[Phpgroupware-developers] Project Structure

[Dave Hall]

Hi phpGroupWare contributor,

Several active participants in the project has expressed their concerns in
relation to how the project is run. After some discussion, we have decided to
put a proposal to you and the other contributors, for comment. We also hope
that the "core team" - ceb, jengo, seek3r & skeeter - will participate in this
discussion and respect the views of the community.

Our primary concern is that the project is run by the "core team", which is
mostly composed of people who are not currently active in the community. We
have also been informed that this "core team", must be notified of any planned
development work and approve such development. We recognise that the "core
team" are the people who have made major contributions to the project in the
past, but in our opinions this does not give them the right to continue to
control the direction of the project and its contributors.

"Core Team" Restructure
We propose that the "Coordination Team" or CT (formerly know as the "core
team") is elected for a term of 12 months, by the active contributors to the
project. The role of these people is to coordinate the project for the period
they are elected and take
responsibility for the day to day operation of the project. We feel that
there should be 7 positions and each has an area of _primary_ responsibility -
these areas being:

    * API
    * Applications
    * Support
    * Internationalisation/Translations
    * Documentation
    * Colloboration
    * Sponsored Development


The allocation of areas of responsibility are decided by those elected. In
addition to these areas of responsibility we feel that the CT, as a group,
should also be responsible for the following:

    * be available and contactable by the community
    * furthering the development of phpGroupWare
    * guide the strategic direction of the project - in consultation with
all contributors
    * further collaboration between phpGW and other compatiable projects
    * encourourage participation in the community
    * ensure efficient operation of the project infrastructure
    * administer the sponsored development program
    * be the contact point for the FSF


If a developer is "AWOL" for more than 3 months, their position would be
declared vacant and a by election conducted to elect a new person their
position. We acknowledge that all contributors need a break from time to time, 
but
they must notify the project of this and make satisfactory arrangements for
their period of absense.

The Role of the FSF
As the project would be democratically run we feel that all developers
should be required to assign copyright to the FSF, not a member of the CT. All
domains controlled by the project should also be reassigned to the FSF. This way
the project and its infrastructure is held by the FSF, to ensure some
continuity between CT changes.

Developers/Contributors
We also wish to see the title of developer, changed to the more inclusive
title of contributor. Not every person who currently contributes to the project
are php gurus - but they still make valuable contributions to the project.
We would like to see the current "how to become a developer" document amended
to spell out the criteria for being
a contributor for each area of the project. All contributors would be
expected to:

    * be available and contactable
    * maintain their area of the project
    * assist others in maintaining their area of the project - within their
abilities


We propose that for the first 3 months of a contributor being added to the
project that they will be on a "probation period", during which time they can
participate in discussions, but do not have voting rights. The probation
period is to protect the project from being stacked by those who wish to take
over. Also after 1 months of un notified inactivity a contributor would lose
their voting rights, and have to serve a 3 months probabation period on return
or after 3 months of inactivity they would
lose the title of contributor.

Decision Making Processes
We feel that at the moment there is very little accountability with in the
project. We would like to see this changed. For example the CT could be
required to meet once a month, with minutes made publicly available. We also 
feel
it is important for discussion on important issues to be held in a public
forum, where all contributors are encouraged to participate. One issue which we
feel should involve the community is the db abstraction layer - phplib vs PEAR
vs ADOdb. A poll of contributors could be conducted in the devteam install
on phpgroupware.org - with documents outlining the pros and cons of each side
of the debate being on the wiki.

A proposed change to the API would need to documented on the wiki, with
contributors would be notified on the developer list of the proposal, and given
1-2 weeks to comment on it. The final version of the document would then be
agreed on. A developer or team of developers would then be assigned to the
task. The developers will be expected to update the wiki with progress on their
development.

We also feel that the CT does not have the power to make decisions without
involving the community. Where possible the community should be the ones who
make the decisions not the CT.

Development Plans & Reports
We feel that the CT should produce quarterly development plans and reports
for the community to review. The reports would outline what is planned in the
next 3 months and longer term implications of such decisions, and also
contain a review of the previous report outlining the status of each component 
from
the previous period.

Conclusion
We feel that all active contributors to the project should be the ones who
control its destiny, not a group of former developers. We think the structure
outlined above is heading in the right direction, but this is not a final
proposal - please contribute to it here or on the wiki (see
http://phpgroupware.org/wiki/restructure ). This is only a draft document, we 
seek your input
into the future direction of the project.

We also propose that once accepted that this document is accepted, it will
form the phpGroupWare project charter.

Thanks for you time and contributions


Ralf Becker (aka ralfbecker)
Bettina Gille (aka ceb)
Dave Hall (aka skwashd)
Reiner Jung (aka reinerj)
Lars Kneschke (aka knecke)

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