1=encoding utf-8 2 3=head1 NAME 4 5perlgov - Perl Rules of Governance 6 7=head1 PREAMBLE 8 9We are forming a system of governance for development of the Perl programming 10language. 11 12The scope of governance includes the language definition, its 13implementation, its test suite, its documentation, and the policies and 14procedures by which it is developed and maintained. 15 16The system of governance includes definitions of the groups that will make 17decisions, the rules by which these groups are formed and changed, and the 18enumerated powers and constraints on the activities of these governing 19groups. 20 21In forming a system of governance, we seek to achieve the following goals: 22 23=over 24 25=item * 26 27We want a system that is functional. That means the governing groups may 28decide to undertake large changes, or they may decide to act conservatively, 29but they will act with intent and clear communication rather than fail to reach 30decisions when needed. 31 32=item * 33 34We want a system that is trusted. That means that a reasonable contributor to 35Perl might disagree with decisions made by the governing groups, but will 36accept that they were made in good faith in consultation with relevant 37communities outside the governing groups. 38 39=item * 40 41We want a system that is sustainable. That means it has provisions to 42self-modify, including ways of adding new members to the governing groups, ways 43to survive members becoming inactive, and ways of amending the rules of 44governance themselves if needed. 45 46=item * 47 48We want a system that is transparent. That means that it will prefer policies 49that manage ordinary matters in public, and it will prefer secrecy in a limited 50number of situations. 51 52=item * 53 54We want a system that is respectful. That means that it will establish 55standards of civil discourse that allow for healthy disagreement but avoid 56rancor and hostility in the community for which it is responsible. 57 58=back 59 60=head1 Mandate 61 62Perl language governance shall work to: 63 64=over 65 66=item * 67 68Maintain the quality, stability, and continuity of the Perl language and 69interpreter 70 71=item * 72 73Guide the evolution of the Perl language and interpreter 74 75=item * 76 77Establish and oversee the policies, procedures, systems, and mechanisms that 78enable a community of contributors to the Perl language and interpreter 79 80=item * 81 82Encourage discussion and consensus among contributors as preferential to formal 83decision making by governance groups 84 85=item * 86 87Facilitate communication between contributors and external stakeholders in the 88broader Perl ecosystem 89 90=back 91 92=head1 Definitions 93 94This document describes three roles involved in governance: 95 96=over 97 98=item "Core Team" 99 100=item "Steering Council" 101 102=item "Vote Administrator" 103 104=back 105 106A section on each follows. 107 108=head2 The Core Team 109 110The Core Team are a group of trusted volunteers involved in the ongoing 111development of the Perl language and interpreter. They are not required to be 112language developers or committers. 113 114References to specific votes are explained in the "Rules for Voting" section. 115 116=head3 Powers 117 118In addition to their contributions to the Perl language, the Core Team sets 119the rules of Perl governance, decides who participates in what role in 120governance, and delegates substantial decision making power to the Steering 121Council. 122 123Specifically: 124 125=over 126 127=item * 128 129They elect the Steering Council and have the power to remove Steering 130Council members. 131 132=item * 133 134In concert with the Steering Council, they manage Core Team membership. 135 136=item * 137 138In concert with the Steering Council, they have the power to modify the Perl 139Rules of Governance. 140 141=back 142 143The Core Team do not have any authority over parts of the Perl ecosystem 144unrelated to developing and releasing the language itself. These include, but 145are not limited to: 146 147=over 148 149=item * 150 151The Perl Foundation 152 153=item * 154 155CPAN administration and CPAN authors 156 157=item * 158 159perl.org, metacpan.org, and other community-maintained websites and services 160 161=item * 162 163Perl conferences and events, except those organized directly by the Core Team 164 165=item * 166 167Perl-related intellectual property legally owned by third-parties, except as 168allowed by applicable licenses or agreements 169 170=back 171 172=head3 Membership 173 174The initial Core Team members will be specified when this document is 175first ratified. 