Project Leadership FAQs

General Information

What is the Joomla! Community?

Within the context of Free and Open Source Software projects, a community is another way of describing the collective body of individuals that contribute to a project in a positive way. Membership within the community is conditional and is earned through contribution and commitment. The Joomla! community is an amazing group of dedicated, knowledgeable, and highly skilled individuals that give their time and expertise to the project freely, without strings, and without the expectation of reward or reimbursement. Joomla! is a great project because of the contributions that these people make and it would not be the same without these people. They have each earned their place, their voice, and the respect of their peers within the community through their contributions and dedication. The community consists of the Joomla! Core Team, OSM, all the Joomla! Working Group members, as well as many, many other people that have each given a piece of themselves to the project in hope of helping the greater good, of preserving freedoms, of leveling the playing field, and even just to do something fun. We are eternally grateful to all of these people and the things they have contributed to the Joomla! project.

Is the Joomla! community a democracy?

Generally speaking, the Joomla! community is not a democratic organization and it has never presented itself as such. Occasionally, the Core Team asks the community to vote on things as a whole but this tends to be a pretty rare event. However, the community’s input and feedback are welcome and carefully listened to.

Why does the core team require a 2/3 vote for major decisions?

Well, we require a 2/3 majority because we prefer to have consensus about motions being put to vote before they are actually voted on. This means, if someone wants to propose a motion, they will initiate a discussion about the issue prior to voting on it. If the discussion looks favorable to their motion, a vote will be started. Having a 2/3 majority also prevents fragmentation within the team. We don’t want to have to resort to counting the votes and having 8 in favor and 7 against. If that is the case, there is most likely a problem that has not been discussed thoroughly enough. So, as a team we tend to resemble a consensus democracy more than a straight-up democracy where majority wins.

What do the project managers do?

The Joomla! project managers act as facilitators in order to help ensure that project level tasks are handled in a timely and proper manner. They are not dictators, commanders, or fascists. They are just the poor unfortunate souls that are tasked with handling a lot of work that other people don’t want to do.

How are Working Group members added/removed?

The process for adding and removing Working Group members is defined by the Working Group coordinator and because of that it varies from group to group.

Do the Core Team or Work Group members get paid for working on Joomla!?

Nobody is paid by the Joomla! project or OSM to work specifically on Joomla!. All the work we do for the project is done voluntarily without reimbursement. Many members of the Core Team and the Working Groups make money around the Joomla! project by providing services, products, education, consulting, etc.

License

What license is Joomla! released under?

Joomla! is released under the GNU GPL (Gnu General Public) version 2 or later. Details of the GPL can be found here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.

What has the copyright of Joomla!?

The Joomla! project does not aggregate the copyrights of its code contributors. No contributor is required to transfer his/her copyright to Joomla! and each individual contribution will forever remain in the ownership of its author. This also applies to translations of the Installation language set as these alone are included in the core release of Joomla!. Open Source Matters Inc., a not-for-profit organisation, holds the Joomla! project's assets and represents Joomla!'s legal matters. Joomla! project claims copyright over the total aggregated creation which is the CMS and framework. This copyright is held by Open Source Matters Inc. This is why each file in the release is marked "Copyright - Open Source Matters Inc." This does not violate the copyright and ownership of the individual contributions. These always remain the authors' property. Attributions of the copyrights of contributors and other included code elements is detailed in the main copyright file in the root directory of the Joomla! installation. As the contributors do not transfer copyright they instead declare that their code contributions are licensed to Open Source Matters Inc. in a limited and non-exclusive fashion. Limited meaning that Open Source Matters Inc. may only use their contribution if it is released under GNU/GPL for the entire Joomla! CMS (or GNU/LGPL in the specific case of the Joomla! Framework Libraries). Non-exclusive meaning that the contributors are free to do whatever they wish with their own creations including using it for their own releases under any licence they wish (including commercial).

Open Source Matters

What is Open Source Matters?

Open Source Matters is a non profit organization that provides financial, legal and organizational support for the Joomla! project. For more information on Open Source Matters, please visit the OSM FAQ http://www.opensourcematters.org/content/view/92/63/.

Who runs Open Source Matters?

OSM is run by a board of directors. You can find out more about the current OSM board members by visiting the Open Source Matters website or by clicking here: http://www.opensourcematters.org/content/blogcategory/37/62/.

Does anyone work for Open Source Matters?

No. Open Source Matters consists exclusively of the board of directors. It has no employees or members. Board members are volunteers.

How are board members appointed or removed?

The board members of OSM are appointed by the “Community Oversight Committee” which is basically a legal name for the Joomla! Core Team. Board members are appointed to a one year term at which point they can resign, be reelected, or be replaced. If an OSM board member is acting inappropriately or in way that may compromise the Joomla! project or OSM, the Community Oversight Committee can hold a vote to remove that member. This action also requires a 2/3 quorum and 2/3 of the votes cast to be in favor of the motion.

Does Open Source Matters run the Joomla! project?

No. The Joomla! Core Team is responsible for managing the project and making sure it continues moving forward. Open Source Matters is intended to be an aide to the Core Team and to assist the Core Team. As such, Open Source Matters serves the project, it does not run the project.

Removal of a Project Member

Why would someone be removed from the Core Team, Working Groups, OSM, Community, Project, etc?

Sometimes, the Joomla! project has to deal with people that are detrimental to the overall health or success of the project. On rare occasions, people need to be removed in part or completely in order to protect the health of the community, the project, or the sanity of its members. There are a few reasons why someone could be removed including: intentionally harming the project, being continuously disruptive, repeatedly violating of the Code of Conduct, etc. We do not take these decisions lightly and we always give several warnings and opportunities to turn around before taking a drastic step such as removal from one of the teams or banning.

Adding Features

Editing How do you request a feature?

You can send or vote ideas at:

http://ideas.joomla.org

And you can request a feature here:

http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomla/tracker/?action=TrackerItemBrowse&tracker_id=8549

You will need to register at joomlacode.org to submit a feature request.