This document outlines the mission, scope, and objectives of the Kubernetes Steering Committee.
The Kubernetes Steering Committee is the governing body of the Kubernetes project, providing decision-making and oversight pertaining to the Kubernetes project bylaws, sub-organizations, and financial planning. The Steering Committee also defines the project values and structure.
- Adapt the role and structure of the Steering Committee as needed to meet the needs of the project.
- Responsibilities not explicitly delegated to other parties2 through their charters reside with the Steering Committee.
- All management1 responsibilities should be delegated to other parties2.
- All technical responsibilities should be delegated to SIGs (i.e. the SC shouldn't retain technical responsibilities itself).
The following responsibilities belong directly to the Steering Committee.
- Through the chartering review process, delegate ownership of, responsibility for and authority over areas of the project to specific entities2.
- Define, evolve, and defend the non-technical vision / mission and the values of the project.
- Charter and refine policy for defining new community groups3, and establish transparency and accountability policies for such groups
- Define and evolve project and group3 governance structures and policies4.
- Act as a final non-technical escalation point for any Kubernetes repository5.
- Request funds and other support from the CNCF (e.g. marketing, press, etc.)
- Define and enforce requirements for community groups3 to be in good standing such as having an approved charter.
The following responsibilities belong to the Steering Committe, but may be delegated in the future.
- Coordinate with the CNCF regarding usage of the Kubernetes brand and deciding which things can be called “Kubernetes”, as well as how that mark can be used in relation to other efforts or vendors.
- Decide, for the purpose of elections, who is a member of standing of the Kubernetes project, and what privileges that entails.
- Control and delegate access to and establish processes regarding any Kubernetes repository5
- Control and delegate access to and establish processes regarding project resources/assets6
In instances where a process is not already specified within this document, changes to the Steering Committee charter will be considered according to the processes set forth in the committee's operations documentation.
The Steering Committee is composed of seven (7) members.
Every year, the Steering Committee holds a general election for open seats with SIG Contributor Experience owning the process.
Our election policy document covers the details for how this works.
In the instance that a general election is called as a result of the dissolution of the current committee, the following rules will apply:
- members of the current committee will not be allowed to run in the new election
- a new committee will be bootstrapped with:
- the top four candidates serving a two-year term
- the next three candidates serving a one-year team
Policy and operations of special elections initiated by the Steering Committee for other reasons (as yet to be determined) may be handled by some agreed-upon process by the committee.
In the event of a resignation or other loss of an elected steering committee member, the candidate with the next most votes from the previous election will be offered the seat. This process will continue until the seat is filled.
In case this fails to fill the seat, a special election for that position will be held as soon as possible. Eligible voters from the most recent election will vote in the special election i.e., eligibility will not be redetermined at the time of the special election. A committee member elected in a special election will serve out the remainder of the term for the person they are replacing, regardless of the length of that remainder.
If a committee member chooses not to continue in their role, for whatever self-elected reason, they must notify the committee in writing.
If committee members believe that the committee is no longer able to act in accordance with the above mission, the committee may dissolve by a few methods:
See elections for special criteria in the instance of a general election triggered by dissolution.
If the committee is dissolved completely by any mechanism, selected members (selection described below) agree to be "continuity advisors" and attend meetings of the subsequently elected incoming committee in a non-voting capacity for 6 meetings or until the incoming committee dismisses them, whichever is first.
At least two (2) and not more than three (3) members shall be selected for this duty.
- One shall be the longest-serving outgoing committee member. If multiple, the incoming committee may select between them.
- The second shall be selected by the incoming committee at their discretion.
- The incoming committee, at their discretion, may select a third.
Dissolution requires an affirmative vote of a two-thirds supermajority of the fixed membership of the committee, and must be unanimous when the committee has four (4) or fewer members.
Example:
- 7 (members) / 3 = 2.333...
- 2.333... * 2 = 4.666...
- Round up to the nearest whole number (5)
- An affirmative vote of 5 members would be required to dissolve the committee
The committee must specify a date of dissolution. If the committee is dissolved, all seats are vacated on the date specified.
If at any time a majority of the fixed membership of the committee's seats are vacant, the entire committee will be dissolved.
Example:
- 7 (seats) / 2 = 3.5
- Round up to the nearest whole number (4)
- If 4 committee seats are vacant, the entire committee will dissolve
The number of vacant seats will be evaluated prior to any replacement of previously-seated members.
A Steering Committee member may be removed by a three-fourths vote of no confidence from other Steering Committee members.
The call for a vote of no confidence will happen in a public Steering Committee meeting and a GitHub issue in kubernetes/steering by a current member and must be seconded by another current member.
Once a vote of no confidence has been called, the committee will notify the community through the following channels:
This notification should include a link to the aforementioned GitHub issue.
There will be a period of one week for members of the community to reach out to Steering Committee members to provide feedback, which can include non-binding votes.
Community members may provide feedback by the following methods:
- commenting on the GitHub issue
- replying to the notification email
- sending an email to the Steering Committee private mailing list
- sending a message to individual committee members
After this feedback period, Steering Committee members must vote on the issue within 48 hours.
In the course of the committee's operations, members will be expected to vote on decisions within the body's purview.
These votes may proceed on agreed-upon platforms by the committee, such as:
- a pull request
- an issue
- a Steering Committee meeting
- a mailing list
Unless otherwise specified by a process, the requirement for passing a vote is a majority of the fixed membership of the committee.
Example:
- 7 (members) / 2 = 3.5
- Round up to the nearest whole number (4)
- 4 members would be required to pass a vote
For any self-elected reason, members of the committee may decide to abstain from a vote.
Abstaining members will only be considered as contributing to quorum, in the event that a vote is called in a meeting.
Steering Committee members are generally expected to attend every meeting. We use the following guidelines to determine whether we have reached quorum and are able to proceed with a meeting.
Quorum to meet is a majority of the fixed membership of the committee.
Example:
- 7 (members) / 2 = 3.5
- Round up to the nearest whole number (4)
- 4 members in attendance would be required to meet
Quorum to vote in a meeting is a two-thirds supermajority of the fixed membership of the committee.
Example:
- 7 (members) / 3 = 2.333...
- 2.333... * 2 = 4.666...
- Round up to the nearest whole number (5)
- 5 members in attendance would be required to vote during a meeting
Members of the committee must take an Inclusive Open Source Community Orientation course in support of our community values. Members are required to report completion of the course as part of on-boarding within 30 days from the date of their appointment.
1: Decisions and work pertaining to the daily operations of the project.
2: Such as individuals, Special Interest Groups and Committees
3: Such as Special Interest Groups, Working Groups, and Committees
4: including how contributors become committers/maintainers, approvers, reviewers, members, etc. As well as responsibilities associated with these role
5: Currently includes all repositories under the github organizations kubernetes, kubernetes-sigs, kubernetes-incubator, kubernetes-security, kubernetes-client, etc. and is expected to expand in the future.
6: Including artifact repositories, build and test infrastructure, web sites and their domains, blogs, social-media accounts, etc.
Captured from kubernetes/steering#248 at kubernetes/steering@03b7497.