176 177Any Core Team member may nominate someone to be added to the Core Team by 178sending the nomination to the Steering Council. The Steering Council must 179approve or reject the nomination. If approved, the Steering Council will 180organize a Membership Change Vote to ratify the addition. 181 182Core Team members should demonstrate: 183 184=over 185 186=item * 187 188A solid track record of being constructive and helpful 189 190=item * 191 192Significant contributions to the project's goals, in any form 193 194=item * 195 196Willingness to dedicate some time to improving Perl 197 198=back 199 200Contributions are not limited to code. Here is an incomplete list of areas 201where contributions may be considered for joining the Core Team: 202 203=over 204 205=item * 206 207Working on community management and outreach 208 209=item * 210 211Providing support on mailing lists, IRC, or other forums 212 213=item * 214 215Triaging tickets 216 217=item * 218 219Writing patches (code, docs, or tests) 220 221=item * 222 223Reviewing patches (code, docs, or tests) 224 225=item * 226 227Participating in design discussions 228 229=item * 230 231Providing expertise in a particular domain (security, i18n, etc.) 232 233=item * 234 235Managing Perl infrastructure (websites, CI, documentation, etc.) 236 237=item * 238 239Maintaining significant projects in the Perl ecosystem 240 241=item * 242 243Creating visual designs 244 245=back 246 247Core Team membership acknowledges sustained and valuable efforts that align 248well with the philosophy and the goals of the Perl project. 249 250Core Team members are expected to act as role models for the community and 251custodians of the project, on behalf of the community and all those who rely 252on Perl. 253 254=head3 Term 255 256Core Team members serve until they are removed. 257 258=head3 Removal 259 260Core Team Members may resign their position at any time. 261 262In exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to remove someone from the 263Core Team against their will, such as for flagrant or repeated violations of a 264Code of Conduct. Any Core Team member may send a recall request to the 265Steering Council naming the individual to be removed. The Steering Council 266must approve or reject the recall request. If approved, the Steering Council 267will organize a Membership Change vote to ratify the removal. 268 269If the removed member is also on the Steering Council, then they are removed 270from the Steering Council as well. 271 272=head3 Inactivity 273 274Core Team members who have stopped contributing are encouraged to declare 275themselves "inactive". Inactive members do not nominate or vote. Inactive 276members may declare themselves active at any time, except when a vote has been 277proposed and is not concluded. Eligibility to nominate or vote will be 278determined by the Vote Administrator. 279 280To record and honor their contributions, inactive Core Team members will 281continue to be listed alongside active members. 282 283=head3 No Confidence in the Steering Council 284 285The Core Team may remove either a single Steering Council member or the entire 286Steering Council via a No Confidence Vote. 287 288A No Confidence Vote is triggered when a Core Team member calls for one 289publicly on an appropriate project communication channel, and another Core 290Team member seconds the proposal. 291 292If a No Confidence Vote removes all Steering Council members, the Vote 293Administrator of the No Confidence Vote will then administer an election 294to select a new Steering Council. 295 296=head3 Amending Perl Rules of Governance 297 298Any Core Team member may propose amending the Perl Rules of Governance by 299sending a proposal to the Steering Council. The Steering Council must decide 300to approve or reject the proposal. If approved, the Steering Council will 301organize an Amendment Vote. 302 303=head3 Rules for Voting 304 305Membership Change, Amendment, and No Confidence Votes require 2/3 of 306participating votes from Core Team members to pass. 307 308A Vote Administrator must be selected following the rules in the "Vote 309Administrator" section. 310 311The vote occurs in two steps: 312 313=over 314 315=item 1 316 317The Vote Administrator describes the proposal being voted upon. The Core Team 318then may discuss the matter in advance of voting. 