Open source projects have a lifecycle and there are times that projects become inactive due to a variety of reasons. There are also cases where a project may no longer want to be supported by the TOC, or the TOC may no longer wish to recommend the use of a project.
When voting on a proposal to archive a project, TOC members may wish to consider whether the project continues to meet the criteria for CNCF acceptance. The TOC may also look at activity levels in the project, although it is important to note that there is a difference between a mature project that doesn't get much attention any more but is stable, versus a project that is inactive.
To archive a project:
- A proposal must be put forth to the TOC repo
- The TOC will inform the project maintainers, CNCF end user community and wider community of all archiving proposals
- The proposal must remain open for at least 2 weeks of discussion after the maintainers are informed.
- A vote must be finalized with 2/3 approval from the TOC
What does archiving for a CNCF project mean?
- CNCF will no longer provide any support for the project, via service desk
- CNCF will list archived projects online, but other marketing activities are stopped
- Archived CNCF projects will be transferred to the Linux Foundation for neutral holding and support
Any project can be reactivated into CNCF by following the normal project proposal and sandbox process.