DDEV Advisory Group 2025-07-02

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Meeting time: 2025-07-02, 8am US MT, 4pm CET, here's your time: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=DDEV+Advisory+Group&iso=20250702T08&p1=5472&ah=1

Zoom link:

Previous meeting: May 7, 2025
Next meeting: September 3, 2025

Agenda

• Turn on recording, turn on AI note-taker (Zoom)
• DDEV Trademark and logo ownership situation
• Trademark and Logo policies
• Maintainers: We were really on a march for maintainers a couple of years ago, but got Stas full time then, and haven't been focused on it. But having fully trained and privileged maintainers needs to remain a key goal.
• In-person conferences: Randy will present at Drupalcamp Colorado and attend Laracon (in Denver, right after). Looking to put together funding for Drupalcon Vienna. Need to come up with airfare, conference ticket, lodging. Randy will be doing a full-day workshop or two at TYPOCamp RheinRuhr in November. Ideas about how to do useful travel that benefits the project are welcome. We probably need to let more people know that we're open to in-person events if we can get outside funding for the expenses.
• TYPO3 Community Ideas for Q2 and Q3 did not get accepted (but we did get paid for the Q1 idea)
• Our Amplitude stats show about 17,000 weekly users of DDEV (and growing constantly). There are live links on blog post
• Governance: Apache PMC model used by Backdrop CMS.
• Early Draft of PMC-based Governance proposal
  • I would foresee conversation about this at this meeting and October, adoption and filing in November, then incremental improvements in communication, etc.
• Finances
  • Mike Anello made payments to contractors in May, a great step forward. We documented and improved the process as well.
  • We benefited from the 7500 Euro TYPO3 Association Q3 "Community Budget Idea", which funded the implementation of XHGui support.

Financials and planning

Financial Summary:

• We have about $12,800 in the bank today after July 1 payments to contractors
• ddev.com widget shows $7759 monthly average income, down slightly from $7809 a month ago

DDEV Foundation Balance Sheet 2025-07-01.pdf
DDEV Foundation Profit and Loss 2025-07-01.pdf

Anything on anybody's mind!

Recording

https://youtu.be/0YODD80SOic

AI-generated Meeting Notes

Quick recap

The group discussed governance structure proposals, trademark ownership transfer, and ongoing development initiatives, including potential AI integrations and community engagement strategies. Financial updates were shared, highlighting growth in user base and revenue, while plans for future conferences and community outreach were outlined to promote DDEV's adoption across different developer communities.

Next steps

• Randy to update the proposed Articles of Incorporation based on feedback, including potentially extending the veto power indefinitely.
• All attendees to review and provide comments on the proposed governance changes in the linked issue or document before the next meeting in September.
• Randy to work on finalizing the governance draft for adoption at the November meeting.
• Randy to present at DrupalCamp Colorado and attend Laracon in Denver.
• Randy to seek funding for attending DrupalCon Vienna, including applying for a free conference ticket for mentoring.
• Damilola to provide Randy with ideas on how to engage with the Laravel community at Laracon.
• Randy to explore the possibility of giving a talk at a future Laracon event to reintroduce Docker and DDEV benefits to Laravel developers.
• Cary to consider writing a blog post or creating documentation on using DDEV with Warp AI terminal.
• Randy to consider hiring a part-time development person to focus on fundraising and sponsorships.
• Damilola to explore the possibility of integrating DDEV with MCp servers and AI tools for increased adoption and exposure.

Summary

DDEV Advisory Group Introductions

The Advisory Group meeting began with introductions, where Randy, the lead Maintainer of DDEV, welcomed participants and shared details about his recent bicycle trip in Colorado, which was cut short due to wildfire concerns and challenging weather conditions. Truls, a consultant from Norway, expressed interest in contributing and fostering community benefits. Selwyn, based in Austin, briefly mentioned being over a cold but did not elaborate further. The meeting's agenda was shared, and participants were informed that additional attendees might join later.

