Hi all,
In an offline discussion the lab stewards
were asked what the exact responsibility of a lab sponsor is. The current
documentation doesn't really say anything, it just says that a lab proposal
must have a sponsor.
The question triggered a discussion
among the stewards which led to various tasks being proposed including:
- Determining when/if a lab should attempt
to progress to a full-blown project within Hyperledger
- Determining when/if a lab has reached
the end of life and would be something that should be archived (in conjunction
with the lab stewards)
- Reporting to the TSC about the status
of the lab
- To believe in the project. Questioning
and guiding the project so that the aims are concrete. Ensure this before
the proposal hits the labs, the sponsor has to be convinced before s/he
signs on.
- Help the project participants write
its proposal, guiding them.
- Keep tabs on the ongoing work, helping
spread the word in the wider community to encourage participation as well
as look for adoption in various venues
- Generally function as a mentor.
However, I fear that putting so much
responsibility on the sponsors which only a few people qualify for risks
to seriously limit the number of labs we can manage, which is contrary
to the whole idea.
My understanding was that the primary
responsibility of the sponsor was to endorse the proposal because the idea
was brought up when we were discussing ways to avoid the labs becoming
a dumping ground for everything and anything people might want to propose.
So, I take the sponsorship role to be primarily about making a first assessment
of a proposal and backing it up by putting their name behind it.
I have no problem with sponsors doing more if they choose to of course,
I just don't want that to become a requirement. So I would be happy to
define the role of sponsors as something like:
The role of the sponsor is to officially endorse the proposed lab, indicating
in doing so that they believe the proposal is worthy of being given a space
among the hyperledger labs. Sponsors may also serve as mentors to the project
but how much sponsors are involved in the lab beyond its launch is up to
them.
Tracy suggested I put that up for the
TSC to consider. So, here we go.
I would appreciate if this could be
put on the TSC agenda along with my previous proposal to extend the list
of possible sponsors to include the staff which is somewhat related and
which has fallen off the radar.
Thanks
--
Arnaud Le Hors - Senior Technical Staff Member, Web & Blockchain
Open Technologies - IBM
