Incubation Process - R1
Inspired by Apache, via Globus
Initial Working Document
As of February 2009 the process as documented here is being used by the IWG to bring outstanding candidates, proposals and contributions into official JASIG status.
Projects started from scratch in Jasig world are handled the same as other incubating projects.
Portlets are also handled as regular incubating projects.
Outstanding issues
Organization and clean up of current Jasig svn repository
What happens to the proposal artifacts if incubation is terminated?
What about unsponsored contributions?
Overview
Proposals for incubation are submitted and tracked via jira.
The IWG reviews incoming proposals and accepts or declines each incubation request.
IWG works with the Project Lead to meet criteria to exit incubation as a Jasig Sponsored project.
IWG reviews incubating projects quarterly and determines whether to recommend the project for sponsorship based on exit-criteria, continue incubation or terminate incubation.
Click the thumbnail to see a graph of the incubation process flow.
Nomenclature
Sponsored Project | Official JASIG project governed by an elected steering committee and supported by a community of users and developers |
|---|---|
Incubation Process | The Jasig Incubation Process is holistically the activities and mechanism whereby open source software projects are proposed, incubated, evaluated, progressed, and become full-fledged Jasig sponsored projects. The incubation process may also be applied to new software contributions related to existing sponsored projects. Software that relates to an existing project is transferred to the existing project steering committee for incubation and governance. |
Incubation WG | The Incubation Working Group (Incubation WG) are the people who oversee this process. (Also known as IWG). The IWG is also responsible for periodic review of Unsponsored Contributions. |
Proposal | Proposal submitted to IWG containing basic information specified below. IWG will determine whether the candidate will proceed to Incubating Project, Unsponsored Contribution, or to Incubation Declined. The Proposal may be for a new project to be developed under the auspices of JASIG or an existing project seeking Jasig sponsorship |
Incubating Project | Software to be incubated, progressing through Incubated Project status and ideally emerging as a fully-fledged Sponsored Project. |
Project Lead | Individual making to incubation request. The IWG will work with this person to complete the tasks to exit incubation and become a Sponsored Project. |
Mentor | The Mentor is a particular person assigned by the Incubation Working Group to shepherd a candidate project through incubation. Initially the members of the IWG will perform the mentor role. In the long term when the incubation process matures mentors will be recruited from the Jasig community. |
Board | The Jasig Board leads Jasig, overseeing and supporting the Working Group and the process they execute |
Unsponsored | In some cases, software may be contributed without a sponsoring project. Such a contribution may exist indefinitely without becoming a Sponsored Project. Periodic review of unsponsored contributions is the responsibility of the Incubation WG. Software related to a Sponsored Project also may end up in as an Unsponsored Contribution when the Project steering committee decides it is not a viable component. |
Need to document use of svn repository WRT incubation
The Jasig Incubation Working Group (IWG)
The Jasig Incubation Working Group will establish and maintain policy and procedures related to the contribution of technical material to Jasig.
The Jasig Incubation Working Group will oversee the execution of the process through which new projects move from a Candidate Project to an accepted Incubated Project, through review, to a fully sponsored project. The IWG is responsible for
assisting proposed projects in conforming to Jasig guidelines
assigning a Project Mentor, a member of the Jasig community assigned to help the Incubated Project reach acceptance
evaluating progress of the Incubated Project on a regular quarterly basis and recommending escalation to a sponsored project, continued support, or retirement, according to established criteria
recommending unsponsorship of projects
annual review of Unsponsored Contributions
Incubation Process
This process describes how a candidate project or contribution would progress from submission to full acceptance as a Jasig Project.
1. Proposal Submitted
A Candidate submission for Incubation, or Non-Project Specific Contrib is proposed to the Incubation WG via the creation of a jira issue. See jira-use. The jira may be accompanied by a proposal sent to incubation@ja-sig.org which contains basic information, described below. A Candidate submission for Project Specific Contribution is proposed directly to the relevant Project Steering Committee.
Information to be submitted with Proposal
Description | New Project | Existing Project | Unsponsored |
|---|---|---|---|
A proposed name for the project |
|
|
|
The short preface for the mailing lists, if this project is accepted (*-dev, *-user, etc); Incubating portlets will use the existing portlet mailing lists |
|
|
|
A proposed Project Lead, with contact information |
|
|
|
A list of the proposed initial committers for the project if available |
|
|
|
An overview of the aims of the project |
|
|
|
A technology overview if known |
|
|
|
An overview of any current user base or user community |
|
|
|
An overview of how the project relates to other parts of Jasig |
|
|
|
A summary of why the project would enhance and benefit higher education |
|
|
|
A pointer to any current information (for example, an existing Web page) for the project |
|
|
|
A project Liaison (Jasig Board Member, Member of an existing Project Steering Committee, a Jasig Institutional Representative) who recommends the incubation of this project to Jasig |
|
|
|