This is a list of considerations TSC members apply to inbound project contributions.
Codebase
- (Danno) Code should exist as open source software in some form
- Some projects come up from labs (Cactus, others?)
- Some projects have stand alone governance prior to joining (Besu ... others?)
- (Danno) Codebase should be Apache 2 licensable, without encumbrances
- Non-apache 2 licensed code is possible, but requires Governing board approval (Section 12 subsection d of the Hyperledger Charter)
- Required patent licensing issues have prevented projects from entering incubation
- Special examination should be given to copyleft and non-licensed code.
Maintainers
- (Danno) The project should have multiple maintainers
- These maintainers need not be from different companies
- However, having maintainers from different companies is seen as a positive sign (Hart)
- Proposals with only one maintainer have been rejected by prior TSCs.
- These maintainers need not be from different companies
Legal
- (Tracy) Trademark concerns – project names should not be trademarked by a contributing company or if it is, then the trademark will need to be handed over to Hyperledger.
Overlap with Existing Projects
- (Tracy) The TSC has mentioned that they are not interested in bringing in additional distributed ledger projects. There should be a distinct advantage for a new distributed ledger project.
- (Tracy) Based on the HIP template, dependent project's maintainers must sign off on the proposal before it is considered by the TSC.
- (Danno) What is a dependent project? What is the difference between a dependent project and one used as a library vs. an optional integration? What if multiple projects are integrated, can one block admission?
Proposal Process
Follow the guidelines listed at https://hyperledger.github.io/hyperledger-hip/