Open Stack

On Tue, Dec 3, 2019, at 12:05 PM, Clark Boylan wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> 
> The OpenDev project has been running semi formally for about a year 
> now. During this time we have tried to accomodate the
> needs of our various constituent projects, but we've still (for the 
> most part) formally operated under OpenStack's governance.
> In order to better serve the projects we host that are not OpenStack we 
> think it is important for OpenDev to become an
> independent entity with its own governance structure.
> 
> In James Blair's winterscale email [0] he suggested that we create a 
> governing council made up of the OpenDev PTL and
> a representative from each of the OpenStack Foundation's official 
> projects that currently consume OpenDev resources
> (currently OpenStack itself, Airship, and Zuul). This suggestion 
> creates two levels of governance for the OpenDev team.
> 
> The first is the position of PTL for the OpenDev project. If we want to 
> continue to manage this position as we've managed it
> for the OpenStack Infra team, then we can have elections for the 
> position every 6 months. The nominee pool and electorate
> would be individuals that have contributed changes to OpenDev in the 
> last 12 months.
> 
> For the council, membership would be small, but I think demands on this 
> group would also be minimal. Ideally the OpenDev team
> would be left to figure out technical details for services and this 
> council would be used as a check on service changes or
> other behavioral updates that affect how OpenDev's users interact with 
> the system. Since this group would be starting with
> an even number of individuals we may need to determine tie breaker 
> requirements upfront. Also, we may want to consider
> if the "else" group of OpenDev users need a voice. Individuals 
> representing constituent projects should be nominated by
> their project leadership.
> 
> As for next steps, I think we want to sort out these governance details 
> to where we are generally happy with them, then we
> can make the formal request to the OpenStack TC to pull anchor and sail 
> a bit more independently.
> 
> Feedback is more than welcome,
> Clark
> 
> [0] http://lists.openstack.org/pipermail/openstack-dev/2018-May/130896.html

Incorporating feedback I've produced this revised proposal:

The OpenDev project will be governed by two entities. The first is the service coordinator. Responsibilities for the service coordinator are essentially the same of the existing Infra team PTL. They coordinate work of contributors and act as a tie breaker when clear consensus isn't found.

The service coordinator is elected every 6 months. The nominee pool and electorate are individuals that have contributed changes to OpenDev in the last 12 months.

The second is an advisory board made up of representatives from OpenDev's user base of projects and organizations that contribute compute resources. This advisory board provides a formal location for both our users and contributing orgs to express their needs to the OpenDev project. This creates a clear contact point for  feedback on priorities and direction. Their input will help ensure that the OpenDev project is a good steward of the resources provided to it and that user needs are being addressed.

Contributing orgs and user projects are not required to join the advisory board, but are encouraged to do so. Individuals on the  board would be selected by their own constituency as that constituency feels is appropriate.

The advisory board will also serve as a point of contact for  the OpenDev project when making changes that may be disruptive. The intent is to create bidirectional communication between OpenDev and the advisory board.

How does this look?

Clark