Good Governance Practices for CNCF Projects

Practical advice to create neutral, fair governance structures and processes for open-source projects

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Too many maintainers think they don’t need governance … until something goes wrong. Undefined or inadequate governance results in a lack of transparency that causes confusion over how decisions are made, unrealistic expectations, and unresolved disagreements. The CNCF helps projects adopt good governance practices with a focus on fair and transparent governance from sandbox to incubating to graduated.

This talk will cover:

  • Why governance is important
  • Selecting an appropriate governance model
  • Templates with patterns that work well to bootstrap CNCF projects
  • The role of mission, values, and scope in setting expectations
  • Defining roles, responsibilities, processes, and procedures within your governance model
  • Contributor ladders to help people move into leadership positions
  • The governance pros and cons of contributing a project to the CNCF

The audience will get practical advice about creating fair and neutral governance structures and processes for open-source projects.


Last modified July 3, 2022: move all pages into sidebar format (40c25c9)