Hi, I propose we keep this discussion open until the middle of next week. If there are no further objections by then, we can proceed to a formal vote.
Thoughts? Regards, JB On Thu, Feb 5, 2026 at 3:14 PM Jean-Baptiste Onofré <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Russ, > > Thanks for starting the discussion on the incubator general list. > > I would like to reiterate my comments from the podling dev list. As an > active mentor and PPMC member, I believe Polaris has reached a high level > of maturity, both technically—evidenced by the number of releases, > automation, and new features—and in terms of its community. > > The primary responsibility of the incubator is to guide podlings in > governing and growing their communities according to the Apache Way. In my > view, the podling has successfully reached this milestone. > > Regards, > JB > > On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 6:49 PM Russell Spitzer <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Hi Incubator, >> >> We've previously been discussing graduation in this email thread, and we >> would be glad for any additional feedback or >> questions y'all have for the project. Sorry for not including the general >> list here previously, >> >> The full history is below, but I'll re-add the original email here so it's >> easier to read. >> >> ----- >> >> Hi y’all, >> >> It’s exciting to see how far the Apache Polaris (Incubating) project has >> come in just over a year, and I think it’s time that we start considering >> whether the podling is ready to graduate to a full-fledged Apache project. >> >> We’ve seen production releases, new persistence backends, OPA support, and >> so much more. Most importantly, this work has been done with public design >> and discussion, following the Apache model for community development. >> Github Issues and PR review happen in an open and vendor-neutral manner. >> There are many active committers and PPMC members from different >> organizations working together and releasing quality software. I’ve seen >> solid work done to protect the Apache Brand and ensure licensing is >> appropriate, as well as some great handling of public events. Even as a >> young project, Polaris has already hosted many successful meetups and has >> been the subject of talks at a variety of conferences. We also have a >> lively dev-list and lots of one-on-one discussions happening on the Slack >> channel. In many cases, I think that the Apache Polaris Community is >> functioning exactly how a top-level Apache project should >> < >> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/INCUBATOR/Graduation+Criteria >> >. >> >> >> For those interested in the statistics >> >> >> - >> >> Apache Polaris has had 6 Releases (0.9, 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.1.0, 1.2.0, >> 1.3.0) >> - >> >> Our github is at 1.8k stars with 357 Forks >> - >> >> We have closed 2819 PRs >> - >> >> There are have been ~100 Contributors to the project >> - >> >> The PPMC has 13 Members (6 elected during incubation period) and there >> are 8 other committers (5 elected during incubation period) >> - >> >> Representatives from Dremio, Snowflake, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, And >> more! >> >> >> >> That said, I do still have some concerns about other areas of community >> development. While I think we are having lots of great conversations about >> the future of the project, we still seem to have difficult moments where >> communication appears to be breaking down, and people are becoming a bit >> more heated. We also seem to be lacking a bit of mutual trust and respect. >> I want to make sure that the Polaris community is a welcoming one, where >> engineers all respect each other’s contributions and, most importantly, >> act >> in good faith. We’ve seen some instances where PRs may be perceived as >> merged prematurely, or that there are double standards for what >> constitutes >> a “blocker” on a PR. I want to know if others in the community feel this >> way, and more importantly, if there are any constructive ideas on how to >> help us get along and make the community as welcoming as possible. Please >> do not take this lightly; I know it can be easy to just write off other >> engineers as a “problem,” but that kind of attitude won’t help this >> project >> move forward. I would encourage everyone to think about how they >> personally >> can contribute to a better environment. If I’m alone in this sentiment, >> feel free to ignore me, but I think it’s always a good exercise to think >> about how I interact with others to make them feel as welcome as possible. >> >> I don’t mean to be all gloomy on this matter, though; I think some things >> have been moving in the right direction. A great example is some of the >> discussions we’ve seen lately on the mailing list. Although we had some >> disagreements on a PR, there is now a pretty constructive dialogue >> happening where I do feel like all of the community members are trying to >> find common ground and listen to each other’s viewpoints without personal >> judgment. This shows me that we are still having constructive engagements >> even when there was prior disagreement. I wasn’t able to attend the recent >> sprint planning meeting, but from what I have heard, that’s another >> instance where it feels like folks came away from that meeting with a bit >> more camaraderie than they had going in. >> >> All in all, I want what’s best for the community. I hope that by bringing >> up