OpenJDK governing board, constitution

[Geir Magnusson Jr.]

On Jan 16, 2009, at 5:55 PM, Mark Reinhold wrote:

> The OpenJDK Governance Board (GB) has not met since last April because
> Sun has not yet appointed anyone to the two open GB seats.  Sun and  
> the
> GB considered various candidates early on but then the effort faded  
> into
> the background over the summer in the face of more pressing issues.

More pressing for whom?  the community or Sun?

I still volunteer.

>
>
> Without a full GB, there has been no further work on the Constitution.
>
> In the meantime, as others have noted, work is getting done and the
> OpenJDK Community is, slowly, expanding.
>
> It is definitely the view of the current GB Members that the GB is,  
> and
> ought to be, more of a legislative and judiciary body than an  
> executive.
> The GB exists to define the high-level processes by which the  
> Community
> operates, and to adjudicate disputes when they arise.  It should  
> never,
> ever be in the position of making technical decisions.  I fully expect
> this view to be codified in the Constitution.
>
> With regard to the JCP, as Doug observed there is not yet a Java SE 7
> Platform JSR due to a policy impasse within the Executive Committee.

What policy impasse is that, Mark? :)

>
> Sun will submit such a JSR as soon as that issue is resolved.  In the
> meantime the JDK 7 Project here in the OpenJDK Community will move
> forward to prototype some features and enhancements that might -- or
> might not -- wind up in the SE 7 Platform Specification.
>
> Some of these improvements will come from outside Sun.  Several major
> contributions from non-Sun developers are already lined up, and we'll
> shortly announce a process by which anyone can propose a new feature.
> Stay tuned.
>
> - Mark