Hi all, Following the recent discussion on improving our release process, I would like to start a vote to formally define the *Release Manager* role for Apache Texera releases.
This proposal adopts a common practice from the broader open source community: each release line should have a clearly identified person coordinating the release work, while the actual release decision remains with the community through the normal Apache voting process. The defined Release Manager role follows the Apache release process described in the ASF release policy <https://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy.html>. The Release Manager should be a Texera committer and is responsible for coordinating and executing the release process for a release line, including all patch releases in that line. I also want to give special thanks to *Jiadong Bai*, who effectively acted in this role, unofficially, during the release of *v1.1.0-incubating*. This proposal is partly intended to make that responsibility explicit and reusable for future releases. *Proposal* For each Apache Texera release line, we will assign one Release Manager. A release line refers to a minor release series, including the initial minor release and all follow-up patch releases. For example, the *v1.1* release line includes *v1.1.0-incubating*, *v1.1.1-incubating*, *v1.1.2-incubating*, and so on. The responsibilities include: 1. *Planning the release timeline* - Propose the target release scope and schedule. - Coordinate the release branch cut, release candidate preparation, and voting timeline. - Use issues to track release related information and timelines. 2. *Preparing release candidates and coordinate **release validation* - Prepare release artifacts, source packages, tags, checksums, and signatures. - Ensure the release artifacts follow Apache release requirements. - Run or coordinate required checks, including build, test, license, and source artifact checks. - Collect and summarize issues found during release candidate testing. - Prepare follow-up release candidates if needed. 3. *Running the release vote* - Start the dev-list vote for the release candidate. - Summarize the vote result after the voting period. - Coordinate the IPMC vote when required during incubation. 4. *Publishing the release* - Publish approved release artifacts (non-PPMCs release managers should seek help from PPMC members). - Update release tags, website/download links, documentation, and announcements as needed. - Send the release announcement after the release is complete. 5. *Keeping the community informed* - Provide status updates during the release process. - Make sure blockers, delays, and required actions are visible to the community. *Clarification* The Release Manager does *not* have special authority to approve a release alone. The Release Manager coordinates and executes the release process, but the release still requires the normal Apache voting procedure. During incubation, this includes PPMC approval and IPMC approval where required. PMC/PPMC members and mentors remain responsible for reviewing and approving release candidates. *Vote* Please vote on whether to adopt this Release Manager role definition for Apache Texera releases. +1 Adopt this Release Manager role definition 0 No strong opinion -1 Do not adopt this role definition, because… This vote will remain open for at least 72 hours. Best regards, Yicong Huang
