First Contribution by Jermin Amartey

[PabloJermin]

Name: Jermin Amartey Assigned Project: PySal Governance Model Link To Project Governance Model : https://github.com/pysal/governance

Python Spatial Analysis Library, PySal is an open source cross-platform project. The project's objective is to create an open source software for geospatial data science in Python, in particular the PySAL library including the pysal Meta-Package and its component Sub-Modules.

THE GOVERNANCE MODEL: The foundations of the governance are based on

• Openness & Transparency
• Active Contribution
• Institutional Neutrality The Leadership of the project was provided by Sergio Rey, a Benevolent Dictator For Life and a subset of Contributors and Package Maintainers who have been acknowledged for their active and consistent contributions by being granted "commit rights" to the Project GitHub repository.

PROJECT ROLES:

• BDFL(Benevolent Dictator For Life)
• Package Maintainers
• Steering Council
• Council Members
• Release Manager

THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS Typically, project decision are made through a consensus among the Core Developers with input from the community. The BDFL has the authority to make all the final decisions of the project. In situations where there is a deadlock in decision making between the steering council, the council asks the BDL to make a decision which is often termed as the "special" vote or the "overriding" vote.

During decision making by the Steering Council, they will then utilize a voting system similar to that of the Apache Foundation. This is a structured version of consensus, where +1 votes indicate agreement, -1 votes are vetoes (and must be supported by the justification mentioned above), and one can even vote fractionally (e.g., -0.5, +0.5) to convey a viewpoint without filing a full veto. These numerical votes are frequently used informally to gauge public opinion on a subject, therefore they shouldn't typically be interpreted as official votes. A formal vote only takes place when it is officially proclaimed, and if it does, it should be kept available for at least one week to allow all interested Council Members to respond.

FINDING THE GOVERNANCE MODEL Their governance model wasn't difficult to find and understand. I was directed to their official Github repo from their webpage. All the governance and decision making process was clearly stated and described there.

[PabloJermin]

Dear @arliss-NF kindly review my work.