The aim of presenting a template with examples and comments is educational.
Proposals are not required to adopt this format.
Every proposal is different. There may be sections which don't seem to be
useful. It's fine to miss them out and to add new ones that the proposal seems
to need. Best practice evolves. Innovation is acceptable.
The format is less important than the content.
A short descriptive summary of the
project. A short paragraph, ideally one sentence in length.
The abstract should be suitable for reuse in
the board resolution used to create the official project upon graduation,
as the first paragraph on the podling web site
and in the DOAP document.
Examples:
Geronimo will be a J2EE compliant container.
Heraldry will develop technologies around the emerging user-centric
identity space.
Yoko will be a CORBA server.
A lengthier description of the proposal. Should be reasonably declarative.
More discursive material should be included in the rationale
(or other later sections).
Example (XAP):
XAP is to provide an XML-based declarative framework for building,
deploying and maintaining rich, interactive, Ajax-powered web
applications. A basic principal of XAP is to leverage existing Ajax
...
Provides context for those unfamiliar with the problem space and history.
Explain terms whose meanings may be misunderstood (for example,
where there is not a single widely adopted definition).
This content should be capable of being safely ignored by domain experts.
It should probably find an eventual home on the Podling website.
Example (Heraldry):
To provide some background, the Higgins Project is being actively
developed within Eclipse and is a framework that will enable users
and enterprises to integrate identity, profile, and relationship
information across multiple systems. Using context providers,
existing and new systems such as directories, collaboration spaces
...
Explains why this project needs to exist and why should it be adopted by Apache.
This is the right place for discursive material.
Example (Beehive):
There is a strong need for a cohesive, easy-to-use programming model
for building J2EE applications. Developers new to Java are forced to
learn a myriad of APIs just to build simple applications; advanced
J2EE developers are forced to write tedious plumbing code; and tools
authors are limited in what they can do to simplify the experience
due to the underlying complexity.
A complex proposal (involving multiple existing code bases, for example)
may cause concerns about its practicality. A good way
to address these concerns is to create a plan that demonstrates the proposal
is feasible and has been carefully thought through.
Many projects will not need this section.
Example (Heraldry):
* Expansion of Yadis and OpenID libraries into additional languages
beyond the existing Python, Ruby, Perl, and PHP libraries
* OpenID authentication specification revision to fix known security
considerations, investigate compatibility with the DIX IETF
proposal, describe Yadis integration, and allow either an URL or
XRI be used as the End User's Identifier
...
This section (and the contained topics) describes
the candidate's current status and development practices.
This should be an honest assessment balancing these against Apache's
principles and
development ideals.
For some proposals, this is a chance to demonstrate understanding
of the issues that will need to addressed before graduation.
For others, this is a chance to highlight the close match with Apache that already exists.
Proposals without an initial code base should just simply state that.
Some proposals name this section criteria (though the term is a little misleading).
Meritocracy
Apache is a
meritocracy.
Once a developer has submitted enough good patches then it should be
natural that they are elected to committer. It should be natural that active committers are elected
to the project management committee (PMC).
This process of renewal is vital to the long term health of Apache projects.
This is the right place to demonstrate that this process is understood
by the proposers.
Example (OFBiz):
OFBiz was originally created by David E. Jones and Andy Zeneski in
May 2001. The project now has committers and users from around the
world. The newer committers of the project joined in subsequent
years by initially submitting patches, then having commit privileges
for some of the applications, and then privileges over a larger
range of applications...
Example (Beehive):
We plan to do everything possible to encourage an environment that
supports a meritocracy. One of the lessons that the XMLBeans
committers have learned is that meritocracies don't just evolve
from good intentions; they require actively asking the community
for help, listing/specifying the work that needs to be done, and
keeping track of and encouraging members of the community who make
any contributions...
Apache is interested only in communities.
Candidates should start with a
community and have the potential to grow and renew this community by
attracting new users and developers. Explain how the proposal fits this vision.
Example (Beehive):
BEA has been building a community around predecessors to this
framework for the last two years. There is currently an active
newsgroup that should help us build a new community at Apache...
Example (WebWork2):
The WebWork 2 community has a strong following with active mailing
lists and forums...
Example (WADI):
The need for a full service clustering and caching component in the
open source is tremendous as its use can be applied in many areas,
thus providing the potential for an incredibly large community...
Core Developers
Apache is composed of individuals.
It is useful to provide a brief introduction to the developers on the
initial committers list.
