Dear Flink devs, As you may have heard, we at Alibaba (Ververica) are planning to donate CDC Connectors for the Apache Flink project[1] to the Apache Flink community.
CDC Connectors for Apache Flink comprise a collection of source connectors designed specifically for Apache Flink. These connectors[2] enable the ingestion of changes from various databases using Change Data Capture (CDC), most of these CDC connectors are powered by Debezium[3]. They support both the DataStream API and the Table/SQL API, facilitating the reading of database snapshots and continuous reading of transaction logs with exactly-once processing, even in the event of failures. Additionally, in the latest version 3.0, we have introduced many long-awaited features. Starting from CDC version 3.0, we've built a Streaming ELT Framework available for streaming data integration. This framework allows users to write their data synchronization logic in a simple YAML file, which will automatically be translated into a Flink DataStreaming job. It emphasizes optimizing the task submission process and offers advanced functionalities such as whole database synchronization, merging sharded tables, and schema evolution[4]. I believe this initiative is a perfect match for both sides. For the Flink community, it presents an opportunity to enhance Flink's competitive advantage in streaming data integration, promoting the healthy growth and prosperity of the Apache Flink ecosystem. For the CDC Connectors project, becoming a sub-project of Apache Flink means being part of a neutral open-source community, which can attract a more diverse pool of contributors. Please note that the aforementioned points represent only some of our motivations and vision for this donation. Specific future operations need to be further discussed in this thread. For example, the sub-project name after the donation; we hope to name it Flink-CDC aiming to streaming data intergration through Apache Flink, following the naming convention of Flink-ML; And this project is managed by a total of 8 maintainers, including 3 Flink PMC members and 1 Flink Committer. The remaining 4 maintainers are also highly active contributors to the Flink community, donating this project to the Flink community implies that their permissions might be reduced. Therefore, we may need to bring up this topic for further discussion within the Flink PMC. Additionally, we need to discuss how to migrate existing users and documents. We have a user group of nearly 10,000 people and a multi-version documentation site need to migrate. We also need to plan for the migration of CI/CD processes and other specifics. While there are many intricate details that require implementation, we are committed to progressing and finalizing this donation process. Despite being Flink’s most active ecological project (as evaluated by GitHub metrics), it also boasts a significant user base. However, I believe it's essential to commence discussions on future operations only after the community reaches a consensus on whether they desire this donation. Really looking forward to hear what you think! Best, Leonard (on behalf of the Flink CDC Connectors project maintainers) [1] https://github.com/ververica/flink-cdc-connectors [2] https://ververica.github.io/flink-cdc-connectors/master/content/overview/cdc-connectors.html [3] https://debezium.io [4] https://ververica.github.io/flink-cdc-connectors/master/content/overview/cdc-pipeline.html