Drupal and DDEV Community Insights

The meeting introduced several participants, including Selwyn, Cary, Mladen, Andrew, Paul, and Damilola, who shared their experiences and contributions to the Drupal and DDEV communities. Randy highlighted the value of Selwyn's book, "Drupal at Your Fingertips," as a resource for DDEV users, and discussed the importance of promoting Mladen's workshops and sessions. The group discussed the challenges of transitioning WordPress developers to DDEV and the varying preferences for working on live sites versus local development. The conversation ended with Damilola expressing enthusiasm about her first year using DDEV and her hope to gain more insights into its workings.

Trademark Transfer and Project Vision

Randy discussed the ongoing process of transferring trademark ownership from Platform.sh to the DDEV Foundation, noting that while progress is being made, it is not yet complete. He emphasized the need for clear policies regarding the appropriate use of the DDEV wordmark and logo, encouraging comments and suggestions from the team. Randy also highlighted the importance of continuing to train and onboard new maintainers, with a focus on finding individuals of Stas's caliber to support the project's future. Benni suggested writing down operational strategies and decision-making processes, as well as holding a strategic meeting to define the project's vision and DNA.

DDEV Governance Structure Proposal

Randy proposed a governance structure for DDEV, inspired by Backdrop CMS's model, which involves forming a board of three members and updating the articles of incorporation. He suggested a two-year veto power for himself to address concerns about board behavior. Cary expressed support for the proposal, noting that it provides a clear path forward after years of discussion on governance. The group agreed to review the proposed articles of incorporation, with Randy providing a link to the document for further consideration.

Board Member Removal Mechanism Discussion

The group discussed the need for a permanent mechanism to remove board members, with Cary suggesting a veto power that could be used indefinitely rather than being limited to two years. Randy shared experiences from his past nonprofit work where a problematic board member could not be removed, while Benni and Selwyn supported the idea of maintaining veto power even as the founder fades away. The group agreed to continue the discussion at their September meeting and aim to adopt a final draft in November 2025, with Randy noting that the treasurer role might need to be spun off for good governance reasons.

Open Source and Conference Plans

Randy discussed the organization's use of Apache 2 open source license, explaining it was chosen early on and remains a good choice for open source projects. He shared plans to attend and present at several upcoming conferences, including Drupal Camp Colorado, Laracon in Denver, and Typo Camp in November, with a focus on contributing through mentoring and birds of a feather sessions. Randy also mentioned applying for a free conference ticket and seeking sponsorship for travel expenses to attend Drupalcon Vienna, highlighting the importance of building and communicating with different communities.

Laravel Community's Shift to Native Apps

Damilola discussed the shift in the Laravel community away from Docker environments towards native applications with the introduction of Laravel Herd. He suggested that DDEV could target this group of developers by showcasing the simplicity of using containers for PHP applications locally. Randy acknowledged this opportunity and expressed interest in Damilola's ideas for introducing DDEV to the Laravel community, potentially at future Laravel conferences.

DDEV Usage and Funding Update

Randy reported that while two community ideas for Q2 and Q3 did not win in voting, they received €7,500 from Typo3 association for an excellent Q1 idea that allowed them to use XhGui in DDEV, which has been well-received. The organization has 17,000 weekly DDEV users, up 3,000 since 6 months ago, and has about $12,800 in the bank after July payments with an average monthly income of $7,759. Cary suggested hiring a part-time development person whose primary role would be fundraising, noting that while organizations benefit significantly from standardized local development tools like DDEV, they often resist contributing financially.

AI Integration for DDEV Development

The group discussed the potential integration of Warp AI with DDEV to provide more Drupal-specific suggestions, with Cary expressing interest in this development. Randy mentioned the possibility of a blog post on DDEV.com about using Warp AI and encouraged contributions from the community. Damilola suggested exploring AI integrations with MCP servers to increase DDEV adoption, particularly through blog posts in AI tool communities. Randy concluded by thanking everyone for their input and encouraging further contributions through various channels.