319 320=item 2 321 322Active Core Team members vote in favor or against the proposal. Voting is 323performed anonymously. 324 325=back 326 327For a Membership Change Vote, each phase will last one week. For Amendment and 328No Confidence Votes, each phase will last two weeks. 329 330=head2 The Steering Council 331 332The Steering Council is a 3-person committee, elected by the Core 333Team. Candidates are not required to be members of the Core Team. Non-member 334candidates are added to the Core Team if elected as if by a Membership Change 335Vote. 336 337References to specific elections are explained in the "Rules for Elections" section. 338 339=head3 Powers 340 341The Steering Council has broad authority to make decisions about the 342development of the Perl language, the interpreter, and all other components, 343systems and processes that result in new releases of the language interpreter. 344 345For example, it can: 346 347=over 348 349=item * 350 351Manage the schedule and process for shipping new releases 352 353=item * 354 355Establish procedures for proposing, discussing and deciding upon changes to the 356language 357 358=item * 359 360Delegate power to individuals on or outside the Steering Council 361 362=back 363 364Decisions of the Steering Council will be made by majority vote of non-vacant 365seats on the council. 366 367The Steering Council should look for ways to use these powers as little as 368possible. Instead of voting, it's better to seek consensus. Instead of ruling 369on individual cases, it's better to define standards and processes that apply 370to all cases. 371 372As with the Core Team, the Steering Council does not have any authority over 373parts of the Perl ecosystem unrelated to developing and releasing the language 374itself. 375 376The Steering Council does not have the power to modify the Perl Rules of 377Governance, except as provided in the section "Amending Perl Rules of 378Governance". 379 380=head3 Term 381 382A new Steering Council will be chosen by a Term Election after each stable 383feature release (that is, change to C<PERL_REVISION> or C<PERL_VERSION>) or 384after two years, whichever comes first. The Term Election will be organized 385within two weeks of the triggering event. The council members will serve until 386the completion of the next Term Election unless they are removed. 387 388=head3 Removal 389 390Steering Council members may resign their position at any time. 391 392Whenever there are vacancies on the Steering Council, the council will 393organize a Special Election within one week after the vacancy occurs. If the 394entire Steering Council is ever vacant, a Term Election will be held instead. 395 396The Steering Council may defer the Special Election for up to twelve weeks. 397Their intent to do so must be publicly stated to the Core Team. If any active 398Core Team member objects within one week, the Special Election must be 399organized within two weeks. At any time, the Steering Council may choose to 400cancel the deferment and immediately commence organizing a Special Election. 401 402If a Steering Council member is deceased, or drops out of touch and cannot be 403contacted for a month or longer, then the rest of the council may vote to 404declare their seat vacant. If an absent member returns after such a 405declaration is made, they are not reinstated automatically, but may run in the 406Special Election to fill the vacancy. 407 408Otherwise, Steering Council members may only be removed before the end of 409their term through a No Confidence Vote by the Core Team. 410 411=head3 Rules for Elections 412 413Term and Special Election are ranked-choice votes to construct an ordered list 414of candidates to fill vacancies in the Steering Council. 415 416A Vote Administrator must be selected following the rules in the "Vote 417Administrator" section. 418 419Both Term and Special Elections occur in two stages: 420 421=over 422 423=item 1 424 425Candidates advertise their interest in serving. Candidates must be nominated by 426an active Core Team member. Self-nominations are allowed. Nominated candidates 427may share a statement about their candidacy with the Core Team. 428 429=item 2 430 431If there are no more candidates than open seats, no vote is required. The 432candidates will be declared to have won when the nomination period ends. 433 434Otherwise, active Core Team Members vote by ranking all candidates. Voting is 435performed anonymously. After voting is complete, candidates are ranked using 436the Condorcet Internet Voting Service's proportional representation mode. If a 437tie occurs, it may be resolved by mutual agreement among the tied candidates, 438or else the tie will be resolved through random selection by the Vote 439Administrator. 