Hi Mingcheng,

> I am keeping my -1 (binding)

Thanks for sharing your comment. Please note that only votes from the
Incubator PMC members are binding. Votes from everyone are welcome.

As of today, I don't find that you're on the IPMC, so the quoted comment
may be inaccurate. Of course, your feedback is well received.

Best,
tison.


mingcheng <[email protected]> 于2026年8月10日周一 19:17写道:

> Hi Jie, Guangdong, and Twice,
>
> Thanks for the detailed responses. I am keeping my -1 (binding), and I
> would like to explain the reasoning more precisely and respond to the
> points raised.
>
> Twice, one small note first: when referring to concerns already raised
> on this thread, it would be more helpful to quote or link the original
> message rather than write "some people are concerned". My -1 is on the
> record with specific commit links, and summarising it as an anonymous
> concern makes it harder for others to check what was actually said.
> Not a big deal, just easier for everyone to follow.
>
> First, On the project history
>
> Jie's reply clarifies several things: the dense commit sequence
> between May 20 and May 23 comes from a single-developer bootstrap
> phase; development was heavily AI-assisted; some Git author identities
> refer to the same person and the raw author count needs normalisation;
> and development and review activity is still concentrated among the
> initial contributors.
>
> I appreciate the transparency here, and it resolves my question about
> whether activity had been inflated. It also settles the factual
> picture: as of today, Maka has a codebase and a small number of
> developers, and the community described in the proposal is still
> mostly forward-looking rather than existing. That is the basis for my
> vote, not the AI tooling itself.
>
> Second, On deferring provenance to IP clearance
>
> Guangdong mentioned that provenance will be reviewed as part of the
> code transfer and IP clearance process. I agree that process will run,
> but I don't think it covers the specific question here.
>
> SGA and ICLA establish that a contributor has the right to license
> what they submitted. They do not establish whether a large, heavily
> AI-assisted initial import contains material that is incompatible with
> the Apache License. Under the ASF guidance on generative tooling
> (https://www.apache.org/legal/generative-tooling.html), that
> responsibility sits with the contributor, and it is easier to address
> before the code enters the ASF than after.
>
> So I would like to ask, ideally during the vote window:
>
> 1. Roughly what share of the initial import was AI-generated or
> AI-assisted, and with which tools?
> 2. What review was applied to those outputs with respect to license
> compatibility, and is that review recorded anywhere reviewable?
> 3. If provenance cannot be established for some parts, is the plan to
> remove and rewrite them, or to keep them pending discussion?
>
> If the answer is that all of this will be handled during incubation,
> then the practical effect is that the mentors and the IPMC absorb the
> cleanup work for a codebase whose provenance is still open. I would
> rather we know the scope of that work before the vote closes than
> discover it afterwards.
>
> Third, On "this is what the Incubator is for"
>
> Twice, I understand your argument, and I agree the questions you raise
> are worth answering. I read the Incubator's role a bit differently: it
> exists to help an existing community learn to operate the Apache Way
> and to normalise IP and governance, rather than to test whether a
> community can be grown from a standing start. When the latter does not
> work out, the cost falls mainly on mentor time, IPMC review capacity
> and the ASF's name.
>
> You also noted that the Incubator has little experience with this kind
> of project, that it may challenge some existing ASF assumptions, and
> that additional graduation metrics might be needed. I think those are
> policy questions, and they are better settled on general@ as policy
> than settled implicitly by accepting one proposal. My suggestion would
> be to discuss what we expect from AI-native projects first, and then
> evaluate proposals against that.
>
> If the IPMC does decide to accept Maka as a first case of this kind, I
> would ask that the following be written into the proposal before
> acceptance rather than left to later interpretation:
>
> - A concrete independence target, e.g. active committers from N
> mutually independent organisations before graduation.
> - A time box and exit condition, e.g. if the target is not met within
> 12 months, a retirement discussion is opened.
> - A disclosure and review requirement for AI-generated content.
> - A requirement that technical decisions are made on the mailing list;
> GitHub PR discussion alone does not satisfy this.
>
> With those in the proposal, I would be much less concerned about the
> precedent.
>
