1<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0 -->
2<!-- Copyright Contributors to the Open Shading Language Project. -->
3
4# OSL Project Governance
5
6OSL is a project of the Academy Software Foundation and relies on the ASWF
7governance policies, supported by the Linux Foundation.
8
9There are three primary project roles: Contributors submit code to the
10project; Committers approve code to be included into the project; and the
11Technical Steering Committee (TSC) provides overall high-level project
12guidance.
13
14* [Contributors](#Contributors)
15* [Committers](#Committers)
16* [Technical Steering Committee](#Technical-Steering-Committee)
17
18## Contributors
19
20The OSL project grows and thrives from assistance from Contributors.
21Contributors include anyone in the community who contributes code,
22documentation, or other technical artifacts that have been incorporated into
23the projects repository.
24
25Anyone can be a Contributor. You need no formal approval from the project,
26beyond the legal forms.
27
28### How to Become a Contributor
29
30* Review the coding standards to ensure your contribution is in line
31  with the project's coding and styling guidelines.
32
33* Sign the Individual CLA, or if you are employed by an organization that
34  might have any claim to IP you create, have your organization sign the
35  Corporate CLA.
36
37* Submit your code as a PR with the appropriate DCO sign-off.
38
39## Committers
40
41Project Committers have merge access on the OSL GitHub repository
42and are responsible for approving submissions by Contributors.
43
44### Committer Responsibilities
45
46Typical activities of a Committer include:
47
48* Helping users and novice contributors.
49
50* Ensuring a response to questions posted to the
51  [osl-dev developer mail list](https://lists.aswf.io/g/osl-dev)
52
53* Contributing code and documentation changes that improve the project.
54
55* Reviewing and commenting on issues and pull requests.
56
57* Ensuring that changes and new code meet acceptable standards and are in
58  the long-term interest of the project.
59
60* Participation in working groups.
61
62* Merging pull requests.
63
64### How to Become a Committer
65
66Any member of the OSL community (though typically an existing Committer or
67TSC member) may nominate an individual making significant and valuable
68contributions to the OSL project to become a new Committer. To nominate a
69new Committer, open an issue in the OSL repository, send mail to the TSC
70mail list, or raise the issue at a TSC meeting.
71
72The TSC may periodically review the Committer list to identify inactive
73Committers. Past Committers are typically given Emeritus status. Emeriti may
74request that the TSC restore them to active Committer status.
75
76## Technical Steering Committee
77
78The Technical Steering Committee (TSC) has final authority over this
79project. As defined in the project charter, TSC responsibilities include,
80but are not limited to:
81
82* Coordinating technical direction of the Project.
83
84* Project governance and contribution policy.
85
86* GitHub repository administration.
87
88* Maintaining the list of additional Committers
89
90* Appointing representatives to work with other open source or open
91  standards communities.
92
93* Discussions, seeking consensus, and where necessary, voting on technical
94  matters relating to the code base that affect multiple projects.
95
96* Coordinating any marketing, events, or communications regarding the
97  project.
98
99Within the TSC are two elected leadership roles to be held by its members
100and voted on annually. Any TSC member can express interest in serving in a
101role, or nominate another member to serve. There are no term limits, and one
102person may hold multiple roles simultaneously. Should a TSC member resign
103from a leadership role before their term is complete, a successor shall be
104elected through the standard nomination and voting process to complete the
105remainder of the term. The leadership roles are:
106
107* **Chair**: This position acts as the project manager, organizing meetings
108  and providing oversight to project administration.
109
110* **Chief Architect**: This position makes all the final calls on design and
111  technical decisions, and is responsible for avoiding "design by committee"
112  pitfalls.
113
114The chair role is assumed to rotate annually (though there are no term
115limits, so the TSC may reelect an existing chair). The chief architect
116position should be a source of stability and coherent design vision, so the
117TSC is encouraged to choose an architect who can serve for many years and
118only change architects when it is necessary for the health of the project
119and its community.
120
121At the time of election, the TSC will also agree upon which of these two
122leaders will serve as the OSL ASWF (Academy Software Foundation) TAC
123(Technical Advisory Council) representative for the term. This member
124represents the project at all ASWF TAC meetings.
125
126### TSC Members
127
128Current voting members of the TSC are:
129
130* **Chair and TAC representative**: Chris Kulla - Epic Games
131* **Chief Architect**: Larry Gritz - Sony Pictures Imageworks
132
133* Luke Emrose - Animal Logic
134* Eric Enderton - NVIDIA
135* Stephen Friedman - Pixar
136* Nicolas Guiard - Isotropix
137* Derek Haase - DNEG
138* Adrien Herubel - Autodesk
139* Lee Kerley - Sony Pictures Imageworks
140* Mitch Prater - Laika
141* Brecht Van Lommel - Blender
142
143### TSC Nomination and Succession
144
145Any proposal for additional members of the TSC may be submitted by
146Committers, TSC members, or other major stakeholders of the OSL community by
147opening an issue outlining their case or raising the issue at a TSC meeting.
148New TSC members are accepted or rejected by majority vote of the TSC.
149
150If a TSC member is for an extended period not regularly participating or
151performing the responsibilities expected of TSC members, the TSC may by
152majority vote request an alternate TSC member be submitted by that
153organization, or remove the inactive member from the TSC.
154
155A voting member of the TSC may nominate a successor in the event that such
156voting member decides to leave the TSC, and the TSC, including the departing
157member, shall confirm or reject such nomination by a vote. In the event that
158the departing member's nomination for successor is rejected by vote of the
159TSC, the departing member shall be entitled to continue nominating
160successors until one such successor is confirmed by vote of the TSC. If the
161departing member fails or is unable to nominate a successor, the TSC may
162nominate one on the departing member's behalf.
163
164TSC membership is presumed to be retained by the individual even if they
165change employers. The TSC may take action to ensure that organizational
166stakeholder representation not become severely disproportionate, for example
167by urging an organization that loses its sole TSC representative to nominate
168a new member, or to limit the total number of voting members from any one
169organization if too many members all move to the same organization.
170
171### TSC Meetings
172
173Any meetings of the TSC are intended to be open to the public, except where
174there is a reasonable need for privacy. The TSC meets regularly in a voice
175conference call, at a cadence deemed appropriate by the TSC. The TSC Chair
176moderates the meeting, or appoints another TSC member to moderate in his or
177her absence. Meetings may also be streamed online where appropriate;
178connection details will be posted to the osl-dev mail list in advance of the
179scheduled meeting.
180
181Items are added to the TSC agenda which are considered contentious or are
182modifications of governance, contribution policy, TSC membership, or release
183process, in addition to topics involving the high-level technical direction
184of the project.
185
186The intention of the agenda is not to approve or review all patches. That
187should happen continuously on GitHub and be handled by the larger group of
188Committers.
189
190Any community member or Contributor can ask that something be reviewed by
191the TSC at the meeting by logging a GitHub issue. Any Committer, TSC member,
192or the meeting chair can bring the issue to the TSC's attention by applying
193the `TSC` label.
194
195Prior to each TSC meeting, the meeting chair will share the agenda with
196members of the TSC. TSC members can also add items to the agenda at the
197beginning of each meeting. The meeting chair and the TSC cannot veto or
198remove items.
199
200The TSC may invite additional persons to participate in a non-voting
201capacity.
202
203The meeting chair is responsible for ensuring that minutes are taken and
204archived in the project repository.
205
206Due to the challenges of scheduling a global meeting with participants in
207several time zones, the TSC will seek to resolve as many agenda items as
208possible outside of meetings on the public mailing list.
209
210