Library/Case studies/The Apache Software Foundation
The Apache Software Foundation
More than 200 open source projects reporting to one board. Leo heard from the board and 211 project leads in 2019, and we followed the board minutes to 2023.
Source: The foundation's public board minutes
FolderKafkaOne Apache project, Kafka, as its own developers wrote about it on the dev list and in JIRA in 2019, added to the brain Leo already had from the foundation's board minutes.3 itemsArticleWhat Leo saw at Apache, 1. The report 211 project leads rebuild by handEvery quarter, each of Apache's 211 project leads writes a board report. Leo heard from every one and saw the same thing nearly 90 times: last quarter's report carried forward by hand, with figures the foundation already holds retyped beside it.Reporting · 4 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Apache, 2. One security team, dozens of teams to chaseIn 2019 Apache's Security Team chased projects by hand every month, with 7 to 13 issues over a year old at any time. Leo heard from the team and 30 project leads and laid out three ways forward. In 2023 the same chase was still running.Engineering · Operations · 4 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Apache, 3. The project nobody shuts downIn 2019, retiring a dead Apache project waited on someone finding the time. Leo heard the same stall from 12 project leads and suggested a standing signal. In May 2023 the board made every report name the project's state, 'Considering moving to the Attic' included.Operations · 3 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Apache, 4. The backlog one team had already solvedIn 2019 dozens of Apache projects watched their issue backlogs grow, while one, Beam, had already fixed its own with a shared triage queue. Leo saw both in different leads' reports. In 2022 the projects took another path, and Leo's card keeps their reason.Operations · Engineering · 3 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Apache, 5. The promotions that wait for yearsIn 2019 dozens of Apache project leads said they were looking for new leaders, while years passed with no additions, seven in one case. Leo suggested a standing monthly review. In 2023 one community chose the opposite, deliberately, and said why.People · 3 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Kafka, 1. One more channel, added to a brain Leo already hadLeo knew Apache Kafka from four board reports a year: 11 lines, 6 processes, no flows. We added the project's dev list and JIRA for 2019. In 69 minutes it held 837 lines, 28 processes and 25 flows, and had corrected what the board picture got wrong.Case studies / The Apache Software Foundation / Kafka · Engineering · How Leo works · 5 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Kafka, 2. The red build nobody ownedIn 2019 Kafka's developers filed 193 tickets for tests that fail for no reason, and the board reports never mentioned it. Leo drew the work from twelve developers' mail and JIRA. In 2024 Kafka adopted a quarantine for flaky tests, one of the ways Leo had laid out.Case studies / The Apache Software Foundation / Kafka · Engineering · 5 min readArticleWhat Leo saw at Kafka, 3. The release manager's playbook, from the release managersKafka had a written release process in 2019. Leo drew the one release managers actually ran, from their own mail and JIRA, including a step about flaky tests that Kafka's release page only wrote down in January 2024.Case studies / The Apache Software Foundation / Kafka · Engineering · Operations · 5 min read
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