Community Architecture#

Anyone working with ArviZ has the responsibility to personally uphold the Code of Conduct. Core Contributors have the additional responsibility of enforcing the Code of Conduct to maintain a safe community.

The terms “ArviZ team” and “ArviZ team members” are used to refer everyone who is either recurrent or core contributor.

Recurrent Contributors#

Recurrent Contributors are those individuals who contribute recurrently to the project and can provide valuable insight on the project. They are therefore actively consulted and can participate in the same communication channels as Core Contributors. However, unlike Core Contributors, Recurrent Contributors only vote in elections and don’t have managing or writing rights.

In practice, this translates in participating from private team discussions (i.e. in Slack or live meetings) but having commit rights on GitHub, nor admin rights on other services, nor being eligible as candidates for the Random Variables council.

The Recurrent Contributor position will often be an intermediate step for people in becoming Core Contributors once their contributions are frequent enough and during a sustained period of time. But it is also an important role by itself for people who want to be part of the project on a more advisory-like role, as they for example might not have the time availability or don’t want the responsibilities that come with being a Core Contributor.

The process for new people to join the project as recurrent contributors is described at New Contributor Nominations and Confirmation Process. Recurrent or core contributors can nominate anyone to join the project as a recurrent contributor.

Current Recurrent Contributors#

Current recurrent contributors are listed on this page

Core Contributors#

Core Contributors are those who have provided consistent and meaningful contributions to ArviZ. These can be, but are not limited to, code contributions, community contributions, tutorial development etc. Core Contributors will be given the ability to manage the ArviZ GitHub repository, including code merges to main. This does not necessarily mean Core Contributors must submit code, but more so signifies trust with the project as a whole.

The process for new people to join the project as core contributors is described at New Contributor Nominations and Confirmation Process. Only recurrent contributors are eligible to become core contributors, and only core contributors can nominate them.

Core Contributor Responsibilities#

  • Enforce code of conduct

  • Maintain a check against Council

Current Core Contributors#

Current core contributors are listed on this page

Random Variables Council#

The Project will have a Steering Council that consists of Core Contributors who have produced contributions that are substantial in quality and quantity, and sustained over at least one year. The overall role of the Council is to ensure, taking input from the Community, the long-term well-being of the project, both technically and as a community.

During the everyday project activities, council members participate in all discussions, code review and other project activities as peers with all other Contributors and the Community. In these everyday activities, Council Members do not have any special power or privilege through their membership on the Council. However, it is expected that because of the quality and quantity of their contributions and their expert knowledge of the Project Software and Services that Council Members will provide useful guidance, both technical and in terms of project direction, to potentially less experienced contributors.

The Council will have between 4 and 7 members. No more than 2 Council Members can report to one person or company (including Institutional Partners) through employment or contracting work (including the reportee, i.e. the reportee + 1 is the max).

Council Responsibilities#

Council Members will have the responsibility of

  • Removing members, including Council Members, if they are in violation of the Code of Conduct

  • Making decisions when regular community discussion does not produce consensus on an issue in a reasonable time frame. See Council Decision Making Process page for more details.

  • Making decisions about strategic collaborations with other organizations or individuals.

  • Making decisions about the overall scope, vision and direction of the project.

  • Developing funding sources

  • Deciding how to disburse funds with consultation from Core Contributors

The council may choose to delegate these responsibilities to sub-committees. If so, Council members must update this document to make the delegation clear.

Important

Individual council members do not have the power to unilaterally wield these responsibilities. The council as a whole must jointly make these decisions. In other words, Council Members are first and foremost Core Contributors, but only when needed they can collectively make decisions for the health of the project.

Length of Tenure and Reverification#

  • Council members term limits are 4 years, after which point their seat will come up for reelection.

  • Council members can renounce at any time and are encouraged to do so if they foresee they won’t be able to attend their responsibilities for an extended interval of time.

  • Moreover, to actively check council member engagement, each year on April 7th council members will be asked to restate their commitment to being on the council

  • Attempts should be made to reach every council member over at least 2 communication media. For example: email, Slack, phone, or GitHub.

  • If a council member does not restate their commitment their seat will be vacated.

  • Inactivity can be determined by lack of substantial contribution, including votes on council, code or discussion contributions, contributions in the community or otherwise.

  • In the event of a vacancy in the council, an election will be held to fill the position.

  • There is no limit on the number of terms a Council Member can serve

Current Random Variables Council members#

The current RV Council members are:

  • Oriol Abril-Pla (@OriolAbril)

  • Seth Axen (@sethaxen)

  • Colin Carroll (@ColCarroll)

  • Ari Hartikainen (@ahartikainen)

  • Ravin Kumar (@canyon289)

  • Osvaldo Martin (@aloctavodia)