[yocto-ab] Yocto Project Updates

[Ta, Lieu]

Hello All,


It has been a while since I've sent email out to the Yocto Project Advisory Board.  I would like to take some time to update you on the Yocto Project.  Most of what we've done since the last communication were in-house maintenance.  There were administrative processes that needed to be revised and/or updated to reflect how we're currently operating

Since our last communication, we've done the following:

Approved the contract with Richard Purdie as the Yocto Project Architect.  Richard has been instrumental for Yocto Project and when his employment was questionable, it not was a question as to if we should secure Richard, but it was more of how.  I'm pleased that the Board was able to find the funds to extend a contract to Richard until we were able to secure more funds from membership dues.

Worked on and executed our new Charter (Governance) document.  The goal of the new Charter was to document our current processes and improve where needed.   To this end, we recognized our close relationship with the Open Embedded Project (OE) and codify OE as a Technical Partner for the Yocto Project.  Moreover, we've aligned ourselves with how other projects under the Linux Foundation operate and clearly defined the division of labor between Governing  versus Technical.  We've established a Governing Board where we will discuss the administration and funding of the project.  The Technical Steering Committee (TSC) will be established as the Technical arm for Yocto Project.  The TSC Chair will have a seat at the Governing Board and will have a vote.  This is to formalize how we've always operate - enabling  a voice to the Technical side of the Project.

We've formalized the Emeritus members as part of our Advisory Board.  Our yocto-ab list is still our Advisory Board, we're now adding the Governing Board and the Emeritus members to that list.

On the membership front, Arm and Facebook joined Yocto Project as Platinum members in 2018.   As of January 1st, Comcast has upgraded to Platinum.  This makes Yocto Project 5 Platinum members strong.  We have a total of 20 members today: 5 Platinum,  5 Gold, 9 Silver, and 1 Associate member.


The next step to complete out our Charter work is to establish the Technical Steering Committee (TSC).  The TSC will consist of 5 members.  Three of which will be voted in by the  Governing Board.  The remaining 2 TSC members will be elected by the Open Embedded from among the Active Contributors.

There is work in progress on the website to reflect all the changes I've documented here.  With our limited staff, I will ask that you be patient with our progress on that front.  If, however, you can help with the website, please reach out to Andreea (Advocacy Lead) directly.

As we have been concentrating on the administrative work for the Yocto Project, we have not been as active in the Technical aspects.  As Richard mentioned in his previous email, we are in need of technical contributions.   It is important that we build up the bug triage team as the participants have been dwindling.  It is also critical that we get the community to be active in the SWAT team.   Please reach out to Richard or myself if you can help in these areas.

I want to thank the incredible Working Group at Yocto Project for their extraordinary effort in getting so much done in some of the confusing times.  To Richard for holding down the Technical fort and keeping us on track for deliverables - Thud (2.6) was released in November 2018, in accordance with our regular cadence.  To Andreea for her tireless effort in keeping ELCE and DevDay intact, on time and on budget with amazing turn out - DevDay was oversubscribed and was a roaring success!  To Nico for stepping into the big shoe that is Community Management and successfully drank out of the firehose.  To Michael who is our super Infrastructure admin, who's always looking ahead to find the best and cheapest solutions for our Infrastructure needs. To Kate who is our "liaison extraordinaire" to the Linux Foundation - of which we may not have the new Charter document processed at all.

Most important of all, we are nothing without the support from the Yocto Project Community and our Advisory Board.  Thank you for your patience through this quiet period.  I hope to do more updates and meetings regularly now that most of the administrative processes are set up.


Warm regards,

Lieu Ta
Advisory Board Chair, Yocto Project
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