Sadly, I can’t make this time but I think one of the other coordinators for the project I work on (Astropy) will be there, so hopefully these can still be discussed.
For some context, our project has a relatively loose model. I.e., some basic guidelines like “must have tests” and “must have docs”, but otherwise it’s generally distributed to various maintainers/reviewers to follow code guidelines and strategize about sub-packages in the project. But software engineers from large teams in our field tend to be used to a more “tight” model, and we would expect a somewhat tighter model as well for anyone we might hire from Project-specific funds. With that in mind:
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How can a generally “loose” governance model be integrated with team members who are more used to (or have to follow) a “tight” model?
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Are there any suggestions/guidelines for how to build a formal governance model (i.e. for reporting to funding agencies easily), but without losing the “anyone can join in”/“we’re all in this together” spirit that is characteristic of a “loose” governance approach to open development?