Shared leadership in the Apache project

Citation: Roy T. Fielding (1999/04/01) Shared leadership in the Apache project. Communications of the ACM (RSS)
DOI (original publisher): 10.1145/299157.299167
Semantic Scholar (metadata): 10.1145/299157.299167
Sci-Hub (fulltext): 10.1145/299157.299167
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): Shared leadership in the Apache project
Tagged: Computer Science (RSS)

Summary

This article is a brief account of open source governance from the perspective of a co-founder of the Apache Project. Fielding points out that unlike other open source projects, Apache began as a collective rather than being organized around an individual. Fielding describes a system of voting and decisionmaking, characterizing the system as a meritocracy (in which frequent contributors are nominated and approved by unanimous consent). Fielding also stakes a philosophical position that contributors are motivated by "enlightened self-interest" -- their jobs involve web servers or web protocol research. He describes the fact that IBM joined the Apache group in 1998 as positive and providing resources to the project on its own terms. He closes with an assertion that the project holds a competitive innovative advantage by being open to new contributors and driven by multiple individuals rather than following a single person.

Theoretical and Practical Relevance

This article is useful for its historical perspective (making clear that the philosophical stakes in open source are long-standing and that the relationship between volunteer efforts, paid efforts, and individual and corporate-organized interests has long been complex).