Contributors are considered "active contributors" if they have authored more than 20 patches in the last 36 months in the main FFmpeg repository, or if they have been voted in by the GA.
Additional members are added to the General Assembly through a vote after proposal by a member of the General Assembly. They are part of the GA for two years, after which they need a confirmation by the GA.
A script to generate the current members of the general assembly (minus members voted in) can be found in `tools/general_assembly.pl`.
@anchor{Voting}
@chapter Voting
Voting is done using a ranked voting system, currently running on https://vote.ffmpeg.org/ .
Majority vote means more than 50% of the expressed ballots.
@anchor{Technical Committee}
@chapter Technical Committee
The Technical Committee (TC) is here to arbitrate and make decisions when technical conflicts occur in the project. They will consider the merits of all the positions, judge them and make a decision.
The TC resolves technical conflicts but is not a technical steering committee.
Decisions by the TC are binding for all the contributors.
Decisions made by the TC can be re-opened after 1 year or by a majority vote of the General Assembly, requested by one of the member of the GA.
The TC is elected by the General Assembly for a duration of 1 year, and is composed of 5 members. Members can be re-elected if they wish. A majority vote in the General Assembly can trigger a new election of the TC.
The members of the TC can be elected from outside of the GA. Candidates for election can either be suggested or self-nominated.
The conflict resolution process is detailed in the resolution process document.
The Technical Committee (TC) is here to arbitrate and make decisions when technical conflicts occur in the project.
The TC main role is to resolve technical conflicts. It is therefore not a technical steering committee, but it is understood that some decisions might impact the future of the project.
@subsection Seizing
The TC can take possession of any technical matter that it sees fit.
To involve the TC in a matter, email tc@ or CC them on an ongoing discussion.
As members of TC are developers, they also can email tc@ to raise an issue.
@subsection Announcement
The TC, once seized, must announce itself on the main mailing list, with a [TC] tag.
The TC has 2 modes of operation: a RFC one and an internal one.
If the TC thinks it needs the input from the larger community, the TC can call for a RFC. Else, it can decide by itself.
If the disagreement involves a member of the TC, that member should recuse themselves from the decision.
The decision to use a RFC process or an internal discussion is a discretionary decision of the TC.
The TC can also reject a seizure for a few reasons such as: the matter was not discussed enough previously; it lacks expertise to reach a beneficial decision on the matter; or the matter is too trivial.
@subsection RFC call
In the RFC mode, one person from the TC posts on the mailing list the technical question and will request input from the community.
The mail will have the following specification:
a precise title
a specific tag [TC RFC]
a top-level email
contain a precise question that does not exceed 100 words and that is answerable by developers
may have an extra description, or a link to a previous discussion, if deemed necessary,
contain a precise end date for the answers.
The answers from the community must be on the main mailing list and must have the following specification:
keep the tag and the title unchanged
limited to 400 words
a first-level, answering directly to the main email
answering to the question.
Further replies to answers are permitted, as long as they conform to the community standards of politeness, they are limited to 100 words, and are not nested more than once. (max-depth=2)
After the end-date, mails on the thread will be ignored.
Violations of those rules will be escalated through the Community Committee.
After all the emails are in, the TC has 96 hours to give its final decision. Exceptionally, the TC can request an extra delay, that will be notified on the mailing list.
@subsection Within TC
In the internal case, the TC has 96 hours to give its final decision. Exceptionally, the TC can request an extra delay.
@subsection Decisions
The decisions from the TC will be sent on the mailing list, with the [TC] tag.
Internally, the TC should take decisions with a majority, or using ranked-choice voting.
The decision from the TC should be published with a summary of the reasons that lead to this decision.
The decisions from the TC are final, until the matters are reopened after no less than one year.
@anchor{Community Committee}
@chapter Community Committee
The Community Committee (CC) is here to arbitrage and make decisions when inter-personal conflicts occur in the project. It will decide quickly and take actions, for the sake of the project.
The CC can remove privileges of offending members, including removal of commit access and temporary ban from the community.
Decisions made by the CC can be re-opened after 1 year or by a majority vote of the General Assembly. Indefinite bans from the community must be confirmed by the General Assembly, in a majority vote.
The CC is elected by the General Assembly for a duration of 1 year, and is composed of 5 members. Members can be re-elected if they wish. A majority vote in the General Assembly can trigger a new election of the CC.
The members of the CC can be elected from outside of the GA. Candidates for election can either be suggested or self-nominated.
The CC is governed by and responsible for enforcing the Code of Conduct.
