Guide :: Topics

Access Rights - Defines the technical permissions granted to committers, including repository access, voting rights, and release authority.

Activity - Measures the level of ongoing participation in a project, including commits, discussions, reporting, and contributor engagement.

Apache Way - Describes the cultural operating principles of the ASF, including consensus-based decision-making, meritocracy, and community over code.

Approvals - Formal endorsements given through documented votes, typically required for releases, governance changes, and key decisions.

Artifacts - The formal outputs of a release, including source distributions, binaries, cryptographic signatures, and compliance files.

ASF Culture - The shared values and norms of the Apache Software Foundation, including openness, collaboration, and respect for volunteer governance.

ASF Infra - ASF-provided technical services including source code hosting, CI, mailing lists, web services, and authentication systems.

ASF Values - The core ethical and operational values of the ASF, including transparency, merit-based participation, and community-led governance.

Balance - The maintenance of healthy diversity across organisations, contributors, and perspectives within a single project.

Best Practices - Proven and repeatable behaviours that consistently lead to healthy governance, mentoring, and community outcomes.

Board Reports - Formal reports submitted by the Incubator to the ASF Board, summarising podling status, risk, and progress.

Branding - The correct and compliant use of names, logos, and visual identity for ASF and incubating projects.

Branding Practice - How trademark and branding rules are applied in real-world websites, documentation, marketing, and community spaces.

Case Studies - Detailed examinations of real podlings used to extract lessons about governance, community growth, and failure modes.

CLAs - Contributor License Agreements that formally grant the ASF rights to redistribute and manage contributions.

Closure - The final administrative and community steps required to formally wind down a podling or project.

Committer Onboarding

Communication - How information flows through ASF projects using public, archived, and consensus-driven channels.

Community Over Code - The principle that sustainable communities matter more than short-term technical output.

Compliance - Adherence to ASF, legal, and regulatory requirements across licensing, data handling, branding, and governance.

Conflict - Interpersonal or structural disagreements that arise within a podling community and require careful resolution.

Consensus - Decision-making through general agreement rather than formal voting, often using lazy consensus.

Continuity - The stability of mentoring and governance practices through transitions and community change.

Contributors To Committers - The long-term process of growing casual contributors into trusted committers and maintainers.

Criteria - The formal requirements that podlings must meet to graduate or complete major governance milestones.

Cultural Awareness - The ability to collaborate respectfully across languages, national cultures, and social norms.

Culture Check - A reflective assessment of how well an individual or project aligns with ASF cultural expectations.

Data Handling - The responsible collection, storage, and processing of personal or sensitive data within ASF projects.

Decision Making - The formal and informal processes by which choices are proposed, discussed, refined, and approved within podling, PMC, and IPMC governance structures.

Decision Records - The documentation trail of how and why decisions were made, preserved on public mailing lists.

Difficult Conversations - Structured approaches to handling sensitive, corrective, or emotionally charged discussions.

Discussion Topics - The evolving subject matter of conversations on Incubator mailing lists over long time periods.

Diversity - The representation of different backgrounds, organizations, and perspectives within a community.

Engagement - The sustained involvement of contributors in discussions, reviews, releases, and project support.

Expectations - The behavioural, governance, and participation standards placed on contributors, mentors, and podlings.

Feedback - Constructive input intended to improve technical work, behaviour, or governance practices.

General List - Activity on the incubator-general mailing list used as a proxy for IPMC and Incubator-wide engagement.

Getting Started - The first practical operational steps taken by new podlings after acceptance into incubation.

Governance Fundamentals - The structural principles of ASF governance, including autonomy, meritocracy, and public accountability.

Governance Importance - Why well-functioning governance is essential for trust, scalability, and long-term project survival.

Governance Practice - How governance rules and norms are applied in day-to-day project operations.

Governance Risks - Structural or behavioural patterns that threaten project independence or sustainability.

Graduation

Graduation Readiness - Indicators that a podling has achieved sufficient technical, community, and governance maturity to graduate.

Inclusivity - The practice of ensuring broad and fair participation in community decision-making.

Incubation Basics - The fundamental mechanics of how projects operate while in the Apache Incubator.

Incubation Facts - Clarifications that address common misunderstandings about how incubation actually works.

Independence - Freedom of a project to operate without control by any single vendor or individual.

IPMC Processes - The operational workflows used by the Incubator PMC to review, guide, and assess podlings.

IPMC Role - The formal oversight and governance responsibilities of the Incubator PMC.

Joining Incubator - The motivations, trade-offs, and formal process involved in proposing a project for incubation.

