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WEB: Add governance page to the website (#47660)
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‎web/pandas/about/governance.md

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# Main Governance Document
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The official version of this document, along with a list of
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individuals and institutions in the roles defined in the governance
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section below, is contained in The Project Governance Repository at:
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[https://github.com/pydata/pandas-governance](https://github.com/pydata/pandas-governance)
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The Project
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===========
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The pandas Project (The Project) is an open source software project affiliated
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with the 501(c)3 NumFOCUS Foundation. The goal of The Project is to develop open
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source software for data ingest, data preparation, data analysis, and data
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visualization for the Python programming language. The Software developed by
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The Project is released under the BSD (or similar) open source license,
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developed openly and hosted in public GitHub repositories under the [PyData
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GitHub organization](https://github.com/pydata). Examples of Project Software
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include the main pandas code repository, pandas-website, and the
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pandas-datareader add-on library.
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Through its affiliation with NumFOCUS, The Project has the right to receive
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tax-deductible donations in the United States of America.
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The Project is developed by a team of distributed developers, called
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Contributors. Contributors are individuals who have contributed code,
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documentation, designs or other work to one or more Project repositories.
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Anyone can be a Contributor. Contributors can be affiliated with any legal
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entity or none. Contributors participate in the project by submitting,
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reviewing and discussing GitHub Pull Requests and Issues and participating in
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open and public Project discussions on GitHub, mailing lists, and
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elsewhere. The foundation of Project participation is openness and
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transparency.
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Here is a list of the current Contributors to the main pandas repository:
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[https://github.com/pydata/pandas/graphs/contributors](https://github.com/pydata/pandas/graphs/contributors)
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There are also many other Contributors listed in the logs of other repositories of
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the pandas project.
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The Project Community consists of all Contributors and Users of the Project.
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Contributors work on behalf of and are responsible to the larger Project
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Community and we strive to keep the barrier between Contributors and Users as
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low as possible.
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The Project is formally affiliated with the 501(c)3 NumFOCUS Foundation
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([http://numfocus.org](http://numfocus.org)), which serves as its fiscal
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sponsor, may hold project trademarks and other intellectual property, helps
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manage project donations and acts as a parent legal entity. NumFOCUS is the
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only legal entity that has a formal relationship with the project (see
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Institutional Partners section below).
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Governance
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==========
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This section describes the governance and leadership model of The Project.
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The foundations of Project governance are:
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- Openness & Transparency
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- Active Contribution
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- Institutional Neutrality
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Traditionally, Project leadership was provided by a BDFL (Wes McKinney) and
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subset of Contributors, called the Core Team, whose active and consistent
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contributions have been recognized by their receiving “commit rights” to the
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Project GitHub repositories. In general all Project decisions are made through
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consensus among the Core Team with input from the Community. The BDFL can, but
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rarely chooses to, override the Core Team and make a final decision on a
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matter.
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While this approach has served us well, as the Project grows and faces more
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legal and financial decisions and interacts with other institutions, we see a
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need for a more formal governance model. Moving forward The Project leadership
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will consist of a BDFL and Core Team. We view this governance model as the
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formalization of what we are already doing, rather than a change in direction.
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BDFL
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----
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The Project will have a BDFL (Benevolent Dictator for Life), who is currently
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Wes McKinney. As Dictator, the BDFL has the authority to make all final
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decisions for The Project. As Benevolent, the BDFL, in practice chooses to
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defer that authority to the consensus of the community discussion channels and
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the Core Team. It is expected, and in the past has been the case, that the BDFL
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will only rarely assert his/her final authority. Because it is rarely used, we
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refer to BDFL’s final authority as a “special” or “overriding” vote. When it
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does occur, the BDFL override typically happens in situations where there is a
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deadlock in the Core Team or if the Core Team ask the BDFL to make a decision
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on a specific matter. To ensure the benevolence of the BDFL, The Project
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encourages others to fork the project if they disagree with the overall
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direction the BDFL is taking. The BDFL is chair of the Core Team (see below)
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and may delegate his/her authority on a particular decision or set of decisions
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to any other Core Team Member at his/her discretion.
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The BDFL can appoint his/her successor, but it is expected that the Core Team
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would be consulted on this decision. If the BDFL is unable to appoint a
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successor (e.g. due to death or illness), the Core Team will choose a successor
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by voting with at least 2/3 of the Core Team members voting in favor of the
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chosen successor. At least 80% of the Core Team must participate in the
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vote. If no BDFL candidate receives 2/3 of the votes of the Core Team, the Core
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Team members shall propose the BDFL candidates to the Main NumFOCUS board, who
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will then make the final decision.
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Core Team
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---------
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The Project's Core Team will consist of Project Contributors who have produced
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contributions that are substantial in quality and quantity, and sustained over
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at least one year. The overall role of the Core Team is to ensure, through
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working with the BDFL and taking input from the Community, the long-term
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well-being of the project, both technically and as a community.
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During the everyday project activities, Core Team participate in all
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discussions, code review and other project activities as peers with all other
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Contributors and the Community. In these everyday activities, Core Team do not
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have any special power or privilege through their membership on the Core