graduation, and bringing some of my concerns into the public light, >> we’ll be able to make progress and graduate the project. I want to know >> everyone else’s feelings on the general maturity of the project, whether >> they think it’s appropriate to graduate, and whether they have any other >> suggestions for paths forward to make Polaris even better in the future. >> >> Thanks for your time, >> >> Russell Spitzer >> >> Resources: >> >> https://incubator.apache.org/guides/graduation.html >> >> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/INCUBATOR/Graduation+Criteria >> >> >> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qBIxClspQA--uQB0MS3LQO-uEDjdXtbqMPSRNbgeKdk/edit?usp=sharing >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message --------- >> From: Jean-Baptiste Onofré <[email protected]> >> Date: Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 8:37 PM >> Subject: Re: [DISCUSS] Apache Polaris - Moving towards Graduation >> To: <[email protected]> >> >> >> Hi, >> >> As I previously mentioned, I believe the current challenges stem from >> communication between a few individual contributors. We have established >> project guidelines that have already helped improve our interactions, but >> as with all Apache projects, this remains an ongoing effort. >> >> As a mentor, my role is to explain the Apache Way and our best practices >> (and also share the Apache policies and interact with other Apache teams >> like Infra). I aim to act as a "catalyst" rather than a "dictator," >> recognizing that every community is unique. I continue to work closely >> with >> various contributors to assist with communication styles that respect our >> diverse cultures, backgrounds, and sensitivities. >> >> Please feel free to reach out to me if you need support or someone to >> listen; my door is always open. >> >> Regards, >> JB >> >> On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 1:26 PM Kevin Liu <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > I've had many positive interactions with the Polaris community, both >> online >> > and in-person, and have found everyone to be helpful and collaborative. >> I'm >> > really looking forward to the move towards graduation and to further >> > contributing to this awesome community! >> > >> > >> > > While I am glad to see the general support for graduation, I am a bit >> > disappointed that we haven't yet discussed specific ways to improve our >> > community dynamics or resolve disagreements more efficiently. I have had >> > many private conversations with community members expressing >> frustration, >> > and I was hoping this thread would provide a space for that reflection. >> > >> > Thanks for reiterating on this point; IMO a sign of a healthy community >> is >> > to have these discussions openly and find common solutions. I think >> > effective collaboration is an ongoing effort. If there's anything I can >> > help with to facilitate the discussion, please let me know. Happy to >> help. >> > >> > Best, >> > Kevin Liu >> > >> > On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 11:38 AM Russell Spitzer < >> > [email protected]> >> > wrote: >> > >> > > While I am glad to see the general support for graduation, I am a bit >> > > disappointed that we haven't yet discussed specific ways to improve >> our >> > > community dynamics or resolve disagreements more efficiently. I have >> had >> > > many private conversations with community members expressing >> frustration, >> > > and I was hoping this thread would provide a space for that >> reflection. >> > > >> > > That said, I recognize this is an ongoing process. Let’s ensure we >> > continue >> > > to look for opportunities to better understand each others' >> perspectives >> > to >> > > ensure the long-term success of Polaris. >> > > >> > > Given the clear consensus to move forward, I will start a formal vote >> to >> > > document the community's shared intent to graduate. >> > > >> > > On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 11:12 AM Francois Papon < >> > > [email protected]> wrote: >> > > >> > > > Hi, >> > > > >> > > > As a mentor of the project (not from the beginning) and to have >> been a >> > > > mentor of other projects in the ASF, I also think that the project >> is >> > > > ready to Graduate. >> > > > >> > > > The project is very active and there is a lot of discussion in the >> > > > mailing list. Even if people are not always agreed, the discussions >> are >> > > > safe and it's good to have these kind of threads on the mailing >> list. >> > > > >> > > > There is also new committers that is also a good thing. >> > > > >> > > > regards, >> > > > >> > > > François >> > > > [email protected] >> > > > [email protected] >> > > > >> > > > Le 17/01/2026 à 21:16, Russell Spitzer a écrit : >> > > > > Hi y’all, >> > > > > >> > > > > It’s exciting to see how far the Apache Polaris (Incubating) >> project >> > > has >> > > > > come in just over a year, and I think it’s time that we start >> > > considering >> > > > > whether the podling is ready to graduate to a full-fledged Apache >> > > > project. >> > > > > >> > > > > We’ve seen production releases, new persistence backends, OPA >> > support, >> > > > and >> > > > > so much more. Most importantly, this work has been done with >> public >> > > > design >> > > > > and discussion, following the Apache model for community >> development. >> > > > > Github Issues and PR review happen in an open and vendor-neutral >> > > manner. >> > > > > There are many active