> The last, What I would suggest instead:
>
> I have no objection to the technical direction, and the problem area
> Guangdong describes is real. My concern is timing.
>
> A safer path would be another 6 to 12 months in the current
> repository, turning the following from plans into facts: provenance of
> the AI-assisted portions documented, two or three sustained
> contributors from different organisations with real review weight, one
> or two public releases, and design discussion moved to a public list.
> A proposal after that would answer nearly every objection raised in
> this thread on its own.
>
> I understand acceptance votes are decided by majority and that my -1
> does not block anything, and I am not trying to hold up the process.
> My aim is to have these points on the record and tracked explicitly in
> the mentors' and PPMC's early reports.
>
> On Mon, Aug 10, 2026 at 4:09 PM Twice <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > I saw that some people are concerned about the project's heavy use of
> > AI in development, and whether this model can really build a genuine
> > community.
> >
> > But I think this is exactly why the ASF Incubator is meaningful. We do
> > not really know whether this development model can be sustainable in
> > the long term, or whether it challenges some of ASF's existing ideas
> > and principles. That is precisely why it is worth exploring.
> >
> > On one hand, ASF seems to have few general-purpose agent projects
> > today, so bringing in something new in this area may have value and is
> > worth experimenting with.
> >
> > On the other hand, the Incubator itself also has little experience
> > with this kind of project. How should such a project develop during
> > incubation? Should there be any additional metrics or requirements for
> > graduation? If we can gain more experience with these questions
> > through incubation, I believe that would be useful for ASF.
> >
> > So, +1 from me.
> >
> > Also, could you add me to the mentor list? I am quite interested in
> > this project for the reasons above.
> >
> > Best,
> > Twice
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 10, 2026 at 2:33 PM Guangdong Liu <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > +1 (binding)
> > >
> > > I have reviewed the Maka proposal and the discussion. I support
> > > accepting Maka into the Apache Incubator.
> > >
> > > Maka has a coherent technical direction: a local-first and
> > > provider-neutral agent runtime and workspace, with Desktop, CLI/TUI,
> > > and headless surfaces built around durable execution records, explicit
> > > permission boundaries, and recoverable task and session state. This is
> > > a meaningful problem area with value beyond any single model provider
> > > or hosted control plane.
> > >
> > > The project also brings an existing public Apache-2.0 codebase and
> > > public project materials for contribution, security, architecture,
> > > design, changelog, and notices. I believe it has sufficient technical
> > > substance and an initial community to begin the Apache incubation
> > > process.
> > >
> > > I recognize the concerns raised about the project's young history, the
> > > early contribution and import pattern, code provenance, and the need to
> > > demonstrate a broader and more independent contributor community.
> > > These are material concerns. I do not view incubation as evidence that
> > > they are already resolved; rather, I expect them to be concrete early
> > > milestones for the PPMC and mentors: public and verifiable provenance
> > > and IP work, mailing-list-based decision making, transparent
> governance,
> > > and sustained growth of independent contributors and committers.
> > >
> > > On balance, I believe Maka is suitable to begin incubation and that the
> > > Apache Incubator provides the right framework to address these matters
> > > in public.
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > Guangdong Liu
> > >
> > > On 2026/08/09 18:20:21 tison wrote:
> > > > Hi everyone,
> > > >
> > > > Following the discussion thread [1], I call
> > > > for a formal vote to accept Maka into the Apache Incubator.
> > > >
> > > > As a reminder, the Maka Proposal can be found at [2].
> > > >
> > > > [1] https://lists.apache.org/thread/0n79l7dbz9jm694rpnbrxtn8f6lmnw1j
> > > > [2]
> > > >
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/INCUBATOR/pages/446070971/Maka+Proposal
> > > >
> > > > Please cast your vote:
> > > >
> > > > [ ] +1, Accept Maka into the Apache Incubator
> > > > [ ] 0, I don't care
> > > > [ ] -1, Do not accept Maka into the Apache Incubator, because ...
> > > >
> > > > The vote will remain open for at least 72 hours, and only votes from
> the
> > > > Incubator PMC members are binding. Votes from everyone are welcome.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks!
> > > >
> > > > Best,
> > > > tison.
> > > >
> > >
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