From 5b6914076017498f69c5ec7948128f44ae429d46 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Sterz Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:39:48 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] docs: define multi-organisational maintainer minimums and vendor neutrality cap MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit To ensure the long-term sustainability of our projects, we need to mitigate the "bus factor"—the risk that a project might stall if a single leader or company withdraws. I propose we restore the requirement for cross-organisational collaboration, which aligns nicely with open-source best practices. This requirement is crucial for fulfilling NeoNephos goal of prioritizing "independence from proprietary components and from single vendor owned open source projects". Mandating a diverse, multi-organisational maintainer base guarantees that "contribution and proven technical leadership matter more than company affiliation," helping us prevent vendor lock-in and uphold European digital sovereignty. Signed-off-by: David Sterz --- lifecycle-policy/project-lifecycle-policy.md | 4 ++-- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/lifecycle-policy/project-lifecycle-policy.md b/lifecycle-policy/project-lifecycle-policy.md index a271772..5340bd7 100644 --- a/lifecycle-policy/project-lifecycle-policy.md +++ b/lifecycle-policy/project-lifecycle-policy.md @@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ Projects in the Growth stage are generally expected to move out of the Growth st ##### Acceptance Criteria -The TAC has not yet defined requirements for the Growth Stage. +* The project must demonstrate a substantial ongoing flow of commits and merged contributions, driven by a minimum of three active maintainers from at least two different organisations ##### Approval Process @@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ Graduated Stage projects are expected to participate actively in TAC proceedings ##### Acceptance Criteria -The TAC has not yet defined requirements for the Graduated Stage. +* The project must have a defined governing body (TSC or equivalent) of which no single organisation holds a majority (>50%) of the voting seats ##### Approval Process