This is best done here (and not in that section). This section may be used to discuss
the diversity of the core development team.
Example (ServiceMix)
The core developers are a diverse group of developers many of which
are already very experienced open source developers. There is at
least one Apache Member together with a number of other existing
Apache Committers along with folks from various companies.
http://servicemix.org/Team
Example (WADI)
WADI was founded by Jules Gosnell in 2004, it now has a strong base
of developers from Geronimo, Castor, OpenEJB, Mojo, Jetty,
ActiveCluster, ActiveMQ, and ServiceMix.
Alignment
Example (Beehive):
The initial code base is targeted to run within Tomcat, but the goal
is to allow the framework to run on any compliant Servlet or J2EE
container. The Web services component, based on JSR-181, will
leverage Axis. The NetUI component builds on top of Struts. The
underlying Controls component framework uses Velocity. There are
other projects that we will need to work with, such as the Portals
and Maven projects.
An exercise in self-knowledge.
Risks don't mean that a project is unacceptable.
If they are recognized and noted then they can be addressed during incubation.
Orphaned products
A public commitment to future development.
Recruiting a diverse development community and strong user base takes time.
Apache needs to be confident that the proposers are committed.
Example (Yoko):
The contributors are leading vendors in this space. There is no risk
of any of the usual warning signs of orphaned or abandoned code.
Example (Ivy):
Due to its small number of committers, there is a risk of being orphaned.
The main knowledge of the codebase is still mainly owned by Xavier Hanin.
Even if Xavier has no plan to leave Ivy development, this is a problem we
are aware of and know that need to be worked on so that the project become
less dependent on an individual.
Example (Tika):
There are a number of projects at various stages of maturity that implement
a subset of the proposed features in Tika. For many potential users the
existing tools are already enough, which reduces the demand for a more
generic toolkit. This can also be seen in the slow progress of this proposal
over the past year.
However, once the project gets started we can quickly reach the feature level
of existing tools based on seed code from sources mentioned below. After that
we believe to be able to quickly grow the developer and user communities based
on the benefits of a generic toolkit over custom alternatives.
Inexperience with Open Source
If the proposal is based on an existing open source project with a history of open development,
then highlight this here.
If the list of initial committers contains developers
with strong open source backgrounds then highlight this here.
Inexperience with open source is one reason why closed projects choose to apply for incubation.
Apache has developed over the years a store of experience in this area.
Successfully opening up a closed project means an investment of energy by all involved.
It requires a willingness to learn and to give back to the community. If the proposal is based
around a closed project and comes with very little understand of the open source space,
then acknowledge this and demonstrate a willingness to learn.
Example (Cayenne):
Cayenne was started as an open source project in 2001 and has
remained so for 5 years.
Example (Beehive):
Many of the committers have experience working on open source
projects. Five of them have experience as committers on other
Apache projects.
Example (Ivy):
While distributed under an open source license, access to Ivy was initially
limited with no public access to the issue tracking system or svn
repository. While things have changed since then - the svn repository is
publicly accessible, a JIRA instance has been setup since june 2005, many
new features are first discussed on the forum or JIRA - experience with a
true open source development model is currently limited.
However, Maarten has already a good experience with true open development
process, and bring his experience to the project.
Example (River):
The initial committers have varying degrees of experience with open source
projects. All have been involved with source code that has been released under
an open source license, but there is limited experience developing code with an
open source development process. We do not, however, expect any difficulty in
executing under normal meritocracy rules.
Homogenous Developers
Healthy projects need a mix of developers. Open development requires a commitment
to encouraging a diverse mixture. This includes the art of working as part of
a geographically scattered group in a distributed environment.
Starting with a homogenous community does not prevent a project from entering incubation.
But for those projects, a commitment to creating a diverse mix of developers is useful.
Those projects who already have a mix should take this chance to highlight that they do.
Example (Beehive):
The current list of committers includes developers from several
different companies plus many independent volunteers. The committers
are geographically distributed across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
They are experienced with working in a distributed environment.
Example (River)
Since the Jini Technology Starter Kit has been mainly developed to date by Sun
Microsystems, the vast majority of initial committers to the project are from
Sun. Over the years, Sun has received bug fixes and enhancements from other
developers which have been incorporated into the code. Our plan is to work with
these other developers and add them as committers as we progress. There are
three other initial committers (non Sun): Bill Venners, Dan Creswell, and Mark
Brouwer. Bill is the lead of the Service UI API work, Dan has been involved with
much Jini-based development, including an implementation of the JavaSpaces
service called Blitz <http://www.dancres.org/blitz/>, and Mark is veteran of
much Jini-based development, including commercial work at Virgil
<http://www.virgil.nl> as well as leading the open source Cheiron
<http://www.cheiron.org> project.
