Hello Stackers, We're sixteen weeks away from the date of the coordinated release of OpenStack 2026.1 "Gazpacho" [1]. Project teams are reviewing design specifications and observing spec freezes to advance designs to the implementation phase. In the past week, the OpenStack Technical Committee didn't merge any new governance updates; however, a few change proposals are undergoing community review. We're looking for volunteers to shadow the election officials as they set up and run the TC and PTL elections for the 2026.2 release cycle. If you're interested, please reach out to me, or drop by the #openstack-election IRC channel on OFTC. === Weekly Meeting === The last meeting of the OpenStack Technical Committee occurred on December 2nd, 2025, in the #openstack-tc IRC channel on OFTC [2]. The TC reviewed several outstanding tasks, one of which was the direction in which the FIPS compliance goal was proceeding. This cross-project goal [3] is being moved back to "proposed" status, seeking feedback regarding testing and a goal champion. The focus of the meeting was a deep dive into the friction surrounding significant changes within the community. The TC acknowledged a growing sentiment that existing governance processes are perceived as "bad bureaucracy," creating a situation where policies suffer from "bit rot." For example, we've long had a PTI for Golang despite a lack of actual use—because contributors feel that attempting to update these rules is futile or destined for rejection. We debated potential remedies, such as reviving the "Ideas" repository [4], but concluded that the root issue lies in some outdated guiding documents and practices. The consensus was that the challenges in making big changes stem from a misalignment between current reality and codified policy, leading to a culture where contributors assume the rules cannot be touched. Consequently, we noted that we'd like to review and rewrite the "Technical Vision" document [5]. Since vision statements are intended to be time-bounded, the current version should be considered obsolete. We hope that refreshing this high-level document will serve as the foundation to subsequently prune outdated policies and demonstrate that the community's norms are not immutable. This discussion will continue in this week's meeting that will be held today, December 9th, 2025, in the #openstack-tc channel on OFTC at 1700 UTC. Please see the agenda on the meeting's wiki page [6]. I hope you'll be able to join us there. === Governance Proposals === ==== Open For Review ==== - Show SIG repositories on the SIGs page | https://review.opendev.org/c/openstack/governance/+/967425 - Alter public cloud SIG chair | https://review.opendev.org/c/openstack/governance/+/969371 - Move FIPS Compliance goal back to proposed | https://review.opendev.org/c/openstack/governance/+/969145 === Upcoming Events === - 2025-12-09: OpenInfra Board meeting: https://board.openinfra.org/ - 2025-12-12: Athens OpenStack User Group Meetup: https://meetup.com/athens-openstack-user-group/events/312235216 - 2025-12-16: Twelve Clouds of Christmas: https://www.meetup.com/openinfra-austin/events/312269596 - 2026-01-08: 2026.1 Milestone 2 - 2026-01-27: OpenInfra Board Meeting: https://board.openinfra.org/ Thank you very much for reading! On behalf of the OpenStack TC, Goutham Pacha Ravi (gouthamr) OpenStack TC Chair [1] 2026.1 "Gazpacho" Release Schedule: https://releases.openstack.org/gazpacho/schedule.html [2] TC Meeting IRC Log, Dec 2 2025: https://meetings.opendev.org/meetings/tc/2025/tc.2025-12-02-17.00.html [3] FIPS Compliance Goal: https://governance.openstack.org/tc/goals/selected/fips.html [4] Ideas for OpenStack: https://governance.openstack.org/ideas/ [5] Vision for OpenStack Clouds: https://governance.openstack.org/tc/reference/technical-vision.html [6] TC Meeting Agenda, Dec 9 2025: https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Meetings/TechnicalCommittee#Next_Meeting