Infrastructure Working Group Charter

Mission

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) Infrastructure Working Group (Infra-WG) exists to provide technical support and services to the Python community.

Scope

The Infra-WG provides services to approved PSF Working Groups (WGs),Python community groups, and organizations (COs) recognized by the PSF Board of Directors (Board) as being critical to the success of the mission of the PSF.

Governance

The Infra-WG is comprised of volunteer contributors to the PSF infrastructure, technical advisors from the community, paid contractors for specific projects, the PSF IT Manager, and the workgroup chair as the lead. The workgroup members, are also called Infrastructure Staff.

Key decisions such as:

• in-kind sponsorships for relevant service donations
• establishing services
• infrastructure policies
• standard operating procedures
• security
• architecture

should be discussed within the Infra-WG. The Infra-WG chair will ultimately approve the decision after discussion and the PSF IT manager shall help execute, manage and plan.

In the event the chair steps down, the PSF IT Manager will take the temporary role of the chair. The PSF IT Manager shall discuss the chair role within the workgroup. If no one is able to take the chair role, the PSF IT Manager shall post a call to the active contributors: (https://github.com/python/psf-salt/graphs/contributors).

Participation

Membership in the Infra-WG is open to all members of the PSF, however several special classes of member are recognized: Chair, Advisory, Staff, and Tenant Members as described below. Any PSF member may apply for membership in the Infra-WG by first emailing mailto:infrastructure@python.org and introducing yourself, and asking to join. After approval, you can join the Infra-WG mailing list. The PSF IT Manager is a permanent member of this workgroup.

All participants agree to abide by the Python Community Code of Conduct: https://www.python.org/psf/codeofconduct/

Chair

The only officer of the Infra-WG is the Chair. The Chair is appointed by the PSF IT Manager and Director of Operations and can be replaced at any time.

Due to the often-reactive nature of server operations the Chair is empowered to make decisions as needed to ensure service, however the Chair is encouraged to seek input from the PSF IT Manager, membership, and delegate to staff as appropriate.

Chair Term

Term for Infrastructure Working Group Chair is 2 years. Chairs may serve consecutive terms, but in the event that the chair chooses not to continue, the PSF IT Manager and Director of Operations will appoint a new chair per the Leadership section above.

Staff

Infrastructure staff are members that have demonstrated they are worthy of the trust of the whole Python community, and are willing to put the time and effort in to maintain servers and services operated by the Infra-WG.

Staff membership is at the sole discretion of the Chair, however members are encouraged to ask about staff status if they feel it would be appropriate. A staff member can step down to normal membership at any time.

Participation as an Infrastructure Staff member requires membership of the infrastructure-staff mailing list.

Advisory

Some participants in the community will be invited to take part on an advisory level to bring expertise and specific knowledge to the broader team. These invites are extended by the Chair based on discussion and consensus by the Staff. Advisory participation may have limited duration for specific initiatives or be longer term.

Tenant

Any WG or CO that is receiving services from the Infra-WG is required to have at least one person join the Infra-WG as a tenant member. Tenant members act as a liaison between the Infra-WG and their respective tenant organizations. This person will be the point of contact for service questions or issues, and will receive announcements as needed if their service will be impacted. Tenant members may leave the Infra-WG at any time, as long as each WG or CO has at least one tenant member.

Services Offered

Any WG approved by the PSF membership is automatically eligible for services. In the event that a WG's charter is not renewed or otherwise revoked, they can apply to transfer to CO status. COs can apply for services by submitting a request to the Chair and the Board indicating what services are requested and how they will further the mission of the PSF.

The Infra-WG will offer all services to all tenants, but subject to resource constraints and other potential availability restrictions. Final say in what services can be provided rests with the Chair. New services may be added at the discretion of the Chair.

Domain registration

The Infra-WG will manage domain registration and renewal as needed. Payment for the registration is not covered, and will need to arranged by the requesting tenant though this may be handled within the PSF if approved by the Board.

DNS

The Infra-WG may host DNS zones for tenants. Unless the Infra-WG is also providing domain registration services, it is the responsibility of the tenant to update their name server records with the information provided by the Infra-WG. The Infra-WG may also manage DNSSEC as requested.

SSL Certificate Management

The Infra-WG will acquire and manage SSL certificates for tenants. If the Infra-WG is not managing domain registration this may require some coordination with the tenant to approve the certificate request.

Server and Application Hosting

The Working Group will work with tenant organizations to determine the appropriate level of involvement by the Infra-WG and service levels required. Final decision on provided hosting will be determined by the Infra-WG. The Infra-WG is responsible for ensuring that Disaster Recovery and basic monitoring for services exist.

Milestones

As an ongoing service oriented group, the Infra-WG has no specific milestones. An annual survey of tenants and members will be conducted to establish goals for the coming year. These goals shall be published to the PSF general membership by the Chair. Milestones for individual projects under the direction of the Infra-WG will be discussed internally and made available to Infra-WG members. The Chair and Infra-WG staff will assist in planning milestones for other WGs that require Infra-WG services.

Confidentiality

While membership is open to all PSF members, any information discussed within the group is confidential unless otherwise state. Accordingly, the list archives will only be available to members and discussion of sensitive topics should be constrained to the infrastructure-staff mailing list.

Language

Official Infra-WG business and ongoing operations will be conducted in English.