LFN Lifecycle States & Guidelines

Introduction

The Linux Foundation Networking umbrella consists of multiple projects at various stages of maturity. This document describes the lifecycle of LFN projects, recognizing that newer projects typically require more hands-on support and resources, while mature, established projects operate with greater independence and self-management.

Each LFN project governs itself. LFN projects may consist of multiple subprojects with their own lifecycles. This document's scope is limited to top-level LFN projects.

The Technical Advisory Council (TAC) is responsible for facilitating communication and collaboration among technical projects, making informed recommendations about best practices and collaborative opportunities, and informing the LFN Governing Board about projects under the LFN umbrella and those seeking to join.

Getting Support

Program Management (PM) Support:

• Submit tickets via Intercom: support@lfnetworking.org

• For project-related questions, onboarding, elections, and general PM assistance

IT Infrastructure Support:

• Submit tickets at: https://support.linuxfoundation.org

• For technical infrastructure, access issues, and system problems

TAC Questions:

• Email: lfntac@lists.lfnetworking.org

Project Lifecycle Philosophy

As projects mature and their communities develop expertise with LF processes, they naturally evolve toward greater operational independence. This evolution allows LFN PMO and TAC staff to focus support on newer projects and growth initiatives without increasing resources. The lifecycle reflects decreasing staff involvement as projects mature and gain capability, with the goal of communities increasingly managing routine operations while staff remain available as needed.

Project States

Candidate

Projects looking to integrate with the LFN umbrella may be inducted at any lifecycle state, provided they meet The Linux Foundation's proven best practices for success.

Support Level: Assessment and onboarding planning

Sandbox

The Sandbox stage provides an entry point for new projects that align with the LFN mission. This stage is ideal for early-stage projects that require time to explore their community, governance, and technical roadmap.

Support Level: HIGH - Active staff engagement and hands-on support

• Maximum LFN staff involvement

• Frequent check-ins and guidance

• Assistance in establishing processes and community

• Priority attention for "new and emerging" projects

Community Readiness: New community requiring significant guidance and process establishment

Incubation

Projects have implemented open-source best practices, with a diverse contributor base, and adhere to open governance principles. They actively cooperate with other LFN projects and contribute to the LFN's scope.

Support Level: MODERATE - Strategic guidance with increasing self-management

• Regular staff support with defined touchpoints

• Transition planning toward self-management

• Guidance on establishing self-sustaining processes

• Project beginning to demonstrate operational independence

Community Readiness: Developing community with growing understanding of LF processes, beginning to self-serve on routine matters

Graduated (TAC Project)

Mature projects with established communities, stable operations, and proven governance. These projects have fulfilled earlier-stage requirements, demonstrated diversity and compliance with open-source best practices, and maintain documented processes that they follow consistently.

Support Level: Staff available as needed

• Projects typically operate with greater independence

• Communities have developed expertise with LF processes

• Staff available for escalations and strategic guidance as needed

• Access to shared resources and infrastructure

• Voting representative on the TAC

Community Readiness: Mature, experienced community with established leaders well-versed in community and processes

Self-Management Expectation: While not all Graduated projects operate identically, the goal is for mature projects to increasingly handle routine operations independently as their communities develop capability. See the Self-Management Framework section below for more details.

Maintenance / LTS (Long Term Support)

Projects that have reached a stable, feature-complete state and are focused on maintenance, bug fixes, security updates, and long-term support rather than active new development. These projects serve important production use cases but have reduced development velocity.

Support Level: Reduced service access, staff available as needed

• Projects typically operate independently with community-managed processes

• Core infrastructure and security services maintained

• Reduced or eliminated access to promotional/marketing services

• LFN staff available for critical infrastructure or security issues as needed

Community Readiness: Stable community with minimal activity, focused on maintaining existing functionality rather than growth

Characteristics:

• Limited new feature development

• Focus on stability, security patches, and bug fixes

• Smaller but dedicated maintainer base

• Reduced contribution velocity

• Production deployments requiring long-term stability

• May transition here from Graduated or directly to Archived

Archived

A project can be Archived if it has received no significant commits within the previous 12 months, if the Project's TSC requests archiving, or if the community is no longer active. An Archival Review will be initiated to determine if the project meets the criteria for archiving.

Support Level: Read-only preservation

• Code repositories preserved in read-only state

• Historical reference maintained

Project Lifecycle Flow

Note: Projects may also move directly from Graduated to Archived, or from Maintenance/LTS back to Graduated if development activity resumes.

Moving Between Lifecycle States

Projects can advance through lifecycle stages as they mature, or in some cases move to maintenance or archival states. Each transition has specific criteria and processes.

Transitions Overview

• Candidate → Sandbox: Complete LF project formation and present to TAC (Candidate Project Template)

• Sandbox → Incubation: Demonstrate implementation of open source best practices, varied contributor base, and open governance (Sandbox Project Template)

• Incubation → Graduated: Show project maturity, documented release process, diversity, and readiness for self-management

• Graduated → Maintenance/LTS: Project reaches stable state with focus on long-term support rather than new development

• Maintenance/LTS → Graduated: Development activity and community engagement resumes

• Any State → Archived: Project becomes inactive or TSC requests archival

Guidelines

The guidelines presented below are not strict requirements but represent goals and standards that communities should strive to achieve. The key principle is that support intensity decreases as projects mature, with the goal of communities developing capability to manage routine operations while staff remain available as needed.

These guidelines are suggestive and adaptable to each project's unique circumstances. The TAC evaluates proposals on a case-by-case basis, considering overall health, maturity, and potential. Flexibility and context-specific judgment foster innovation, inclusivity, and growth within the LFN ecosystem.

Development & Code Management

Governance

Documentation

Community Metrics

LFN Services by Lifecycle Stage

Committees

Budget

Discretionary budgets for Graduated Projects can include: Community Awards, Project-specific digital marketing, Hackathon prizes, Additional TSC F2F meeting funding

LFX Services & Tools

Release Management Support

By Incubation phase, projects should have release management processes that are self-managed by the community. Staff provide training, assistance, and troubleshooting as needed.

Marketing