[dpdk-dev] [dpdk-announce] Message from DPDK Board & Tech Chairs

[dpdk-dev] [dpdk-announce] Message from DPDK Board & Tech Chairs

[Jill Lovato]

Greetings DPDK Project Community:

We hope you are managing okay and remaining safe and healthy as the
coronavirus crisis has thrown the world into a frenzy.  While many of
us are used to working remotely and using online collaborative tools,
we are having to adapt to new circumstances at home. It is hard on
everyone.

The DPDK Governing Board, Technical Board, and Marketing Committee
have been hard at work locking down our final 2020 budget, crafting
plans around worldwide DPDK Summit events, and exploring hosting a
broader data plane projects developer event.  However, upcoming
public gatherings and events have been cancelled or postponed and are
no longer an option in the near term.  DPDK has  not yet migrated to
virtual events. For now, our plans around DPDK Summit events are in
flux:


*  China and Japan events are on hold. As things develop further we
will see if we can make something happen, perhaps in Q3 or Q4.

* The US DPDK Summit event is  pushed out to Q1 of 2021.  The team
made this decision before the pandemic emerged in order to create some
 calendar space between the Summit and Userspace events.  We have
targeted the second half of September for the Userspace event,
continuing to host it in Bordeaux.  As of now this is still our
intent. But as we are sure you can understand, the situation remains
fluid until the pandemic subsides.  Please bear with us.

We have also continued to explore options to increase the value and
role of the DPDK Community Lab that is currently hosted at the
University of New Hampshire, InterOperability Lab, also known as
UNH/IoL. We would like to acknowledge the continued efforts of Lincoln
Lavoie and team, especially as he remains in the lab to triage
hardware issues. However, we have struggled to find community
volunteers to step up and lead the lab effort.  We are now looking at
alternatives including a minimum set of activities and regression
tests that the Technical Board recommends we maintain. Other efforts
to expand the use of the lab will likely require additional budget. We
are trying to converge on a solution.  Help is still welcome should
anyone want to get more involved.

The community continues to be amazing.  This year we delivered our
20.02 release with few time accommodations.  Work is underway for the
20.05 release with several new features and improvements
https://core.dpdk.org/roadmap/ 20.08 and 20.11 will follow.  We are
confident the community collaboration and execution capability will
serve us well during these times.  We are not expecting too much delay
in releases. Of note, while most git maintainers do have a back-up in
place, please let us know if you are able to help fill in any gaps.

Overall we want to ensure you prioritize yourself and your family as
your personal health and safety are paramount to us. Rest assured the
DPDK community is here for you - whether it be  help on a feature,
code, or guidance on how to handle a challenging home dilemma, please
do reach out.  The DPDK family is strong and tremendously supportive.
We are glad to be part of it.

Stay safe and healthy.

All the best,
Thomas and Jim


Note  - this message is also posted to the DPDK blog:
https://www.dpdk.org/blog/2020/03/31/community-update-from-the-dpdk-board-tech-chairs