[Foundation-discuss] Foundation Update

[Dave Botsch]

Hi, Jeff.

The below descriptions were written before our discussions about the
special meaning of certain titles. 

Otherwise, yes, I believe we are on the same page.

Thanks!

On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 10:06:21AM -0500, Jeffrey Altman wrote:
> On 4/18/2016 9:03 AM, Dave Botsch wrote:
> > § Release Managers
> > 
> > 
> > The OpenAFS Release Managers, or Gatekeepers, 
> 
> 
> David,
> 
> As we have discussed privately many times before, the term "Gatekeeper"
> and "Elder" have special meanings within the OpenAFS community dating
> back to the formation of the unincorporated association.
> 
> Elders can be thought of as non-technical board members much as the
> OpenAFS Foundation Board members are today.
> 
> Gatekeepers can be thought of as C* level officers who not only are
> responsible for day-to-day operations, technical direction, contract
> negotiations, staff supervision, etc.  Gatekeepers are also Elders.
> 
> Security Officers were appointed by Gatekeepers and report to the
> Gatekeepers.  Security decisions are not made outside of the technical
> direction of the project.
> 
> Release Managers were appointed by Gatekeepers and report to the
> Gatekeepers.  Release Managers have responsibility for a specific
> release branch.  In particular the stable branches.  The development
> branch (aka "master") was controlled by the "Gatekeepers".  A Release
> Manager has the discretion to bring bug fixes and features onto a stable
> branch only after the feature is approved of and merged into the
> repository on the "master" branch.  The "master" branch represents the
> future direction of the project.
> 
> Below the Release Managers are the Testing and Binary Builder positions.
> 
> In summary the hierarchy is
> 
>   Gatekeepers
>     |
>     --Elders
>     |  |
>     |  Foundation Board committee
>     |
>     --Security Officers
>     |
>     --Release Managers
>         |
>         --Testers
>         |
>         --Binary builders
> 
> The OpenAFS Foundation and its Board does not report into this hierarchy
> and it is expected that the Board will take responsibility for raising
> money and spending those funds to support the developer and end user
> community.  Although the OpenAFS Foundation has an agreement with IBM to
> use the "OpenAFS" registered mark which is property of IBM, it must be
> noted that the OpenAFS Foundation's powers are limited.
> 
>  * The Foundation does not own the OpenAFS source code, documentation
>    or other intellectual property.
> 
>  * The Foundation does not own nor manage the development
>    infrastructure including Git, Gerrit, web, mail, rt, buildbot, ...
> 
>  * The Foundation neither has the ability to grant nor remove
>    permissions that individuals have in the aforementioned
>    infrastructure.
> 
> What the Foundation does have is the right to use the OpenAFS registered
> mark for business purposes in accordance with the grant from IBM. These
> include:
> 
>  * incorporation
> 
>  * fund raising
> 
>  * entering into contracts
> 
>  * obtaining digital certificates and using them to sign binaries
> 
>  * domain names
> 
> The Board can grant titles to those individuals that it wishes to pay
> and to those that it wishes to protect under its insurance coverage.
> The Board can selectively sign software binaries produced under an
> accepted process.  Using those carrots, the Foundation can encourage end
> users to trust the development process.
> 
> The title "Gatekeeper" is already in use. It does not mean "Release
> Manager".  The titles "Gatekeeper", "Elder" and "Guardian" should never
> be used by the Foundation to describe any position within its oversight
> as those titles predate the Foundation and exist outside the Foundation.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Jeffrey Altman
> OpenAFS Gatekeeper
> 

> begin:vcard
> fn:Jeffrey Altman
> n:Altman;Jeffrey
> org:AuriStor, Inc.
> adr:Suite 6B;;255 West 94Th Street;New York;New York;10025-6985;United States
> email;internet:jaltman@auristor.com
> title:Founder and CEO
> tel;work:+1-212-769-9018
> note;quoted-printable:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyaltman=0D=0A=
> 	Skype: jeffrey.e.altman=0D=0A=
> 	
> url:https://www.auristor.com/
> version:2.1
> end:vcard
> 




-- 
********************************
David William Botsch
Programmer/Analyst
@CNFComputing
botsch@cnf.cornell.edu
********************************