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Team. However, it is expected that because of the quality and quantity of their
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contributions and their expert knowledge of the Project Software that the Core
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Team will provide useful guidance, both technical and in terms of project
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direction, to potentially less experienced contributors.
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The Core Team and its Members play a special role in certain situations.
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In particular, the Core Team may:
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- Make decisions about the overall scope, vision and direction of the
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project.
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- Make decisions about strategic collaborations with other organizations or
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individuals.
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- Make decisions about specific technical issues, features, bugs and pull
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requests. They are the primary mechanism of guiding the code review process
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and merging pull requests.
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- Make decisions about the Services that are run by The Project and manage
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those Services for the benefit of the Project and Community.
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- Make decisions when regular community discussion doesn’t produce consensus
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on an issue in a reasonable time frame.
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### Core Team membership
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To become eligible for being a Core Team Member an individual must be a Project
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Contributor who has produced contributions that are substantial in quality and
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quantity, and sustained over at least one year. Potential Core Team Members are
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nominated by existing Core members and voted upon by the existing Core Team
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after asking if the potential Member is interested and willing to serve in that
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capacity. The Core Team will be initially formed from the set of existing
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Contributors who have been granted commit rights as of late 2015.
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When considering potential Members, the Core Team will look at candidates with
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a comprehensive view of their contributions. This will include but is not
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limited to code, code review, infrastructure work, mailing list and chat
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participation, community help/building, education and outreach, design work,
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etc. We are deliberately not setting arbitrary quantitative metrics (like “100
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commits in this repo”) to avoid encouraging behavior that plays to the metrics
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rather than the project’s overall well-being. We want to encourage a diverse
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array of backgrounds, viewpoints and talents in our team, which is why we
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explicitly do not define code as the sole metric on which Core Team membership
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will be evaluated.
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If a Core Team member becomes inactive in the project for a period of one year,
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they will be considered for removal from the Core Team. Before removal,
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inactive Member will be approached by the BDFL to see if they plan on returning
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to active participation. If not they will be removed immediately upon a Core
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Team vote. If they plan on returning to active participation soon, they will be
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given a grace period of one year. If they don’t return to active participation
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within that time period they will be removed by vote of the Core Team without
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further grace period. All former Core Team members can be considered for
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membership again at any time in the future, like any other Project Contributor.
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Retired Core Team members will be listed on the project website, acknowledging
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the period during which they were active in the Core Team.
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The Core Team reserves the right to eject current Members, other than the BDFL,
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if they are deemed to be actively harmful to the project’s well-being, and
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attempts at communication and conflict resolution have failed.
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### Conflict of interest
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It is expected that the BDFL and Core Team Members will be employed at a wide
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range of companies, universities and non-profit organizations. Because of this,
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it is possible that Members will have conflict of interests. Such conflict of
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interests include, but are not limited to:
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- Financial interests, such as investments, employment or contracting work,
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outside of The Project that may influence their work on The Project.
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- Access to proprietary information of their employer that could potentially
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leak into their work with the Project.
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All members of the Core Team, BDFL included, shall disclose to the rest of the
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Core Team any conflict of interest they may have. Members with a conflict of
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interest in a particular issue may participate in Core Team discussions on that
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issue, but must recuse themselves from voting on the issue. If the BDFL has
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recused his/herself for a particular decision, they will appoint a substitute
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BDFL for that decision.
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### Private communications of the Core Team
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Unless specifically required, all Core Team discussions and activities will be
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public and done in collaboration and discussion with the Project Contributors
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and Community. The Core Team will have a private mailing list that will be used
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sparingly and only when a specific matter requires privacy. When private
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communications and decisions are needed, the Core Team will do its best to
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summarize those to the Community after eliding personal/private/sensitive
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information that should not be posted to the public internet.
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### Subcommittees
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The Core Team can create subcommittees that provide leadership and guidance for
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specific aspects of the project. Like the Core Team as a whole, subcommittees
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should conduct their business in an open and public manner unless privacy is
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specifically called for. Private subcommittee communications should happen on
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the main private mailing list of the Core Team unless specifically called for.
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Question: if the BDFL is not on a subcommittee, do they still have override
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authority?
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Suggestion: they do, but they should appoint a delegate who plays that role
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most of the time, and explicit BDFL intervention is sought only if the
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committee disagrees with that delegate’s decision and no resolution is possible
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within the team. This is different from a BDFL delegate for a specific decision
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(or a recusal situation), where the BDFL is literally giving up his/her
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authority to someone else in full. It’s more like what Linus Torvalds uses with his
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“lieutenants” model.
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### NumFOCUS Subcommittee
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The Core Team will maintain one narrowly focused subcommittee to manage its
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interactions with NumFOCUS.
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- The NumFOCUS Subcommittee is comprised of at least 5 persons who manage
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project funding that comes through NumFOCUS. It is expected that these funds
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will be spent in a manner that is consistent with the non-profit mission of
