OpenTelemetry Governance Panel - Reese Lee, Juraci Paixao Krohling, Alolita Sharma & Daniel Dyla

Summary

The video script features a panel discussion with members of the OpenTelemetry governance committee, who introduce themselves and their roles. They delve into the committee's responsibilities, including managing product and feature backlogs, ensuring contributor and developer experience, and fostering community growth. The conversation also touches on the project's evolution, the addition of new signals, and the balance between supporting various programming languages and idiomatic APIs. The panelists emphasize the ongoing nature of OpenTelemetry's development and the importance of community involvement in shaping its future.

Takeaways

• 😀 The OpenTelemetry governance committee (GC) is composed of various contributors who manage the project's direction, including product backlog and feature requests.
• 👥 The GC members wear multiple hats, acting as representatives of the project to the greater community and handling external relations and media interactions.
• 🔧 The committee is focused on improving contributor and developer experience, supporting maintainers, and ensuring the health of the project.
• 🌐 OpenTelemetry is not a monolithic project; it is composable, with a focus on being a de facto standard for observability in cloud-native environments.
• 📈 There is a continuous effort to expand OpenTelemetry beyond traces, metrics, and logs to include new areas like profiling, client telemetry, and machine learning.
• 🛠 The GC is in the process of establishing a more structured project management approach, including the concept of 'projects' that need sponsors and clear active collaboration.
• 🔄 OpenTelemetry is designed to be vendor-neutral, allowing for changes in solutions while maintaining interoperability through the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) and semantic conventions.
• 🌟 The committee is keen on fostering a community that can absorb new requirements and technologies, such as those arising from AI applications and new hardware like GPUs.
• 📝 There is an emphasis on creating a clear path for subject matter experts to contribute and eventually become spec approvers or even members of the technical committee (TC).
• 🚀 The GC is working on making the project more accessible and convenient for new contributors, with a new developer experience Sig being initiated to streamline APIs and installation processes.
• 🔑 The key to the success of new Special Interest Groups (SIGs) within OpenTelemetry is having clear goals, committed leads, and sponsorship from the GC.

Q & A

What is the primary role of the Governance Committee (GC) in the Open Telemetry project?

The GC is responsible for overseeing the health of the Open Telemetry project. It manages the product and feature backlog, ensures contributor and developer experience concerns are addressed, supports maintainers, and acts as a strategic representative of the project to the greater Cloud native community.

What does the term 'Sig' refer to in the context of the Open Telemetry project?

In the script, 'Sig' refers to a Special Interest Group, which is a subgroup within the Open Telemetry community that focuses on specific areas or aspects of the project.

How often is the Governance Committee elected by the community?

The Governance Committee is elected by the community every two years.

What is the significance of having a project management structure in the Open Telemetry project as it grows?

As the project grows, having a project management structure helps in organizing work more efficiently, ensuring that new areas of work are properly sponsored and that there is clear active collaboration among subject matter experts and maintainers.

What is the purpose of the liaison program mentioned by the GC?

The liaison program aims to establish a line of communication between the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and the GC, ensuring information flow and supporting maintainers more effectively.

How does the GC plan to engage with new contributors to the Open Telemetry project?

The GC plans to reach out to new contributors more directly, acknowledging their contributions, and providing support to help them contribute further to the project.

What is the relationship between the Open Telemetry project and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)?

The Open Telemetry project is part of the CNCF ecosystem and receives support in terms of resources, cloud credits, and promotional efforts from the CNCF and its member companies.

What is the current status of the Open Telemetry project in terms of its development focus on traces, metrics, and logs?

While traces, metrics, and logs have been the primary focus for several years, the project is now considering expanding into other areas such as profiling, client telemetry, and machine learning, while still addressing any backlog in the original focus areas.

What is the process for deciding whether to open up a new SIG or introduce a new signal in the Open Telemetry project?

The process involves creating a proposal in the form of a PR in the community repository, outlining the goals, leads, sponsors, and timeline. The GC reviews the proposal and assesses the availability of resources and the potential for the new SIG to succeed before making a decision.

How does the Open Telemetry project approach the balance between supporting different programming languages and adhering to language idioms?

The project aims to strike a balance where the API feels consistent across languages for those who switch between them, while also being idiomatic to each language so that it feels natural to developers who have been using a particular language for a long time.

What is the significance of semantic conventions in the Open Telemetry project?

Semantic conventions are important as they provide the necessary context and meaning to the telemetry data, enabling better storage, querying, and understanding by end users, which is crucial for effective observability.