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The Path from Contributor to Committer

Apache XTable™ (Incubating) grows through the people who contribute to it. This page describes how a contributor becomes a committer, and how a committer becomes a PPMC (Podling Project Management Committee) member.

These are guidelines, not a checklist. In the Apache Way, committership is earned through sustained, high-quality contribution and is based on merit. It is not a reward, a title, or something that can be requested. It reflects the trust the community places in someone to help steward the project. Merit does not expire.

Ways to Contribute​

Contribution is not limited to code. All of the following build merit in the community:

  • Submitting pull requests, filing well-scoped bugs, and adding tests.
  • Reviewing others' pull requests and giving thoughtful, constructive feedback. This matters more than ever, as LLMs generate a growing share of the code, careful human review is what safeguards the correctness, quality, and maintainability of the project.
  • Authoring or reviewing design proposals (RFCs) and participating in design discussions.
  • Helping users on the mailing lists, Slack, and GitHub issues, and triaging incoming issues.
  • Improving documentation, the website, and examples.
  • Contributing to releases, testing release candidates, and helping with project infrastructure.

Becoming a Committer​

The PPMC nominates and votes on new committers. When evaluating a candidate, the PPMC looks for the following qualities. No single item is required on its own; the PPMC weighs them together.

  • Sustained contribution. A consistent history of meaningful contributions over time, rather than a single large or one-off effort.
  • Quality. Contributions are well-tested, well-designed, and maintainable, and generally do not require major rework. The number of contributions matters less than their quality.
  • Reviewing. Reviewing is a core responsibility of a committer. A candidate should be able to evaluate others' changes, know the areas where they are qualified to review, and know when to bring in other opinions.
  • Ownership. Demonstrated ownership of a component or area, to the point that other contributors naturally route related changes to them.
  • Community involvement. An active, helpful, and constructive presence on the mailing lists, Slack, GitHub issues, and community syncs, including helping newer contributors.
  • Conduct and the Apache Way. Follows the ASF Code of Conduct, understands Lazy Consensus and project independence, and acts as a good representative of the project.

There is no minimum tenure or minimum number of commits. What matters is that the contributor has demonstrated the judgment and reliability expected of a committer.

Becoming a PPMC Member​

PPMC members carry the committer responsibilities above, plus responsibility for the governance of the project. A committer is typically invited to the PPMC after demonstrating good judgment over time and a willingness to take on these duties:

  • Voting on releases and helping produce them.
  • Upholding the project's legal, license, and trademark responsibilities.
  • Mentoring contributors and helping grow a healthy, vendor-neutral community.
  • Ensuring the project follows Apache norms and processes.

Nomination and Voting Process​

Following Apache convention:

  1. Any PPMC member may nominate a candidate.
  2. The discussion and the vote are held on the project's private list (private@xtable.apache.org). Discussion of individuals is kept private.
  3. The candidate is confirmed by a majority vote of the PPMC. The vote is held open for at least 72 hours.
  4. If confirmed, the candidate is invited to accept. For new PPMC members, the addition is carried out following the incubator process.

A candidacy is a holistic decision made by the PPMC. Meeting some or all of the guidelines above does not guarantee an invitation, and feedback from those who have worked most closely with a candidate carries significant weight.

References​

These guidelines are modeled on established Apache projects and ASF community documentation: