governance/reference/popup-teams.rst

2.6 KiB

Popup teams

The work to produce OpenStack software is organized around projects/index which are responsible for producing the various deliverables up to release. However, some features or architectural changes need to be coordinated across multiple project teams to be considered successfully completed. To drive this work for the duration of those specific objectives, contributors can temporarily set up Popup teams.

Popup teams are lightweight structures that are recognized by the Technical Committee as pursuing a goal considered desirable for OpenStack. Beyond extra visibility and recognition, popup teams are also assigned an experienced community member to help them establish or grow connections necessary to the success of their work.

When they are formed, popup teams should have at least two leaders, a clear objective, a limited number of affected project teams, and a clear disband criteria. If the team does not have a clear time-limited objective, they should be set up as Special Interest Groups (SIGs) instead. If an objective affects most project teams, it should be made light enough to fit in the ../goals/index process instead.

Current OpenStack popup teams

None.

Process for addition or removal

Proposed modifications to this document, such as addition or removal of a popup team, require a formal vote from the Technical Committee membership.

TC members should evaluate if the popup team objective, as described in this document, appears to be beneficial to the OpenStack project and worth supporting. The TC's role is not to vet popup teams implementation specs, which will likely be produced by the team once it is set up. The TC should err on the side of accepting rather than denying: only vetting teams that are 100% sure of completing their objective would put too much of an upfront barrier to entry.

If the popup team is supported and added to this document, the TC is responsible for seeking a volunteer experienced sponsor to help the new popup team be successful and act as a liaison with the TC.

Popup teams are removed from this document in three different cases:

  • They may become abandoned (for example if nobody volunteers to lead the effort).
  • The specification work may end up revealing that implementation is too complex or makes the objective not desirable.
  • The popup team may fulfill its original disband criteria.

None of those outcomes should be seen as a failure. Experimentation and discussion around a desirable outcome is always good.