Re: [4diac-dev] Standardize process of electing/retiring committers

[Alois Zoitl <alois.zoitl@xxxxxx>]

Hi Bianca,

thanks a lot for starting this discussion. Especially as project lead I would be happy if we can come up with some numbers and more detailed rules.

I think the numbers should somehow reflect that the contributor did a significant contribution, as stated in the Eclipse project handbook. Also I think the
committer who wants to nominate a contributor should have a personal meeting upfront of a nomination. This allows to discuss the implications of the committer
nomination as well as the willingness of the nominee.

For me the retiring process is more critical and hard. I think the numbers can only serve as guideline and in all cases a personal meeting with the inaktive
committer should be done. This could only be with the project lead but I'm also happy if other committers join that session.

As you started the discussion do you have already some numbers and or process in mind?

Cheers,
Alois




On Tue, 2021-03-09 at 21:31 +0100, Bianca Wiesmayr wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> an increasingly diverse community uses and develops Eclipse 4diac. We
> welcome all kinds of contributions - from bug reports to submitted code.
> Currently, there are seven committers, see
> https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/iot.4diac/who
> As the number of code submissions is rising, especially for 4diac IDE,
> also new committers will certainly be elected in the future. What does a
> committer do? As a committer, you have write access to the git
> repository. 4diac contributions are typically uploaded to the Gerrit
> code review. Here, the acceptance of the code by a committer is required
> before the code can be merged into the repository. Furthermore, only
> committers can elect other committers on the project.
>
> In order to create a fair and inclusive environment for (potential)
> contributors, I suggest to discuss formal criteria for selecting
> committers. Of course, these criteria would only complement the election
> procedure from the Eclipse foundation and not result in any automatism.
> Information on becoming a committer can be found on the webpage, e.g.
> https://www.eclipse.org/membership/become_a_member/committer.php
>
> --> Which criteria should a contributer fulfil before we initiate a
> committer election?
> --> How long should the person have been contributing?
> --> Which minimum requirements should the contributions fulfil?
> --> Should we consider whether we expect the person to provide
> contributions also in the future?
> --> Which other criteria can you come up with?
>
> Of course, during our lives many things change: we may stop
> contributing due to a lack of free time, due to shifted interests or
> simply because of our career path. I'd therefore also suggest to
> initiate a default procedure for retiring committers after a certain
> period of time.
>
> --> A certain period of inactivity is certainly normal. After which
> period of time should we retire committers?
> --> Should an inactivity involve only times without contributions, or
> does also a low number of contributions count as inactivity?
> --> Should we consider whether we expect contributions from this
> committer in the future?
> --> Which other criteria can you come up with?
>
> While formal voting rights for committer elections are given only to
> other committers, I hope to open a broader discussion on this process. I
> therefore strongly encourage everyone on the mailing list to share their
> opinions and ideas.
>
> Looking forward to your answers,
>
> Bianca
>
> --