Example (Ivy):
With only two core developers, at least they are not homogenous! Xavier and
Maarten knew each other only due to their common interest in Ivy.
Reliance on Salaried Developers
A project dominated by salaried developers who are interested in the code
only whilst they are employed to do so risks its long term health.
Apache is about people,
not corporations. We hope that developers continue to be involved with Apache
no matter who their current employer happens to be.
This is a right place to indicate the initial balance between salaried developers
and volunteers. It's also good to talk about the level of commitment of the developers.
Example (OpenJPA):
Most of the developers are paid by their employer to contribute to
this project, but given the anticipation from the Java community for
the a JPA implementation and the committers' sense of ownership for
the code, the project would continue without issue if no salaried
developers contributed to the project.
Example (River):
It is expected that Jini development will occur on both salaried time and on
volunteer time, after hours. While there is reliance on salaried developers
(currently from Sun, but it's expected that other company's salaried developers
will also be involved), the Jini Community is very active and things should
balance out fairly quickly. In the meantime, Sun will support the project in the
future by dedicating 'work time' to Jini, so that there is a smooth transition.
Example (Wicket):
None of the developers rely on Wicket for consulting work, though two -
Martijn and Eelco - are writing Wicket In Action (publisher Manning) in
their spare time. Most of the developers use Wicket for their day jobs,
some for multiple projects, and will do so for a considerable while as
their companies (specifically Topicus, Cemron and Teachscape) choose
Wicket as their development framework of choice.
Relationships with Other Apache Products
Apache projects should be open to collaboration with other open source projects both
within Apache and without. Candidates should be willing to reach outside their own little bubbles.
This is a an opportunity to talk about existing links. It is also the right place to
talk about potential future links and plans.
Apache allows different projects to have competing or overlapping goals. However, this should
mean friendly competition between codebases and cordial cooperation between communities.
It is not always obvious whether a candidate is a direct competitor to an existing
project, an indirect competitor (same problem space, different ecological niche) or are just
peers with some overlap. In the case of indirect competition, it is
important that the abstract describes accurately the niche. Direct competitors should expect
to be asked to summarize architectural differences and similarities to existing projects.
Example (OpenJPA):
Open JPA will likely be used by Geronimo, requires some Apache
products (regexp, commons collections, commons lang, commons pool),
and supports Apache commons logging.
Example (River)
Currently the only tie to Apache projects is the starter kit's use
of the Ant build tool. There are potential future ties (http server,
database backend, etc)that will be explored.
A Excessive Fascination with the Apache Brand
Concerns have been raised in the past that some projects appear to have been proposed
just to generate positive publicity for the proposers. This is the right place
to convince everyone that is not the case.
This is also the right place to build bridges with the
community after past misdemeanors (for example, if any of those associated
with the proposal have - in the past - sort to associate themselves with the Apache brand in
factually incorrect ways) and promise good conduct for the future.
Example (CeltiXfire):
While we expect the Apache brand may help attract more contributors,
our interests in starting this project is based on the factors
mentioned in the Rationale section. However, we will be sensitive to
inadvertent abuse of the Apache brand and will work with the
Incubator PMC and the PRC to ensure the brand policies are respected.
Example (Wicket):
The ASF has a strong brand, and that brand is in itself attractive.
However, the developers of Wicket have been quite successful on
their own and could continue on that path with no problems at all.
We are interested in joining the ASF in order to increase our
contacts and visibility in the open source world. Furthermore, we
have been enthusiastic users of Apache from the earliest hour
(remember JServ anyone?), and feel honored at getting the
opportunity to join the club.
Example (OpenJPA):
We think that Open JPA is something that will benefit from wide
collaboration, being able to build a community of developers and
committers that outlive the founders, and that will be embraced
by other Apache efforts, such as the Geronimo project.
References to further reading material.
Examples (Heraldry):
[1] Information on Yadis can be found at:
http://yadis.org
http://www.openidenabled.com
[2] Information on OpenID can be found at:
http://www.openid.net
http://www.openidenabled.com
The mailing list for both OpenID and Yadis is located at:
http://lists.danga.com/mailman/listinfo/yadis
...
Describes the origin of the proposed code base. If the initial code arrives
from more than one source, this is the right place to outline the different
histories.
