Governance#

Overview#

DataFusion is part of the Apache Software Foundation and is governed following the Apache Way and project management guidelines, independently of commercial interests.

As much as practicable, we strive to make decisions by consensus, and anyone in the community is encouraged to propose ideas, start discussions, and contribute to the project.

People#

DataFusion is currently governed by the following individuals

Note that the authoritative list of PMC and committers is the Apache Phonebook

Roles#

• Contributors: Anyone who contributes to the project, whether it be code, documentation, testing, issue reports, code, or some other forms.
• Committers: Contributors who have been granted write access to the
  project’s source code repository. Committers are responsible for reviewing and merging pull requests. Committers are chosen by the PMC.
• Project Management Committee (PMC): The PMC is responsible for the oversight of the project. The PMC is responsible for making decisions about the project, including the addition of new committers and PMC members. The PMC is also responsible for voting on releases and ensuring that the project follows the Apache Way.

Becoming a Committer#

Contributors with sustained, high-quality activity may be invited to become committers by the PMC as a recognition of their contribution to the project and their shared commitment. Committers have the significant responsibility of using their status and access to improve the project for the entire community.

When considering inviting someone to be a committer, the PMC looks for contributors who are already doing the work and exercising the judgment expected of a committer. After all, any contributor can do all of the things a committer does except for merge a PR. While there is no set list of requirements, nor a checklist that entitles one to commit privileges, typical behaviors include:

• Contributions beyond pull requests, such as reviewing other pull requests, fixing bugs and documentation, triaging issues, answering community questions, improving usability, helping with CI, verifying releases, etc.
• Contributions that are consistent in quality and sustained over time, typically on the order of 6 months or more.
• Assistance growing the size and health of the community via constructive, respectful, and consensus driven interactions, as described in our Code of Conduct and the Apache Way.

If you feel you should be offered committer privileges, but have not been, you can reach out to one of the PMC members or the private@datafusion.apache.org mailing list.

Becoming a PMC Member#

Committers with long term sustained contributions to the project may be invited to join the PMC. This is a recognition of a significant contribution to growing the community, improving the project, and helping to guide the project’s direction, typically over the course of a year or more.