committers and PPMC members from different >> > > > > organizations working together and releasing quality software. >> I’ve >> > > seen >> > > > > solid work done to protect the Apache Brand and ensure licensing >> is >> > > > > appropriate, as well as some great handling of public events. Even >> > as a >> > > > > young project, Polaris has already hosted many successful meetups >> and >> > > has >> > > > > been the subject of talks at a variety of conferences. We also >> have >> a >> > > > > lively dev-list and lots of one-on-one discussions happening on >> the >> > > Slack >> > > > > channel. In many cases, I think that the Apache Polaris Community >> is >> > > > > functioning exactly how a top-level Apache project should >> > > > > < >> > > > >> > > >> > >> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/INCUBATOR/Graduation+Criteria >> > > > >. >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > For those interested in the statistics >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > - >> > > > > >> > > > > Apache Polaris has had 6 Releases (0.9, 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.1.0, >> > 1.2.0, >> > > > > 1.3.0) >> > > > > - >> > > > > >> > > > > Our github is at 1.8k stars with 357 Forks >> > > > > - >> > > > > >> > > > > We have closed 2819 PRs >> > > > > - >> > > > > >> > > > > There are have been ~100 Contributors to the project >> > > > > - >> > > > > >> > > > > The PPMC has 13 Members (6 elected during incubation period) >> and >> > > > there >> > > > > are 8 other committers (5 elected during incubation period) >> > > > > - >> > > > > >> > > > > Representatives from Dremio, Snowflake, Amazon, Google, >> > Microsoft, >> > > > And >> > > > > more! >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > That said, I do still have some concerns about other areas of >> > community >> > > > > development. While I think we are having lots of great >> conversations >> > > > about >> > > > > the future of the project, we still seem to have difficult moments >> > > where >> > > > > communication appears to be breaking down, and people are >> becoming a >> > > bit >> > > > > more heated. We also seem to be lacking a bit of mutual trust and >> > > > respect. >> > > > > I want to make sure that the Polaris community is a welcoming one, >> > > where >> > > > > engineers all respect each other’s contributions and, most >> > importantly, >> > > > act >> > > > > in good faith. We’ve seen some instances where PRs may be >> perceived >> > as >> > > > > merged prematurely, or that there are double standards for what >> > > > constitutes >> > > > > a “blocker” on a PR. I want to know if others in the community >> feel >> > > this >> > > > > way, and more importantly, if there are any constructive ideas on >> how >> > > to >> > > > > help us get along and make the community as welcoming as possible. >> > > Please >> > > > > do not take this lightly; I know it can be easy to just write off >> > other >> > > > > engineers as a “problem,” but that kind of attitude won’t help >> this >> > > > project >> > > > > move forward. I would encourage everyone to think about how they >> > > > personally >> > > > > can contribute to a better environment. If I’m alone in this >> > sentiment, >> > > > > feel free to ignore me, but I think it’s always a good exercise to >> > > think >> > > > > about how I interact with others to make them feel as welcome as >> > > > possible. >> > > > > >> > > > > I don’t mean to be all gloomy on this matter, though; I think some >> > > things >> > > > > have been moving in the right direction. A great example is some >> of >> > the >> > > > > discussions we’ve seen lately on the mailing list. Although we had >> > some >> > > > > disagreements on a PR, there is now a pretty constructive dialogue >> > > > > happening where I do feel like all of the community members are >> > trying >> > > to >> > > > > find common ground and listen to each other’s viewpoints without >> > > personal >> > > > > judgment. This shows me that we are still having constructive >> > > engagements >> > > > > even when there was prior disagreement. I wasn’t able to attend >> the >> > > > recent >> > > > > sprint planning meeting, but from what I have heard, that’s >> another >> > > > > instance where it feels like folks came away from that meeting >> with >> a >> > > bit >> > > > > more camaraderie than they had going in. >> > > > > >> > > > > All in all, I want what’s best for the community. I hope that by >> > > bringing >> > > > > up graduation, and bringing some of my concerns into the public >> > light, >> > > > > we’ll be able to make progress and graduate the project. I want to >> > know >> > > > > everyone else’s feelings on the general maturity of the project, >> > > whether >> > > > > they think it’s appropriate to graduate, and whether they have any >> > > other >> > > > > suggestions for paths forward to make Polaris even better in the >> > > future. >> > > > > >> > > > > Thanks for your time, >> > > > > >> > > > > Russell Spitzer >> > > > > >> > > > > Resources: >> > > > > >> > > > > https://incubator.apache.org/guides/graduation.html >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > >> > >> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/INCUBATOR/Graduation+Criteria >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > >> > >> >> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qBIxClspQA--uQB0MS3LQO-uEDjdXtbqMPSRNbgeKdk/edit?usp=sharing >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > >> > >> >
