"discuss" <discuss-boun...@openvswitch.org> wrote on 06/19/2016 02:35:34 PM:
> From: Ben Pfaff <b...@ovn.org> > To: discuss@openvswitch.org, d...@openvswitch.org > Date: 06/19/2016 02:54 PM > Subject: Re: [ovs-discuss] Request for comments on Open vSwitch > joining the Linux Foundation > Sent by: "discuss" <discuss-boun...@openvswitch.org> > > [adding ovs-dev] > > On Sun, Jun 19, 2016 at 09:36:47AM -0700, Ben Pfaff wrote: > > Since roughly October, some of the OVS committers have been talking over > > the idea of bringing Open vSwitch into a foundation. Originally the > > group discussing the idea was Justin, Russell, Thomas, and me, but we > > later expanded it to include all of the OVS committers. > > > > The kinds of changes we're interested in include transferring > > ownership of the openvswitch.org and ovn.org domain names, hosting and > > administration of the website, mailing lists, and forwarding email > > addresses for ovn.org, formalizing the existing processes for adding > > and removing committers, and obtaining support for organizing the > > annual Open vSwitch conference. Possibly, OVS could benefit from > > joining a foundation in other ways, such as trademark registration, > > founding a centralized test or performance lab, etc., but those > > potential benefits have not been our focus. > > > > We think that Open vSwitch development works quite well as a rule and > > we have no desire to disrupt that, so we also have a list of changes > > that we do *not* want to make. These include introducing new > > processes for committers such as requiring copyright assignments or > > CLAs (contributor license agreements), significant changes to other > > policies and processes we have that are working, and significant > > technical changes to our repositories on the basis of e.g. legal > > requirements from a foundation. > > > > One option is to form our own foundation. To do this right, it would > > be a lot of work. We did not seriously pursue this possibility. > > > > We seriously considered three options: > > > > - Apache Software Foundation. We had a call with members of the > > Apache board. Apache would offer OVS all of the services that > > we want. (They contract with the Linux Foundation to handle > > events such as conferences.) However, they are very "cookie > > cutter" in that every Apache project is expected to fit into its > > strictly defined model. This would be difficult for OVS. For > > example, the only acceptable license is the Apache license, > > which means that the Linux kernel portions of the OVS project > > would have to be broken out into a separate repository and could > > not be officially part of the project. (We asked specifically > > about this.) As a second example, Apache requires use of their > > CLA and all of the committers would be required to sign it and > > to get their employers to sign it. We considered these issues > > to be too disruptive to the project. > > > > - Software in the Public Interest (spi-inc.org), aka SPI, the > > parent of the Debian project. In many ways it is almost the > > diametric opposite of the Apache Software Foundation. Projects > > have a lot of freedom to operate as they choose, which is a > > positive, but on the other hand SPI does not provide much in the > > way of services. SPI could accept assets such as domain names, > > and hold donations, but it's questionable whether SPI could > > relieve us from burdens in hosting and administering even > > mailing lists, and we could not expect help in running events. > > > > - Linux Foundation (LF). We held calls and meetings with LF > > executive director Jim Zemlin and vice president Mike Dolan. LF > > has all the services we're interested in. For established > > projects, like OVS, they aim to avoid disrupting processes and > > policies that work, so we could retain, unchanged, most of the > > existing OVS governance. > > > > We came to consensus among our small group and then among the > > committers in joining the Linux Foundation. Since then, we've > > iterated through a few versions of a proposed charter for the Open > > vSwitch project within Linux Foundation. I'm attaching a PDF of the > > most recent version. The committers have come to informal consensus > > in favor of this charter. VMware, which owns or employs owners of > > some OVS-related assets, is also on board. > > > > Here's my summary of the document. Very little is changing. Under > > the LF, OVS would have a technical steering committee (TSC), whose > > membership is the current OVS committers. OVS retains its existing > > documented procedures. The most important of these is the procedure > > for adding new committers, in which existing committers nominate new > > ones based on their contributions to the project. The details are > > here: > > > > https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/blob/master/Documentation/ > committer-grant-revocation.md > > > > The OVS committers span a number of organizations and specialties and > > represent the top contributors to the project. A current list is > > included in the main repo: > > > > https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/blob/master/MAINTAINERS.md > > > > Inclusion in the group of committers is tied to an individual's > > contributions, not their affiliation. > > > > LF expects OVS to be a rather small budgetary burden, due to the > > project's simple structure. The TSC will coordinate with LF for any > > budgetary needs. > > > > At this point, I'd like to suggest that people read over the draft > > and, if you have comments, bring them up here for discussion. After > > allowing time for discussion, the committers will hold a vote on > > joining the Linux Foundation. I believe that that is the final step > > in the plan. > > > > Ben Pfaff (on behalf of all the OVS committers) > > > > P.S. Please ignore the dates in the charter. We will update them. It doesn't look like the charter PDF is attached to the copy of mail sent to ovs-dev. The charter PDF can be found attached to [1]. Ryan [1] http://openvswitch.org/pipermail/discuss/2016-June/021761.html
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