Legal Basics - The minimum legal knowledge required to operate compliant ASF projects.

Lessons - Insights derived from historical analysis of podlings and governance outcomes.

Licensing - The governing rules for how code and content may be used, distributed, and combined.

Mailing Lists - The primary public communication mechanism for ASF projects and governance.

Measuring Podling Health - Quantitative and qualitative indicators used to assess podling vitality and risk.

Membership - The role, rights, and expectations of ASF Members in the governance of the Foundation.

Mentor Best Practices - Repeatable mentoring behaviours that consistently lead to positive podling outcomes.

Mentor Checklist - A practical operational list of responsibilities for mentors supporting podlings.

Mentor Offboarding - The structured process of transitioning a mentor out of active podling responsibility.

Mentor Participation - The measured level of engagement and responsiveness of mentors over time.

Mentor Quick Start - A rapid entry guide for new mentors focused on immediate practical responsibilities.

Mentor Reference - A comprehensive reference guide for all aspects of mentoring in the Incubator.

Mentor Replacement - The process of changing mentor assignments to rebalance workload or address gaps.

Mentor Role - The formal scope of responsibility held by Incubator mentors.

Mentor Self Check - A reflective or quiz-based assessment of mentor knowledge and readiness.

Mentoring Basics - The foundational concepts required to mentor effectively within the ASF.

Mentoring Issues - Recurring problems observed in mentoring patterns across podlings.

Misconceptions - Incorrect or oversimplified assumptions commonly held by newcomers about ASF governance, incubation, and community practices.

Onboarding Assessment - A structured evaluation of readiness following onboarding materials.

Oversight - The supervisory role exercised by mentors, PPMCs, and the IPMC.

Oversight Consistency - The degree to which oversight is applied uniformly across podlings.

Patterns - Recurring behavioural or structural trends observed across Incubator history.

PMC Chair - The coordinating role responsible for guiding a project PMC.

Podling Assessment - Systematic evaluation of a podling’s health, risks, and progress.

Podling Health

Podling Orientation - Initial guidance that introduces podlings to ASF expectations and workflows.

Podling Reports - Regular public status updates submitted by podlings to the IPMC.

Post Graduation - The phase of a project’s life after leaving the Incubator.

Ppmc Onboarding

Practical Cases - Real-world applications used to illustrate governance and neutrality concepts.

Privacy

Process - The defined workflow for a formal governance or administrative action.

Project Identity - How a project presents itself clearly and independently within the ASF.

Project Resources - Technical infrastructure and services allocated to a project.

Proposal - The formal document used to apply for entry into the Incubator.

Readiness - Indicators that a project or release is prepared for formal approval.

Real World Examples - Case-based scenarios demonstrating practical ASF governance.

Rebalancing - Adjusting mentor or governance distribution to maintain effective oversight.

Red Flags - Early warning indicators that a podling may be at governance or community risk.

Release Process - The formal sequence required to build and approve an ASF-compliant release.

Release Votes - Formal votes used to approve distributions for public release.

Report Patterns - Common recurring structures found in podling status reports.

Responsibilities - The expected duties associated with governance and contributor roles.

Responsiveness - How quickly and clearly projects respond to community input.

Reviews - The formal evaluation of project state, releases, reporting, or governance.

Roles - Defined positions within ASF project and foundation governance structures.

Scenarios IPMC - Practice-based oversight exercises intended for IPMC training.

Scenarios Mentors - Practice-based decision scenarios for mentor development.

Scenarios Reporting - Simulation-based training for writing and reviewing podling reports.

Scope Check - Understanding the boundaries of governance authority.

Sign Off - Formal confirmation or approval, often given by mentors or PMC members.

Stewardship - Long-term caretaking of project governance and sustainability.

Structure - Organisational layout of ASF project and foundation governance.

Sustainability - A project’s ability to remain active and healthy long-term.

Third Party Use - Use of non-ASF brands, tools, and identities in project materials.

Tickets - Formal requests submitted to ASF Infrastructure for support or changes.

Time Zones - Managing collaboration across globally distributed contributors.

TLP Transition - The formal move from podling to Top-Level Project.

Trademarks

Transition - Governance or role changes over time.

Transparency - Open, publicly documented decision-making processes.

Trends - Long-term behavioural movements observed through data analysis.

Trust - Confidence in community decision-making and governance integrity.

Vendor Neutrality - The principle that no single vendor should dominate a project.

Voting - Formal structured decision-making using +1, 0, and -1 votes.

Warning Signs - Signals that deeper governance or community issues may be emerging.