diff --git a/GOVERNANCE.md b/GOVERNANCE.md index 9acc5dc60..fa1f5874f 100644 --- a/GOVERNANCE.md +++ b/GOVERNANCE.md @@ -53,17 +53,16 @@ with no central authority. ## II. Role transitions -The main goal of these principles -is to encourage a continuous replenishing of the management team -via a **smooth transition flow between community roles** — +The following guidelines aim to keep the project vibrant and responsive, +by ensuring a **smooth transition flow between community roles** — from newcomer, to occasional contributor, to regular contributor, to maintainer. -This way the project can adapt in a flexible way -to the the natural variations in availability and interest of its contributors, -ensuring long-term resilience, and avoiding +This way, the project should be able to adapt dynamically and flexibly +to the natural variations in availability and interest of its contributors, +improving long-term resilience, reducing the risk of burnout, and avoiding [single points of failure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor). -To this end, rather than assigning roles and tasks to people, -these guidelines instead aim to **recognize the work that people already do**. +To this end, rather than _assigning_ roles and tasks to people, +these guidelines aim to **recognize the work that people already do**. Everyone is therefore encouraged to get involved and contribute to the project in whatever way they prefer, and we will strive to **get barriers out of the way** of these contributions. @@ -74,44 +73,54 @@ the metrics used are objective, easy to check, and explicitly described below. (That's not to say they're hard-set rules: exceptions can always be considered, via open community discussion.) -- Regular contributors shall be recognized as collaborators in the organization. +- **Regular contributors should be added as collaborators in the repository.** + Specifically: once a contributor has had _5 pull requests merged_ + on a repository under the tldr-pages organization, + they should be invited to become + a **collaborator** in that repository. + This means they will be able to push commits to that repository, + as well as merge PRs, label and close issues, among other things. - - Specifically: once a contributor has had **5 pull requests merged**, - they should be invited to become a - [**member of the tldr-pages organization**](https://github.com/orgs/tldr-pages/people). - This means they will be able to - push commits to all of the organization's repositories, - merge PRs, label and close issues, among other things. - Note: All members of the tldr-pages organization - must make their membership public. +- **Collaborators who perform maintenance tasks should be made org members.** + (Maintenance work is understood as facilitating contributions by other people, + which in this project consists primarily of reviewing and/or merging PRs.) + Specifically: once a repository collaborator has _merged at least 10 PRs_ + and submitted at least _5 non-trivial reviews to PRs_ + (either the same or different ones) + they should be invited to become a + [**member**](https://github.com/orgs/tldr-pages/people) + of the tldr-pages organization. + This means they will be able to + push commits to all of the organization's repositories, + merge PRs, label and close issues, among other things. + _Note_: All members of the tldr-pages organization + must make their membership public. -- Members of the organization - who demonstrate interest in performing maintainership tasks, - by reviewing and/or merging PRs, responding to and labeling issues, - and generally doing project maintenance work, - shall be made part of the maintenance team, - and their name added to the list of current maintainers +- **Maintainers who have been helping out for a while should become org owners.** + Specifically: members of the tldr-pages organization + who remain _active for at least 6 months_ + should be invited to become an + [**owner**](https://help.github.com/articles/permission-levels-for-an-organization/). + of the tldr-pages organization. + This means they will be able to add people to the organization, + manage all the organization's repositories, configure integrations, etc. + They should also be added to the list of current maintainers in the [MAINTAINERS.md](MAINTAINERS.md) file. - - Specifically: once a contributor has been an organization member - for at least 3 months, - and has **reviewed or merged 10 pull requests** by other contributors, - they should be invited to become - an **owner of the tldr-pages organization**. - This means they will be able to add people to the organization, - manage all the organization's repositories, configure integrations, etc. - -- If a collaborator or maintainer stops being active in the project - for more than 6 months, - their membership status should be equally ceased +- **These roles are temporary, and that's OK.** + People's interests and availability naturally change over time, + so the project should regularly update the list of people in each role, + in order to accurately reflect the active team managing the project + (and to avoid conveying an undue sense of obligation + on people whose priorities have shifted.) + Specifically: If an organization member becomes _inactive for over 6 months_, + their membership status should be equally deactivated and their name added to the list of former maintainers in the MAINTAINERS.md file. + (They should nevertheless remain as collaborators + in the repositories on which they have been active in the past.) Again, this is and merely a reflection of their actual involvement with the project, not a demotion or punishment. Indeed, if they return to active participation in the project, they should be added back to the organization, to reflect that fact. - - - This inactivity threshold additionally ensures - that the list of organization members doesn't grow to unwieldy sizes, - and that it accurately reflects the active team managing the project.