What Can Chinese Developers Learn from Apache? Insights on Open‑Source Governance

Domestic Open‑Source Landscape

Ted Liu recounts that in 2015 only three Chinese projects were incubated in the Apache Incubator, all from eBay China, with Apache Kylin being the first to graduate. By 2019, 19 Chinese projects were in the incubator, nine of which had graduated and ten were still incubating, showing rapid growth. Large companies such as Tencent now operate many of these projects, creating a “lead‑player” effect and recognizing that contributing to open source benefits both the community and the company.

Challenges in Open‑Source Governance

Liu identifies three governance dimensions: risk governance, community governance, and project governance. He notes that many Chinese initiatives focus solely on technical aspects, neglecting governance, which leads to high entry barriers, limited diversity, and potential fragility when core contributors leave or corporate KPIs shift.

Metrics from the 2018 China Open‑Source Report

The report evaluates project health by two dimensions: activity (commits, pull requests, contributor count) rather than star count, and community diversity (e.g., email domain variety). A more diverse contributor base indicates a healthier, sustainable project. A 2019 report is planned.

International Foundations: Apache and Linux Foundation

Apache operates as a bottom‑up, individual‑member foundation, while the Linux Foundation is top‑down and company‑member driven. Both have thriving ecosystems, and Chinese companies increasingly sponsor or donate projects to these foundations, gaining valuable interaction and learning opportunities.

Key Lessons from Apache

Meritocracy : Greater contributions grant more voice and responsibility.

Community over code : A vibrant community matters more than perfect code; inclusive participation is valued.

Equality : No special authority based on seniority; all members are equal.

Transparency : Decisions must appear on mailing lists; “nothing happens unless it is on the list”.

Consensus mechanism : Discussions aim for consensus rather than simple majority voting.

Self‑governance : Each Apache project runs autonomously, submitting a monthly report without board approvals unless brand or legal issues arise.

Vendor Participation and Economic Drivers

Economic incentives are beneficial but can be misused. Research shows that projects under the nine major open‑source foundations generate ten times the economic return and five times the productivity compared to single‑company projects. However, motivations must be measured beyond mere user growth to avoid unsustainable practices.

International Relations and Legal Considerations

Open‑source code is treated as a publication protected by constitutional law in the United States, allowing free import/export unless encryption is involved. Domestic mirrors can mitigate concerns about platforms like GitHub, which is subject to U.S. regulations.

Personal Involvement Tips

Liu encourages immediate participation, respectful communication, and sharing progress openly. He cites examples: Wu Sheng, who turned his personal project SkyWalking into a top‑level Apache project, and Li Hui, a Flask maintainer who leveraged community help to build and publish a web framework, eventually authoring a book and speaking at conferences.

Tencent’s Open‑Source Strategy

Tencent’s roadmap now clearly lists projects such as TubeMQ, Kona, TBase, and TKEStack. Success depends on recruiting experienced contributors who understand open‑source governance, similar to veterans like Du Junping in Hadoop and Spark.

TVP (Tencent VIP) Perspective

TVP provides “VIP” treatment, fostering open‑source discussions across cloud computing, AI, blockchain, IoT, and 5G. Liu hopes TVP will expand topics to include community, project, and risk governance, reinforcing Tencent’s commitment to open‑source.