If there is no initial source, note that here.
Example (Heraldry):
OpenID has been in development since the summer of 2005. It currently
has an active community (over 15 million enabled accounts) and
libraries in a variety of languages. Additionally it is supported by
LiveJournal.com and is continuing to gain traction in the Open
Source Community.
Yadis has been in development since late 2005 and the specification
has not changed since early 2006. Like OpenID, it has libraries in
various languages and there is a large overlap between the two
communities. The specification is...
Complex proposals (typically involving multiple code bases) may find it useful
to draw up an initial plan for the submission of the code here.
Demonstrate that the proposal is practical.
Example (Heraldry):
* The OpenID specification and content on openid.net from Brad
Fitzpatrick of Six Apart, Ltd. and David Recordon of VeriSign,
Inc.
* The domains openid.net and yadis.org from Brad Fitzpatrick of
Six Apart, Ltd. and Johannes Ernst of NetMesh, Inc.
* OpenID libraries in Python, Ruby, Perl, PHP, and C# from JanRain,
Inc.
...
* Yadis conformance test suite from NetMesh and VeriSign, Inc.
We will also be soliciting contributions of further plugins and
patches to various pieces of Open Source software.
External dependencies for the initial source is important. Only some external dependencies
are allowed by Apache policy.
These restrictions are (to some extent) initially relaxed
for projects under incubation.
If the initial source has dependencies which would prevent graduation
then this is the right place to indicate how these issues will be resolved.
Example (CeltiXfire):
The dependencies all have Apache compatible licenses. These include
BSD, CDDL, CPL, MPL and MIT licensed dependencies.
Resources that infrastructure will be asked to supply for this project.
Mailing lists
The minimum required lists are private@{podling}.incubator.apache.org
(for confidential PPMC discussions)
and dev@{podling}.incubator.apache.org lists.
Note
that projects historically
misnamed the private list pmc. To
avoid confusion over appropriate usage it was
resolved
that all such lists be renamed.
If this project is new to open source, then starting with these minimum lists
is the best approach.
The initial focus needs to be on recruiting new developers.
Early adopters are potential developers.
As momentum is gained, the community may decide to create commit
and user lists as they become necessary.
Existing open source projects moving to Apache will probably want to adopt the
same mailing list set up here as they have already. However, there is no necessity
that all mailing lists be created during bootstrapping. New mailing lists can be
added
by a VOTE
on the Podling list.
By default, commits for {podling} will be emailed to
commits@{podling}.incubator.apache.org.
It is therefore recommended that this naming convention is adopted.
Mailing list options are described at greater length
elsewhere.
Example (Beehive):
* private@beehive.incubator.apache.org (with moderated subscriptions)
* dev@beehive.incubator.apache.org
* commits@beehive.incubator.apache.org
Subversion Directory
Example (OpenJPA):
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/openjpa
Git Repository
It is conventional to use all lower case, dash-separated (-) repository names.
The repository should be prefixed with incubator and later renamed assuming the project is promoted
to a TLP.
Example (Blur):
https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator-blur.git
Issue Tracking
Apache runs JIRA
and Bugzilla. Choose one. Indicate the
name by which project should be known in the issue tracking system.
Example (OpenJPA):
JIRA Open-JPA (OPEN-JPA)
Other Resources
Describe here any other special infrastructure requirements necessary for the proposal.
Note that the infrastructure team usually requires a compelling argument
before new services are allowed on core hardware. Most proposals should not require this section.
Most standard resources not covered above (such as continuous integration)
should be added after bootstrapping.
The infrastructure documentation explains
the process.
List of committers (stating name and an email address) used to bootstrap the community.
Mark each which has submitted a
contributor license agreement (CLA).
Existing committers should use their apache.org email address (since they
require only appropriate karma). Others should use the email address that is (or will be)
on the CLA. That makes it easy to match CLAs with proposed committers to the project.
It is a good idea to submit CLAs at the same time as the proposal.
Nothing is lost by having a CLA on file at Apache
but processing may take some time.
Note this and
this. Consider creating a separate
section where interested developers can express an interest (and possibly leave
a brief introduction) or ask them to post to the
general list.
Example (OpenJPA):
Abe White (awhite at bea dot com)
Marc Prud'hommeaux (mprudhom at bea dot com)
Patrick Linskey (plinskey at bea dot com)
...
Geir Magnusson Jr (geirm at apache dot org) *
Craig Russell (clr at apache dot org) *
A Guide To Proposal Creation