The two-week vote to ratify the OpenJDK Community Bylaws ended earlier today at 16:00 UTC. I’m very pleased to report that the vote was successful, with 70 votes in favor, no votes against, and nine abstentions.

This is a major milestone for the OpenJDK Community. It’s the end result of a long-running effort which was initiated in 2007, foundered during the demise of Sun, and then rebooted earlier this year after IBM and then Apple joined up.

Not everyone is completely happy with the Bylaws as they stand, but my sense from recent conversations is that most agree them to be a workable beginning and a firm foundation upon which further trust can be built over time.

My thanks to everyone who contributed to the Bylaws drafts, and to everyone who voted.

The Bylaws have now been ratified, but they won’t be in force until we implement the transition plan outlined in Appendix B. We expect that to be done around mid-July; until then we’ll continue to operate under the existing informal guidelines.