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doc: Governance Roles #415

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doc: Governance Roles #415

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43 changes: 37 additions & 6 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
* [Governance](#governance)
* [Developers](#developers)
* [Contributor](#contributor)
* [Maintainer](#maintainer)
* [Committer](#committer)
* [Admin](#admin)
* [Owner](#owner)
* [Architecture Committee](#architecture-committee)
* [Architecture Committee Meetings](#architecture-committee-meetings)
* [Vendoring code](#vendoring-code)
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -70,19 +72,48 @@ The Kata Containers project is governed according to the ["four opens"](https://

## Developers

For code contributors, there are currently two roles relevant to project governance:
For Kata developers, there are several roles relevant to project governance:

### Contributor

A Contributor to the Kata Containers project is someone who has had code merged within the last 12 months. Contributors are eligible to vote in the Architecture Committee elections. Contributors have read only access to the Kata Containers repos on GitHub.

### Maintainer
### Committer

A Maintainer has the ability to merge code into the Kata Containers project. Maintainers are active Contributors and participants in the projects. In order to become a Maintainer, you must be nominated and approved by the established Maintainers. Maintainers have write access to the Kata Containers repos on GitHub.
Kata Containers Committers (as defined by the [kata-containers-committer team](https://github.com/orgs/kata-containers/teams/kata-containers-committer))
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Note that this link isn't public - you have to be an org member to access it. We may or may not want to keep it here.

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So I think we'd also publish the proposed committers twice a year under these proposals. I think for github permissions we have to have that team as the primary source of committers though.

have the ability to merge code into the Kata Containers project.
Committers are active Contributors and participants in the project. In order to become a Committer, you must be nominated by established Committer and approved by quorum of the active Architecture Committee via an issue against the community repo
e.g. https://github.com/kata-containers/community/issues/403. Committers have write access to the Kata Containers repos on GitHub, which
gives the ability to approve PRs, trigger the CI and merge PRs.

One of the requirements to be a committer is that you are an active Contributor to the project as adjudged by the above criteria. Assessing the list of active Contributors happens twice a year,
lining up with the Architecture Committee election cycle. At that time, people who are in the kata-containers-committer team will also be reviewed, and a list of people, who are on the team,
but who haven't been an active Contributor in the last 12 months will be created and shared with the Architecture Committee and community.
After a short review period, to allow time to check for any errors, inactive team members will be removed.

> [!Note]
> See [issue #413](https://github.com/kata-containers/community/issues/413) for a potential change in how active contribution is assessed.

### Admin

Kata Containers Admins (as defined by the [kata-containers-admin team](https://github.com/orgs/kata-containers/teams/kata-containers-admin) have admin access to
the kata-containers repo, allowing them to do actions like, change the branch protection rules for repositories, delete a repository and manage the access of others.
The Admin group is intentionally kept small, however, individuals can be granted temporary admin access to carry out tasks, like creating a secret that is used in a particular CI infrastructure.
The Admin list is reviewed and updated after each Architecture Committee election and typically contains:
- The Architecture Committee
- Optionally, some specific people that the Architecture Committee agree on adding for a specific purpose (e.g. to manage the CI)
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@fidencio fidencio Oct 23, 2024 •
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I understand we're taking a security measure to prevent something to happen. However, the community has always been based on trust and work being done.

Having this feels like we're shooting ourselves in the foot, as either you're an AC member, member of OIF, or you depend on their own criteria (regardless of them being actually active or not) to decide who'll be actually helping the project.

Now, if we want to go through a formal process, I'd strongly recommend that any change in the admin side would have to go through a vote and the majority of the admins would have to agree before it happens (including secrets being added, machines being added, PRs being merged, etc). The malicious actor may come from anywhere, including AC / OIF.


### Owner

GitHub organization owners have complete admin access to the organization, and therefore this group is limited to a small number of individuals, for security reasons.
The owners list is reviewed and updated after each Architecture Committee election and contains:
- The Community Manager and one, or more extra people from the `OpenInfra Foundation` for redundancy and vacation cover
- The Architecture Committee
- Optionally, some specific people that the Architecture Committee agree on adding for a specific purpose (e.g. to help with repo/CI migration)

## Architecture Committee

The Architecture Committee is responsible for architectural decisions, including standardization, and making final decisions if Maintainers disagree. It is comprised of 7 members, who are elected by contributors.
The Architecture Committee is responsible for architectural decisions, including standardization, and making final decisions if Committers disagree. It is comprised of 7 members, who are elected by Contributors.

The current Architecture Committee members are:

Expand All @@ -96,7 +127,7 @@ The current Architecture Committee members are:

Architecture Committee elections take place in the Autumn (3 seats available) and in the Spring (4 seats available). Anyone who has made contributions to the project will be eligible to run, and anyone who has had code merged into the Kata Containers project in the 12 months (a Contributor) before the election will be eligible to vote. There are no term limits, but in order to encourage diversity, no more than 2 of the 7 seats can be filled by any one organization.

The exact size and model for the Architecture Committee may evolve over time based on the needs and growth of the project, but the governing body will always be committed to openness, diversity and the principle that technical decisions are made by technical contributors.
The exact size and model for the Architecture Committee may evolve over time based on the needs and growth of the project, but the governing body will always be committed to openness, diversity and the principle that technical decisions are made by technical Contributors.

See [the elections documentation](elections) for further details.

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