From a6e957bde38d793bfd4b69586c1bbdc59c974c11 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paul Morie Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2020 15:21:21 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Add blog post on project governance changes (#2873) --- blog/steering/governance-changes.md | 87 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 87 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/steering/governance-changes.md diff --git a/blog/steering/governance-changes.md b/blog/steering/governance-changes.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..15df641b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/steering/governance-changes.md @@ -0,0 +1,87 @@ +--- +Title: 'Changes to the Knative Project Governance' +Author: "[Paul Morie](https://github.com/pmorie)", on behalf of the [Knative Steering Committee](https://github.com/knative/community/blob/master/STEERING-COMMITTEE.md) +Author handle: https://github.com/pmorie +Description: Summary of governance changes to steering and trademark committees. +Folder with media files: 'N/A' +Blog URL: '' +Labels: Articles +Reviewers: '' +date: 2020-09-30 +description: "Knative Project Governance Changes" +type: "blog" + +--- +| Reviewer | Date | Approval | +| ------------- | ------------- | ------------- | +| | | | + + +One of the long-standing [asks](https://github.com/knative/community/issues/33) +within the Knative community has been for the Steering Committee to clarify its +charter and how the committee is composed. I'm happy to be able to say that we +now have a new [Steering Committee +charter](https://github.com/knative/community/pull/277) which, in my opinion, +delivers on this ask. Community participation was central to working through the +process to get to this new charter, and I first and foremost want to say a +sincere THANK YOU to everyone in our community that participated in our public +discussions on this topic. The community participation, which included +individual code and non-code contributors, as well as working group leads, +helped to influence the direction the discussions went. + +Let me summarize the meaning of the changes, and then go into some detail: + +- There will be elections for Steering Committee members +- Steering committee members serve as individuals rather than representing their employer +- No vendor will be allowed to have a majority of seats in the Steering Committee +- We added the new Knative Trademark Committee (KTC) to handle matters related to the trademark +- There is a transition plan from the current bootstrap scheme to the new governance scheme + +Those of you who love committees will be pleased that we have increased the +committee count within the project by one. Those of you who don't love +committees for their own sake may be asking what the purpose of such a committee +is; luckily, there is a clear and sensible answer. During the discussions around +new governance, it became apparent that there was a clear separation of concerns +between the specific vendor needs around trademark, "core" scope (for lack of a +better term) and conformance, and the broader community needs around everything +else Steering does. While we could have created a hybrid structure for Steering, +we decided it was simpler to just have a vendor committee that focused only on +scope and conformance, with the Steering committee focusing on the other aspects +of community growth and project governance. + +The KTC will initially include representatives from Google, Red Hat/IBM, and +VMware. They will need to figure out how new components and features "plug in" +to the Knative ecosystem in a non-technical sense. They will also help Steering +settle questions around derivative trademarks and logos, Knative "extensions", +and other questions about being part of our larger project. Membership to the KTC +is renewed on an annual basis, at the same time that the 2021 steering elections happen. +When the committee is renewed, new vendors may receive a seat on the KTC, by +virtue of their contributions in the previous year. Since we know that not all +contributions are easy to quantify, any vendor may frame their contributions, +and request consideration for membership on the KTC. + +With regard to the Steering Committee, the five members will be elected by the +contributors to Knative, the same way that TOC members are. The difference +between Steering and TOC will be that TOC members need to be code reviewers, +whereas Steering members might contribute in other areas and will lead the +project in non-code areas. To ensure fairness, no more than two Steering members +may work for the same employer. As the project grows, it's possible that we may +expand the committee to 7 seats in the future. + +The election date isn't set yet, but expect to see a call for nominations +shortly. + +The goal of these changes is to give new contributors and contributing +organizations a clearer path on how they can participate in project governance. +Anyone can run for steering, and the KTC will add new members from any new +sponsoring organizations every year. + +It was an inspiration and an honor to participate in this revision process. +Practically the whole Knative community was involved, and almost everyone had a +discussion item or a comment that got considered. The eventual charter we ended +up with looks very different than what we started with because of community +participation. This is a victory for open governance -- even more so because +it's not done! We need you to keep participating so that the Knative project can +keep evolving as our technology grows. + +And in the short term, you'll need to vote for the new Steering Committee! Stay tuned for announcements.