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NumFOCUS and the direction of the Project as determined by the full Core
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Team.
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- This Subcommittee shall NOT make decisions about the direction, scope or
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technical direction of the Project.
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- This Subcommittee will have at least 5 members. No more than 2 Subcommitee
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Members can report to one person (either directly or indirectly) through
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employment or contracting work (including the reportee, i.e. the reportee + 1
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is the max). This avoids effective majorities resting on one person.
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Institutional Partners and Funding
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==================================
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The BDFL and Core Team are the primary leadership for the project. No outside
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institution, individual or legal entity has the ability to own, control, usurp
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or influence the project other than by participating in the Project as
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Contributors and Core Team. However, because institutions are the primary
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funding mechanism for the project, it is important to formally acknowledge
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institutional participation in the project. These are Institutional Partners.
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An Institutional Contributor is any individual Project Contributor who
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contributes to the project as part of their official duties at an Institutional
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Partner. Likewise, an Institutional Core Team Member is any Core Team Member
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who contributes to the project as part of their official duties at an
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Institutional Partner.
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With these definitions, an Institutional Partner is any recognized legal entity
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in the United States or elsewhere that employs at least one Institutional
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Contributor or Institutional Core Team Member. Institutional Partners can be
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for-profit or non-profit entities.
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Institutions become eligible to become an Institutional Partner by employing
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individuals who actively contribute to The Project as part of their official
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duties. To state this another way, the only way for an Institutional Partner to
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influence the project is by actively contributing to the open development of
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the project, on equal terms with any other member of the community of
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Contributors and Core Team Members. Merely using pandas Software or Services in
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an institutional context does not allow an entity to become an Institutional
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Partner. Financial gifts do not enable an entity to become an Institutional
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Partner. Once an institution becomes eligible for Institutional Partnership,
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the Core Team must nominate and approve the Partnership.
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If an existing Institutional Partner no longer has a contributing employee,
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they will be given a one-year grace period for other employees to begin
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contributing.
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An Institutional Partner is free to pursue funding for their work on The
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Project through any legal means. This could involve a non-profit organization
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raising money from private foundations and donors or a for-profit company
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building proprietary products and services that leverage Project Software and
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Services. Funding acquired by Institutional Partners to work on The Project is
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called Institutional Funding. However, no funding obtained by an Institutional
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Partner can override The Project BDFL and Core Team. If a Partner has funding
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to do pandas work and the Core Team decides to not pursue that work as a
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project, the Partner is free to pursue it on their own. However in this
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situation, that part of the Partner’s work will not be under the pandas
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umbrella and cannot use the Project trademarks in a way that suggests a formal
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relationship.
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To acknowledge institutional contributions, there are two levels of
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Institutional Partners, with associated benefits:
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**Tier 1** = an institution with at least one Institutional Core Team Member
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- Acknowledged on the pandas website, in talks and T-shirts.
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- Ability to acknowledge their own funding sources on the pandas website, in
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talks and T-shirts.
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- Ability to influence the project through the participation of their Core Team
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Member.
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**Tier 2** = an institution with at least one Institutional Contributor
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Breach
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======
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Non-compliance with the terms of the governance documents shall be reported to
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the Core Team either through public or private channels as deemed appropriate.
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Changing the Governance Documents
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=================================
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Changes to the governance documents are submitted via a GitHub pull request to
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The Project's governance documents GitHub repository at
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[https://github.com/pydata/pandas-governance](https://github.com/pydata/pandas-governance).
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The pull request is then refined in response to public comment and review, with
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the goal being consensus in the community. After this open period, a Core Team
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Member proposes to the Core Team that the changes be ratified and the pull
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request merged (accepting the proposed changes) or proposes that the pull
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request be closed without merging (rejecting the proposed changes). The Member
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should state the final commit hash in the pull request being proposed for
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acceptance or rejection and briefly summarize the pull request. A minimum of
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80% of the Core Team must vote and at least 2/3 of the votes must be positive
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to carry out the proposed action (fractions of a vote rounded up to the nearest
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integer). Since the BDFL holds ultimate authority in The Project, the BDFL has
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authority to act alone in accepting or rejecting changes or overriding Core
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Team decisions.

‎web/pandas/about/team.md

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Wes McKinney is the Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL).
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The project governance is available in the [project governance documents](https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas-governance).
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The project governance is available in the [project governance page](governance.html).
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## Code of conduct committee
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‎web/pandas/community/blog/extension-arrays.md

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[ml]: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pandas-dev
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[twitter]: https://twitter.com/pandas_dev
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[tracker]: https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/issues
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[partners]: https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas-governance/blob/master/people.md
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[partners]: https://pandas.pydata.org/about/sponsors.html
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[eco]: http://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/ecosystem.html#extension-data-types
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[whatsnew]: http://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/version/0.24/whatsnew/v0.24.0.html
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[geopandas]: https://github.com/geopandas/geopandas

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