1# Linkerd Governance
2
3This document defines project governance for Linkerd.
4
5> The Linkerd maintainers are 100% committed to open governance and to being
6> hosted by a neutral foundation. We believe that a diverse and active set of
7> maintainers is fundamental to the long-term health of an open source project.
8> And we want YOU to join us.
9
10— [Linkerd's Commitment to Open
11Governance](https://linkerd.io/2019/10/03/linkerds-commitment-to-open-governance/)
12
13## Contributors
14
15Linkerd is for everyone. Anyone can become a Linkerd contributor simply by
16contributing to the project, whether through code, documentation, blog posts,
17community management, or other means. As with all Linkerd community members,
18contributors are expected to follow the [Linkerd Code of
19Conduct][coc].
20
21All contributions to Linkerd code, documentation, or other components in the
22Linkerd GitHub org must follow the guidelines in [CONTRIBUTING.md][contrib].
23Whether these contributions are merged into the project is the prerogative of
24the maintainers.
25
26## Directors
27
28Directors are responsible for non-technical leadership functions within the
29project. This includes representing Linkerd and its maintainers to the
30community, to press, and to the outside world; interfacing with CNCF and other
31governance entities; and participating in project decision-making processes when
32appropriate.
33
34Directors may be elected by a majority vote of the maintainers.
35
36## Maintainers
37
38Maintainers have the ability to merge code into the project. Anyone can
39become a Linkerd maintainer (see "Becoming a maintainer" below.)
40
41### Expectations
42
43Linkerd maintainers are expected to:
44
45* Review pull requests, triage issues, and fix bugs in their areas of
46 expertise, ensuring that all changes go through the project's code review
47 and integration processes.
48* Monitor cncf-linkerd-* emails and the Linkerd Slack, and help out when
49 possible.
50* Rapidly respond to any time-sensitive security release processes.
51* Attend meetings with the Linkerd Steering Committee.
52
53If a maintainer is no longer interested in or cannot perform the duties
54listed above, they should move themselves to emeritus status. If necessary,
55this can also occur through the decision-making process outlined below.
56
57### Becoming a maintainer
58
59Anyone can become a Linkerd maintainer. Maintainers should be extremely
60proficient in Go and/or Rust; have relevant domain expertise; have the time
61and ability to meet the maintainer expectations above; and demonstrate the
62ability to work with the existing maintainers and project processes.
63
64To become a maintainer, start by expressing interest to existing maintainers.
65Existing maintainers will then ask you to demonstrate the qualifications
66above by contributing PRs, doing code reviews, and other such tasks under
67their guidance. After several months of working together, maintainers will
68decide whether to grant maintainer status.
69
70## Project decision-making process
71
72Ideally, all project decisions are resolved by consensus of maintainers and
73directors. If this is not possible, a vote will be called. The voting process is
74a simple majority in which each maintainer and director receives one vote.
75
76[coc]: https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd/wiki/Linkerd-code-of-conduct
77[contrib]: https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
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