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Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 03:13:24 -0700
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To: lijiu zhang <zhanglijiu@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] PHP governance question?
From: ronabop@gmail.com (Ronald Chmara)

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 2:07 AM, lijiu zhang <zhanglijiu@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone:
>
> I am doing a study report about PHP, could anyone tell PHP governance? Su=
ch
> as, who is project manager, package manager, how php make a decision? =A0=
And
> finance support situation?

This is an interesting question. I hope you find answers you can explain.

I have had various contacts over 13+ years with the group, and have
not, ever, found a consistent, repeatable, structure, that did not
change massively over time. Sometimes, there is a vote, sometimes not,
sometimes, different "votes" count, sometimes, not. There is not
governance, so much as guidance.

If you have not read it, I would suggest you read "The Cathedral and
The Bazaar", by Eric S. Raymond, to get more exposure to the model,
and mindset, of decentralized control. There are *many* project
managers, *many* package maintainers, and *many* people who make
decisions.

People who have consistently been helpful to the project are listened
to more often, as are people who have made larger contributions than
others. They lead, but not everybody follows. Sometimes the person who
"wins" is the person with the best ideas, regardless of any existing
power structures. Sometimes, however, it is a person nobody knows, who
just implements a feature, and is never heard from ever again.

In short, there is no central committee, no central governance, no
central cabal. Long term leaders get listened to more than others, but
not because they are better people: It is because they have proven
themselves though work, vision, and their guidance.

If you want to know who is in charge of a specific project, or
specific issue, that can be an easier question to answer, but within a
decade, that answer will be completely different than it was 10 years
ago.

-Ronabop