Hi folks, As a gentle reminder, particularly for IPMC members, please feel free to chime in with any thoughts or feedback on this discussion.
The podling plans to proceed with a formal graduation vote later this week. Thanks! Regards, JB On Sun, Feb 8, 2026 at 8:52 PM Jean-Baptiste Onofré <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 >>> > > > > >>> > > > >>> > > >>> > >>> >>