440 441=back 442 443Anyone voted off the Core Team is not eligible to be a candidate for Steering 444Council unless re-instated to the Core Team. 445 446For a Term Election, each phase will last two weeks. At the end of the second 447phase, the top three ranked candidates are elected as the new Steering Council. 448 449For a Special Election, each phase will last one week. At the end of the 450second phase, vacancies are filled from the ordered list of candidates until 451no vacancies remain. 452 453The election of the first Steering Council will be a Term Election. Ricardo 454Signes will be the Vote Administrator for the initial Term Election unless he 455is a candidate, in which case he will select a non-candidate administrator to 456replace him. 457 458=head2 The Vote Administrator 459 460Every election or vote requires a Vote Administrator who manages 461communication, collection of secret ballots, and all other necessary 462activities to complete the voting process. 463 464Unless otherwise specified, the Steering Council selects the Vote 465Administrator. 466 467A Vote Administrator must not be a member of the Steering Council nor a 468candidate or subject of the vote. A Vote Administrator may be a member of the 469Core Team and, if so, may cast a vote while also serving as administrator. If 470the Vote Administrator becomes a candidate during an election vote, they will 471appoint a non-candidate replacement. 472 473If the entire Steering Council is vacant or is the subject of a No Confidence 474Vote, then the Core Team will select a Vote Administrator by consensus. If 475consensus cannot be reached within one week, the President of The Perl 476Foundation will select a Vote Administrator. 477 478=head1 Steering Council and Core Team Members 479 480The list below names the members of the Steering Council and Core Team 481responsible for creating the release of perl with which this document shipped. 482 483Remember, though that if you're reading the copy of this document that was 484installed with perl, it's very likely out of date. Because every new stable 485feature release triggers an election, you're better off looking at L<the most 486up to date copy of this 487document|https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/pod/perlgov.pod>, in the 488I<blead> branch of Perl's git repository. Because it's git, you can also see 489how the membership has changed over time. 490 491=head1 Steering Council Members 492 493=over 494 495=item * Graham Knop 496 497=item * Paul Evans 498 499=item * Philippe Bruhat 500 501=back 502 503=head1 Core Team Members 504 505The current members of the Perl Core Team are: 506 507=head2 Active Members 508 509=over 4 510 511=item Chad Granum <exodist7@gmail.com> 512 513=item Chris 'BinGOs' Williams <chris@bingosnet.co.uk> 514 515=item Craig Berry <craigberry@mac.com> 516 517=item Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker <ilmari@ilmari.org> 518 519=item David Mitchell <davem@iabyn.com> 520 521=item Graham Knop <haarg@haarg.org> 522 523=item H. Merijn Brand <perl5@tux.freedom.nl> 524 525=item Hugo van der Sanden <hv@crypt.org> 526 527=item James E Keenan <jkeenan@cpan.org> 528 529=item Karen Etheridge <ether@cpan.org> 530 531=item Karl Williamson <khw@cpan.org> 532 533=item Leon Timmermans <fawaka@gmail.com> 534 535=item Matthew Horsfall <wolfsage@gmail.com> 536 537=item Max Maischein <cpan@corion.net> 538 539=item Neil Bowers <neilb@neilb.org> 540 541=item Nicholas Clark <nick@ccl4.org> 542 543=item Nicolas R <atoomic@cpan.org> 544 545=item Paul "LeoNerd" Evans <leonerd@leonerd.org.uk> 546 547=item Philippe "BooK" Bruhat <book@cpan.org> 548 549=item Ricardo Signes <rjbs@semiotic.systems> 550 551=item Steve Hay <steve.m.hay@googlemail.com> 552 553=item Stuart Mackintosh <stuart@perlfoundation.org> 554 555=item Todd Rinaldo <toddr@cpanel.net> 556 557=item Tony Cook <tony@develop-help.com> 558 559=item Yves Orton <demerphq@gmail.com> 560 561=back 562 563=head2 Inactive Members 564 565=over 4 566 567=item Abhijit Menon-Sen <ams@toroid.org> 568 569=item Andy Dougherty <doughera@lafayette.edu> 570 571=item David Golden <xdg@xdg.me> 572 573=item Jan Dubois <jan@jandubois.com> 574 575=item Jason McIntosh <jmac@jmac.org> 576 577=item Jesse Vincent <jesse@fsck.com> 578 579=back 580 581