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1 # Octave Governance |
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2 |
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3 This page should clarify about the various entities and actors around the GNU Octave programming language. |
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4 |
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5 ## GNU Octave |
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6 |
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7 The GNU Octave project was initialized 1992 by **John W. Eaton** <jwe@octave.org>. |
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8 It consists of [some code](https://www.octave.org/hg/octave) |
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9 and a community of people who work on that code. |
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10 The most clear cut line that can be drawn is that there is a |
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11 [set of people](https://savannah.gnu.org/project/memberlist.php?group=octave) |
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12 who have commit access to the GNU Octave Savannah project: |
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13 there are currently 24 committers (10 active and 14 dormant). |
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14 This set of people doesn’t really define the project, however, |
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15 since there are many people who are prolific contributors to the GNU Octave |
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16 ecosystem but who do not have |
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17 “[commit bit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committer#Commit_bit).” |
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18 The communal nature of open-source makes it difficult to precisely define |
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19 where the GNU Octave project ends and the greater community begins, |
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20 which is exactly how we like it. |
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21 |
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22 Until the present day, |
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23 most final development decisions are made or agreed with by John W. Eaton. |
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24 |
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25 ## Free Software Foundation (FSF) |
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26 |
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27 The FSF <https://www.fsf.org/> is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization |
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28 promoting computer user freedom. |
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29 |
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30 With the help of the FSF, both indivials and corporations have the opportunity to |
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31 [donate to the GNU Octave project](https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=10). |
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32 Despite the free usage of the FSF infrastructure for distributing |
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33 the GNU Octave source code. |
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34 |
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35 The GNU Octave project does not receive any direct or indirect |
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36 monetary fundings by the FSF. |
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37 |
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38 ## Related Organizations With No Governance Role |
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39 |
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40 There are organizations that people sometimes mistakenly believe |
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41 have some kind of official control over the GNU Octave project. |
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42 This section details three of them, |
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43 but please note that neither has any official relationship |
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44 to the GNU Octave project, |
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45 nor any governance capacity with respect to the project. |
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46 Individuals who have some control over the project |
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47 and happen to belong to these organizations, |
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48 have that control as individuals and not as members of those organizations |
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49 and takes the separation of those roles quite seriously. |
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50 |
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51 ### Octave Forge and Octave Packages |
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52 |
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53 **Octave Forge** <https://octave.sourceforge.io/> is the former collection |
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54 of software packages, that can be easily installed and used in GNU Octave. |
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55 The Octave Sourceforge project was initiated in 2000 |
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56 and active development stopped in 2018. |
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57 New packages are not accepted, but existing packages are still maintained. |
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58 The project lists [56 members](https://sourceforge.net/p/octave/_members/) |
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59 (10 active and 46 dormant) maintaining existing Octave packages, |
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60 but not the source code of GNU Octave itself. |
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61 |
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62 **Octave Packages** <https://gnu-octave.github.io/packages/> is another |
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63 collection of Octave packages and intended as the successor of **Octave Forge**. |
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64 New packages are accepted here and the development is independent of GNU Octave itself. |
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65 Until today full support by Octave's package manager is not given, however, |
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66 it is a fully functional index for Octave packages. |
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67 |
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68 ### GitHub Organization |
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69 |
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70 The GitHub Organization <https://github.com/gnu-octave/> |
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71 was established around 2020. |
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72 It is a loose connection of currently |
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73 [27 members](https://github.com/orgs/gnu-octave/people) |
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74 (10 active and 14 dormant) |
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75 developing software intended to be used with GNU Octave, |
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76 but not the source code of GNU Octave itself. |
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77 |
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78 ## Questions |
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79 |
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80 If you have questions about GNU Octave's governance structure, |
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81 please reach out via email to <jwe@octave.org>. |
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82 |
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83 |
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84 This page is inspired by the [JuliaLang project](https://julialang.org/governance/). |
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85 |
