same weight (no BDFL) Flat-as-possible hierarchy We do not promote, pay, nor dissuade anyone Influence, NOT control Community created code Healthy communities create healthy code Poisonous communities don’t Feel as part of a community
 WHY: Passion is better than payment WHY: Grow the community
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Community: Vendor Neutrality A truly neutral place for companies to collaborate No “pay to play” - everyone has a chance We do not promote, nor dissuade anyone No company can “join” the ASF Level playing field for all encourages cooperation
 WHY: Avoid power imbalance due to conflicting “agendas” WHY: Avoid death of a project due to Corporate interests We are, after all, a 501(c)3 public charity
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaborative Development The community develops the code The community grows and fosters the project
 WHY: Communities cannot grow without collaboration; Without collaboration, there is no real community
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaboration: Consensus decision making Key is the idea of voting +1 - yes +0 - no real comment -1 - veto Sometimes you’ll also see stuff like -0, -0.5, etc… Used to gauge consensus, not really “majority rule” Vetos are rare and a sign that something is askew
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaborative Development Mailing lists are the preferred method Archived Asynchronous Available to anyone - public list
 WHY: Volunteers are the lifeblood - their available cycles vary greatly and often WHY: East to lurk… easy to return
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaboration: Transparency Open, Public and Transparent Code is developed by the community Voting ensures at least 3 active developers Development done online and on-list If it didn’t happen on-list, it didn’t happen
 WHY: True communities cannot live without true intra- community transparency, and cannot grow without extra- community transparency.
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Altruistic Selfishness “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Thanks Twitter: @jimjag Emails:
 jim@jaguNET.com
 jim@apache.org
 jimjag@gmail.com http://www.slideshare.net/jimjag/ Apache Anniversary Beer Recipe (BeerSmith3 format): http://home.apache.org/~jim/download/ApacheAnniversaryRoggenbier.bsmx

More Related Content

The Apache Way

  • 1. APACHECON North America 9-12 September, 2019 The Apache Way Not only the WHAT but, more importantly, the WHY
  • 2. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag About Me Apache Software Foundation Co-founder, Director Emeritus, Member and Developer Director Emeritus Outercurve, MARSEC-XL, OSSI, OSI (ex)… Developer Mega FOSS projects O’Reilly Open Source Award: 2013 European Commission: Luminary Award InterCon: Top 50 Tech Leaders of 2019 Open Source Chef: ConsenSys
  • 3. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag What is “The Apache Way” “The Apache Way” relates to how the ASF (and its projects) work and operate Basically, the least common denominators on how PMCs operate (or are expected to operate) Basic governance principles Guiding tenets for strategic decision making
  • 4. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So why focus on Apache? The ASF is a 501(c)3, non-profit foundation Membership-based Large number of success stories (and some “failures”) Recognized and acknowledged by peers and press.
  • 5. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag ASF “Org Chart” Development Administrative Users Patchers/Buggers Contributors Committers PMC Members Members Officers Board ~700 9 ~200 ~5500 ~3000 Technical Oversight Organizational Oversight PMCs (TLPs) ~200 Elects ReportsAppoints Creates & Updates
  • 6. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So why this talk? There is a lot of FUD about what the Apache Way is, or isn’t There is also a lot of confusion Partly, this is our fault “lots of interpretations” Not doing a good job in education, training and mentoring Partly, this is just a weird concept A lack, IMO, of a real appreciation of the Apache Way exists: How core it is to who, and what we are How guiding it is “convenient forgetfulness”
  • 7. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Why is “why” so important Understanding the origins, the root cause, increases appreciation for why the principles exist It serves to answer questions we haven’t asked yet It serves to support the answers to the questions we’ve asked, and debated, already The Apache Way is being used as the model for other Open Source projects, organizations and movements (eg: InnerSource). Allows for “fine tuning”
  • 8. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Origins of “The Apache Way” History of Pre-“Open Source” days History of The Apache Group and the ASF The Need The Opportunity The Insights Focus on community Optimize for the un-aligned, self/group-interested volunteer contributor
 We never want anyone else to be stuck in the situation we were.
  • 9. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Origins of “The Apache Way” We sometimes distill this down to:
 
 Community Over Code
 The idea is that healthy, viable communities resulting in long-term, sustainable Open Source projects (and software)
  • 10. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So what did we do: #1 Created the Apache Software Foundation Governing bylaws make it member-based, member focused Avoid pockets of power (learn from the bad experiences of the FSF and the early Perl foundations) Only really works w/ an engaged board and membership
  • 11. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag So what did we do: #2 Come up w/ The Apache Way
  • 12. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Apache Way: Basic Memes Meritocracy Community : Peer-based Individual Participation Vendor Neutrality Collaborative development Consensus decision making Open, Public, and Transparent
  • 13. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Meritocracy “Govern by Merit” Merit is based on what you do Merit never expires Those with more merit, get more responsibility Provides incentive to Do More It’s NOT a dirty word aka “do-acracy” What you do, NOT who (or what) you are!
 WHY: Encourage participation, new blood, fairness
  • 14. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Community: peer based / individual Developers represent themselves - individuals Mutual trust and respect All votes hold the same weight (no BDFL) Flat-as-possible hierarchy We do not promote, pay, nor dissuade anyone Influence, NOT control Community created code Healthy communities create healthy code Poisonous communities don’t Feel as part of a community
 WHY: Passion is better than payment WHY: Grow the community
  • 15. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Community: Vendor Neutrality A truly neutral place for companies to collaborate No “pay to play” - everyone has a chance We do not promote, nor dissuade anyone No company can “join” the ASF Level playing field for all encourages cooperation
 WHY: Avoid power imbalance due to conflicting “agendas” WHY: Avoid death of a project due to Corporate interests We are, after all, a 501(c)3 public charity
  • 16. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaborative Development The community develops the code The community grows and fosters the project
 WHY: Communities cannot grow without collaboration; Without collaboration, there is no real community
  • 17. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaboration: Consensus decision making Key is the idea of voting +1 - yes +0 - no real comment -1 - veto Sometimes you’ll also see stuff like -0, -0.5, etc… Used to gauge consensus, not really “majority rule” Vetos are rare and a sign that something is askew
  • 18. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaborative Development Mailing lists are the preferred method Archived Asynchronous Available to anyone - public list
 WHY: Volunteers are the lifeblood - their available cycles vary greatly and often WHY: East to lurk… easy to return
  • 19. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Collaboration: Transparency Open, Public and Transparent Code is developed by the community Voting ensures at least 3 active developers Development done online and on-list If it didn’t happen on-list, it didn’t happen
 WHY: True communities cannot live without true intra- community transparency, and cannot grow without extra- community transparency.
  • 20. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Altruistic Selfishness “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • 21. APACHECON North America This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. - Jim Jagielski - @jimjag Thanks Twitter: @jimjag Emails:
 jim@jaguNET.com
 jim@apache.org
 jimjag@gmail.com http://www.slideshare.net/jimjag/ Apache Anniversary Beer Recipe (BeerSmith3 format): http://home.apache.org/~jim/download/ApacheAnniversaryRoggenbier.bsmx