Important: MacPorts PortMgr Changes

[Ware, Ryan R]

I can't say that I've been a part of this community for very long.   
However, I think some of my experience speaks to this.

First off, Thanks to Markus, Juan and James for the job they've done  
in getting Macports to where it is now.  I was mentally comparing my  
experience with Macports to the efforts I had to go through when I  
first started using LinuxPPC.  While Macports had the whole MacOS X  
infrastructure to build off of, it was still much easier to install  
and use even given that.

If the three of you that make up the PortMgr feel that the project is  
languishing because you can't spend enough time on it, I can't think  
of anyone more qualified to make that judgement.  This seems like a  
reasonable approach that will allow the community to still have access  
to your expertise, yet still allow you to focus on the demands in your  
personal lives.  It also allows people to step in to the day-to-day  
roles that you've been filling.

The only addition that I see which could be made to the plan would be  
to also define how the role of the PortMgr and Elder-councilor gets  
replaced in the future in the case where people need to move on.

Ryan

On Sep 30, 2008, at 9:18 AM, James Berry wrote:

> As many of you know, MacPorts is loosely governed by the "PortMgr"
> team, which is currently made up of three people: Markus Weissmann,
> Juan Manual Palacios, and James Berry.
>
> We each love MacPorts, and hope to see it continue to prosper and grow
> in the future. And we want to continue to contribute to the success of
> MacPorts as our time and professional lives allow in the future.
>
> But we each also have other significant professional and personal
> commitments that have made it difficult for us to put what we feel is
> an appropriate amount of time, energy, and enthusiasm into MacPorts in
> recent months and years, to the extent that we feel that additional
> day-to-day leadership is needed to ensure continued success and growth
> for the MacPorts project.
>
> So we want to propose some ideas to get new leadership blood into
> MacPorts, while retaining the systemic knowledge and continuity that
> our continued presence can allow. We therefore want to put the
> following plan forward for community comment (and hopefully,
> thereafter, implementation):
>
> (1) That the MacPorts community elect a new slate of PortMgr
> individuals, probably three people, to continue to guide day-to-day
> MacPorts operations and direction.
>
> (2) That the three of us move into an Elder-council ("advisory board",
> "trustees", "steering committee", etc), which will continue to help
> out and give guidance as needed, and watch over the long-term health
> of MacPorts assets such as domains and finances.
>
> The idea for the Elder council is based on our experience in the last
> several years. We've hesitated to make changes to PortMgr because we
> didn't want to disrupt continuity, but that has meant that PortMgr has
> stagnated as year-by-year changes in our lives affected our respective
> abilities to effectively govern day to day. We (collectively) need the
> ability to make swifter more responsive changes at the PortMgr level,
> while also ensuring the longer term continuity of the community and
> the infrastructure it relies on.
>
> We propose that PortMgr members be appointed by the community and have
> full control of all day-to-day operations of MacPorts. The Elder
> council will give advice and help to PortMgr members as requested, or
> as they see fit, but will not have the ability to replace or remove
> PortMgr members: that responsibility lies with the community. The
> Elder council might from time to time add or remove its own members:
> it's primary function is to oversee the long-term health and direction
> of the project, including long-term assets such as finances and
> domains. We also see the Elder council as a broader group from which
> PortMgr can draw for help if its members become temporarily
> preoccupied with life.
>
> We have asked Jordan Hubbard, the father of MacPorts, to join us on
> the Elder Council, and he has given his tentative acceptance.
>
> We'd like to ask for community comment on this plan, following which
> we hope to call for new PortMgr nominations and election in the coming
> weeks.
>
> We believe that successful nominees for the portmgr positions will
> have demonstrated an active participation in the MacPorts community,
> will have the technical and organizational skills to help lead and
> direct the project, and will have the time, energy, and experience to
> make and inspire great contributions to the project.
>
> The PortMgr team: Markus, Juan, and James
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