Lauren Barker: Acquire maintainership roles for /doc-locale directory across GitLab projects

Objective

Acquire maintainership roles for approving and merging changes to the /doc-locale directory in the following GitLab projects:

  • GitLab (gitlab-org/gitlab)
  • Omnibus (gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab)
  • Operator (gitlab-org/gitlab-operator)
  • Charts (gitlab-org/charts/gitlab)
  • Runner (gitlab-org/gitlab-runner)

Background

The localization team needs maintainer access to efficiently review and merge documentation localization changes across these core GitLab projects. Currently, changes to the /doc-locale directory require maintainer approval from engineers who may not have domain expertise in localization workflows.

Requirements

Based on the GitLab maintainer workflow documentation, the assigned engineer should:

Prerequisites

  1. Reviewer Experience: First become a reviewer for each target project, demonstrating competency in:

    • Code review processes
    • Understanding of the codebase structure
    • Documentation standards and practices
    • Localization-specific requirements

  2. Domain Expertise: Develop understanding of:

    • Documentation localization workflows
    • Translation file formats and structures
    • Localization tooling and processes
    • Impact assessment for documentation changes

Maintainer Application Process

  1. Demonstrate Readiness: Ensure that:

    • MRs reviewed consistently pass maintainer review without significant additional changes
    • Created MRs consistently pass reviewer and maintainer review without significant changes
    • Comfortable working through operational tasks related to documentation

  2. Formal Application: Open maintainer application MRs for each project following the appropriate templates:

    • Use project-specific maintainer application templates
    • Provide evidence of reviewer experience and domain expertise
    • Include references to successful reviews and contributions

Scope of Maintainership

The maintainership should be scoped specifically to:

  • Directory: /doc-locale and its subdirectories
  • File Types: Documentation files, translation files, localization configuration
  • Actions: Review, approve, and merge changes related to documentation localization

Success Criteria

  • Reviewer status obtained for all 5 target projects
  • Maintainer applications submitted for all 5 target projects
  • Maintainer status approved for /doc-locale directory in all projects
  • Documented process for future localization maintainer onboarding
  • Verification that maintainer permissions work correctly for localization workflows

Timeline

  • Week 1-2: Apply for reviewer status across all projects
  • Week 3-6: Gain experience as reviewer, demonstrate competency
  • Week 7: Submit maintainer applications
  • Week 8-10: Address any feedback and complete maintainer approval process

Resources

Notes

This maintainership is specifically for localization workflows and should not impact other areas of the codebase. The goal is to streamline the documentation localization process while maintaining code quality and security standards.