diff --git a/Documentation/process/contribution-maturity-model.rst b/Documentation/process/contribution-maturity-model.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..b87ab34de22c --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/process/contribution-maturity-model.rst @@ -0,0 +1,109 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +======================================== +Linux Kernel Contribution Maturity Model +======================================== + + +Background +========== + +As a part of the 2021 Linux Kernel Maintainers’ Summit, there was a +`discussion `_ about the challenges in +recruiting kernel maintainers as well as maintainer succession. Some of +the conclusions from that discussion included that companies which are a +part of the Linux Kernel community need to allow engineers to be +maintainers as part of their job, so they can grow into becoming +respected leaders and eventually, kernel maintainers. To support a +strong talent pipeline, developers should be allowed and encouraged to +take on upstream contributions such as reviewing other people’s patches, +refactoring kernel infrastructure, and writing documentation. + +To that end, the Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board (TAB) +proposes this Linux Kernel Contribution Maturity Model. These common +expectations for upstream community engagement aim to increase the +influence of individual developers, increase the collaboration of +organizations, and improve the overall health of the Linux Kernel +ecosystem. + +The TAB urges organizations to continuously evaluate their Open Source +maturity model and commit to improvements to align with this model. To +be effective, this evaluation should incorporate feedback from across +the organization, including management and developers at all seniority +levels. In the spirit of Open Source, we encourage organizations to +publish their evaluations and plans to improve their engagement with the +upstream community. + +Level 0 +======= + +* Software Engineers are not allowed to contribute patches to the Linux + kernel. + + +Level 1 +======= + +* Software Engineers are allowed to contribute patches to the Linux + kernel, either as part of their job responsibilities or on their own + time. + +Level 2 +======= + +* Software Engineers are expected to contribute to the Linux Kernel as + part of their job responsibilities. +* Software Engineers will be supported to attend Linux-related + conferences as a part of their job. +* A Software Engineer’s upstream code contributions will be considered + in promotion and performance reviews. + +Level 3 +======= + +* Software Engineers are expected to review patches (including patches + authored by engineers from other companies) as part of their job + responsibilities +* Contributing presentations or papers to Linux-related or academic + conferences (such those organized by the Linux Foundation, Usenix, + ACM, etc.), are considered part of an engineer’s work. +* A Software Engineer’s community contributions will be considered in + promotion and performance reviews. +* Organizations will regularly report metrics of their open source + contributions and track these metrics over time. These metrics may be + published only internally within the organization, or at the + organization’s discretion, some or all may be published externally. + Metrics that are strongly suggested include: + + * The number of upstream kernel contributions by team or organization + (e.g., all people reporting up to a manager, director, or VP). + * The percentage of kernel developers who have made upstream + contributions relative to the total kernel developers in the + organization. + * The time interval between kernels used in the organization’s servers + and/or products, and the publication date of the upstream kernel + upon which the internal kernel is based. + * The number of out-of-tree commits present in internal kernels. + +Level 4 +======= + +* Software Engineers are encouraged to spend a portion of their work + time focused on Upstream Work, which is defined as reviewing patches, + serving on program committees, improving core project infrastructure + such as writing or maintaining tests, upstream tech debt reduction, + writing documentation, etc. +* Software Engineers are supported in helping to organize Linux-related + conferences. +* Organizations will consider community member feedback in official + performance reviews. + +Level 5 +======= + +* Upstream kernel development is considered a formal job position, with + at least a third of the engineer’s time spent doing Upstream Work. +* Organizations will actively seek out community member feedback as a + factor in official performance reviews. +* Organizations will regularly report internally on the ratio of + Upstream Work to work focused on directly pursuing business goals. diff --git a/Documentation/process/index.rst b/Documentation/process/index.rst index d4b6217472b0..33715da7e684 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/index.rst @@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ Other guides to the community that are of interest to most developers are: embargoed-hardware-issues maintainers researcher-guidelines + contribution-maturity-model These are some overall technical guides that have been put here for now for lack of a better place. diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS index 8d5bc223f305..3ce66e199c97 100644 --- a/MAINTAINERS +++ b/MAINTAINERS @@ -21244,6 +21244,14 @@ S: Maintained F: Documentation/tools/rtla/ F: tools/tracing/rtla/ +TECHNICAL ADVISORY BOARD PROCESS DOCS +M: "Theodore Ts'o" +M: Greg Kroah-Hartman +L: tech-board-discuss@lists.linux-foundation.org +S: Maintained +F: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst +F: Documentation/process/contribution-maturity-model.rst + TRADITIONAL CHINESE DOCUMENTATION M: Hu Haowen L: linux-doc-tw-discuss@lists.sourceforge.net (moderated for non-subscribers)