This governance policy describes how an open source project can formally join LF Energy via the Project Proposal Process. It describes the Stages a project may be admitted under and what the criteria and expectations are for a given stage, as well as the acceptance criteria for a project to move from one stage to another. It also describes the Annual Review Process through which those changes will be evaluated and made.
Project Progression - movement from one stage to another - allows projects to participate at the level that is most appropriate for them given where they are in their lifecycle. Regardless of stage, all LF Energy projects benefit from a deepened alignment with existing projects, and access to mentorship, support, and foundation resources.
For more information about how your project can benefit from LF Energy membership and services, please see Incubation Requirements.
Incubation projects are projects which the TAC believes are, or have the potential to be, important to the ecosystem of Projects or ecosystem as a whole. They may be early-stage projects just getting started, or they may be long-established projects with minimal resource needs. The Incubation stage provides a beneficial, neutral home for these projects in order to foster collaborative development and provide a path to deeper alignment with other LF Energy projects via the graduation process.
End users should evaluate Incubation projects with care, as this stage does not set requirements for community size, governance, or production readiness. Incubation projects receive minimal support from the LF Energy. Projects are reviewed on an annual basis; they may also request a status review by submitting a report to the TAC.
To be considered for the Incubation Stage, the project must meet the following requirements:
The Early Adoption stage is for projects that are interested in reaching the Graduated Stage, and have identified a growth plan for doing so. Early Adoption stage projects receive mentorship from the TAC and are expected to actively develop their community of contributors, governance, project documentation, and other variables identified in the growth plan that factor in to broad success and adoption.
In order to support their active development, projects in the Early Adoption stage have a higher level of access to Foundation resources, which are agreed upon and reviewed on a yearly basis. A project's progress toward its growth plan goals will be reviewed on a yearly basis, and the TAC may ask the project to move back to the Incubation stage if progress on the plan drops off or stalls.
Projects in the Early Adoption stage are generally expected to move to the Graduated stage within two years. Depending on their growth plans, projects may cycle through Incubation, Early Adoption, or Graduated stage as needed.
To be considered for Early Adoption Stage, the project must meet the Incubation requirements as well as the following:
The Graduated Stage is for projects that have reached their growth goals and are now on a sustaining cycle of development, maintenance, and long-term support. Graduated Stage projects are used commonly in enterprise production environments and have large, well-established project communities.
Graduated Stage projects are expected to participate actively in TAC proceedings, and as such have a binding vote on TAC matters requiring a formal vote, such as the election of a TAC representative. They receive ongoing financial and marketing support from LF Energy, and are expected to cross promote the foundation along with their activities.
To graduate from Incubation or Early Adoption status, or for a new project to join with Graduated status, a project must meet the Early Adoption stage criteria plus:
Emeritus projects are projects which the maintainers feel have reached or are nearing end-of-life. Emeritus projects have contributed to the ecosystem, but are not necessarily recommended for modern development as there may be more actively maintained choices. LF Energy appreciates the contributions of these projects and their communities, and the role they have played in moving the ecosystem forward.
Projects in this stage are not in active development. Their maintainers may infrequently monitor their repositories, and may only push updates to address security issues, if at all. Emeritus projects should clearly state their status and what any user or contributor should expect in terms of response or support. If there is an alternative project the maintainers recommend, it should be listed as well. The foundation will continue to hold the IP and any trademarks and domains, but the project does not draw on foundation resources.
Projects may be granted Emeritus status via a 2/3 vote from the TAC and with approval from project ownership. In cases where there is a lack of project ownership, only a 2/3 vote from the TAC is required.
This governance policy sets forth the proposal process for projects to be accepted into LF Energy. The process is the same for both existing projects which seek to move into LF Energy and new projects to be formed within LF Energy.
Projects must be formally proposed via GitHub. For more details see Project Proposals.
The TAC shall develop an annual review process to determine whether projects are in the stage that accurately reflects their needs and goals.