Determine how to accept data from non-Google users

[timford]

Mako cannot yet accept data from non-Google users because we have not yet decided how to best license this data in a way that protects both Mako users and Google. It's our high priority to rectify this soon, in order to maximize the usefulness of Mako for the open source projects that will use Mako and for their communities of contributors. It’s our intention that all contributors feel comfortable and free using Mako to assess the performance of these software projects.

We’re considering many possibilities, and we’re getting advice from experts and interested parties. We’ll update this issue when we know more.

[dprotaso]

Should we revisit (#1) making server components available for self hosting?

[aslom]

What is current status of accepting contributions to Mako and using it in knative?

[timford]

@dprotaso: Our current line of thinking is that open-sourcing the server is not the quickest path to enabling non-Google users. Our experience open-sourcing internal code so far is that it is very time consuming, and the Mako team’s resources are limited.

We are open to the possibility of eventually open-sourcing the server, but we would have to make that case by weighing the benefit to Knative and other Mako customers against the resource expenditure of spending time open-sourcing code instead of e.g. implementing features. Please tell us more about what use-cases would be unlocked for you by an open source server, so we can take them into account when prioritizing.

@aslom: Thanks for the question. We’re still considering both short-term workarounds and long-term fixes. We’ve been working closely with our Knative contacts within Google to make sure we meet the needs of the Knative community. We’ll update this issue soon.

[dprotaso]

@timford hey any updates?

[timford]

@dprotaso: thanks for reaching out.

We don’t have anything to share yet, but getting this unblocked has been my primary focus. I realize it’s taking quite a bit longer than it seems like it should, but for legal and privacy reasons it turns out to be much trickier to get right than we expected. We have a potential path forward that we’re cautiously optimistic about — I’m just trying to get the right approvals.

I hope to be able to provide more information soon!

[dprotaso]

hey @timford bumping again - any updates? also happy new year!

[timford]

Hello,

Over the past few months we’ve considered and reviewed a number of ways to support data from non-Googlers in Mako. For a myriad of technical, legal, and business reasons we’re unable to commit to any solutions to this problem in the foreseeable future. I’m sorry to say that, as I personally spent a lot of time and effort trying to find a solution that worked.

We’ve sparked some conversations internally that may eventually lead to a solution opening up here, but if that happens it won’t be any time soon.

While those conversations happen, we’ve put aside the effort for now in favor of working on other features and fixes needed by the Knative team. These include support for running Mako on Knative PRs, which isn’t the same as being able to write to Mako yourself but which will at least enable showing Mako test results from non-Googler PRs.