PEP 8002: Add description of the Astropy project

pep-8002.rst

@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ experienced contributors.
 For controversial issues, the contributor community works together to refine
 potential solutions, iterate as necessary, and build consensus by sharing
 information and views constructively and openly. The Steering Council may 
-make decisions when regular community discussion doesn’t produce consensus
+make decisions when regular community discussion doesn't produce consensus
 on an issue in a reasonable time frame.
 
 Voting
@@ -658,8 +658,130 @@ a well-defined routine of accepting external contributions.  Community
 engagement rose significantly after the project got moved.
 
 
-Microsoft
+Astropy
-=========
+=======
+
+Key people and their functions
+------------------------------
+
+The Astropy Project team's responsibilites are spread over many different
+roles [#astropy-team]_, though frequently a person will have several roles.
+
+The main body overseeing the Astropy Project is the Astropy
+*Coordination Committee* (CoCo) .  Its key roles are dealing with any
+financial issues, approving new packages wanting to join the Astropy
+Project, approving or rejecting *Astropy Proposals for Enhancement*
+(APEs) [#astropy-apes]_, and generally anything that's "leadership"-oriented
+or time-sensitive.  As of this writing, the committee has four members,
+and might grow or shrink as the demands on the committee change.
+
+Regular decision process
+------------------------
+
+Code-level decisions
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The Astropy Project is organized as *sub-packages*.  Each sub-package has an
+official *maintainer* as well as one or more *deputies*, who are responsible
+for ensuring code is reviewed and generally architecting the subpackage.
+Code-level decisions are therefore made in GitHub issues or pull requests
+(PRs), usually on the basis of consensus, moderated by the maintainer
+and deputies of that sub-package.
+
+When there is specific disagreement, majority vote of those who are involved
+in the discussion (e.g. PR) determines the winner, with the CoCo called on
+to break ties or mediate disagreements.
+
+Non-code decisions
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Non-code decisions (like sprint scheduling, bugfix release timing, etc)
+are usually announced on the *astropy-dev mailing list* [#astropy-dev]_ with
+a vote-by-message format, or a "if there are no objections"-style message
+for highly uncontroversial items.  In general, on astropy-dev the expectation
+is a concrete proposal which other members are welcome to comment or vote on.
+
+Voting
+~~~~~~
+
+Voting usually involves either using the +1/-1 format on GitHub or the
+astropy-dev mailing list.  There, any interested person can vote regardless
+of their official role in the project, or lack thereof.  Furthermore, there
+is no veto mechanism for the CoCo to override decisions of the majority.
+
+Controversial decision process
+------------------------------
+
+Simpler controversial decisions are generally discussed on the astropy-dev
+mailing list [#astropy-dev]_, and after a reasonable time either there is
+a clear consensus/compromise (this happens most of the time), or the CoCo
+makes a decision to avoid stalling.
+
+More complicated decisions follow the APE process, which is modeled after the
+PEP process.  Here, the CoCo makes the final decision after a discussion
+period, open to everyone, has passed.  Generally the CoCo would follow the
+consensus or majority will.
+
+Ethical issues
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The Project has an *Ombudsperson* who ensures there is an alternate contact
+for sensitive issues, such as Code of Conduct violations, independent
+from the Coordination Committee.  In practice, the CoCo, the Community
+engagement coordinators and the Ombudsperson would work together privately
+to try and communicate with the violator to address the situation.
+
+Planning a new release
+----------------------
+
+The major release timing is on a fixed schedule (every 6 months); whatever
+is in at that time goes in.
+
+Changes in the process over time
+--------------------------------
+
+The CoCo and the "Open Development" ethos came from the inception of the
+Project after a series of votes by interested Python-oriented astronomers
+and allied software engineers.  The core results of that initial discussion
+were embodied in the *Vision for Astropy* document [#astropy-vision]_.
+
+The existence of the formal roles and most of the rest of the above
+came as evolutionary steps as the community grew larger, each following
+either the APE process, or the regular process of a proposal being brought
+up for discussion and vote in astropy-dev [#astropy-dev]_. In general all
+evolved as sort of ratification of already-existing practices, only after
+they were first tested in the wild.
+
+Self-appreciation
+-----------------
+
+The fact that anyone who has the time can step in and suggest something
+(usually via PR) or vote on their preference, leads to a sense that
+"we are all in this together", leading to better-coordinated effort.
+
+Additionally, the function of the CoCo as mostly a tie-breaking body means
+that there's no sense of a dictator who enforces their will, while still
+giving clear points of contact for external organizations that are
+leery of fully-democratic governance models.
+
+References
+----------
+
+.. [#astropy-team] Astropy roles and responsibilites
+   https://www.astropy.org/team.html
+
+.. [#astropy-apes] Astropy Proposals for Enhancement
+   https://github.com/astropy/astropy-APEs
+
+.. [#astropy-dev] Astropy-dev mailing list
+   https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/astropy-dev
+
+.. [#astropy-vision] Vision for a Common Astronomy Python Package
+   https://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/development/vision.html
+
+
+Bonus: Microsoft
+================
 
 Despite the selection process for "relevant projects" described above,
 it is worthwhile considering how companies that are held financially
@@ -823,6 +945,9 @@ project's governance is set up.
 The TypeScript and Swift sections were created after conversations with
 Joe Pamer and Vlad Matveev. Thanks!
 
+Answers about the Astropy project were kindly contributed, in significant
+detail, by Erik Tollerud and reviewed by other members of the project.
+
 
 Annex 1: Template questions
 ===========================