Setting clear expectations for the path to become a maintainer

Problem

The expectations to become a maintainer of this project are not clear and documented.

We started as a tiny team of two engineers (myself and @hswimelar) back in 2019, and the team is now starting to grow, with @jaime being our newest team member! 📈

To support new team members in their path from developers to maintainers of this project, we should develop a list of clear, attainable, and unbiased expectations/requirements to become a maintainer.

Solution

Engage the whole team in a discussion about requirements and expectations. Persist those requirements and expectations in a document.

Plan

• add maintainership process to project docs
• backend team members (existing and new) should identify as reviewers in team yml
• create a trainee maintainership template for others to use to become maintainers
• add becoming trainee maintainer to the team onboarding issue for senior backend engineers
• (optional) invite other team members who know golang to become reviewers or trainee maintainers