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new 84c2db470 Graduation blog post (#3831)
84c2db470 is described below
commit 84c2db470ef3e949ed28efe2e0c3427406f4d24b
Author: Robert Stupp <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Fri Feb 20 18:30:09 2026 +0100
Graduation blog post (#3831)
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+---
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+title: "Apache Polaris Graduates to Top Level Project!"
+date: 2026-02-19
+author: Apache Polaris
+---
+
+We are thrilled to announce that **Apache Polaris** has officially graduated
from the Apache Incubator to
+become a **Top Level Project (TLP)** at the Apache Software Foundation (ASF).
+
+This milestone marks a significant pivotal point for the project, moving from
a promising proposal to a mature,
+community-governed standard for data cataloging and access control in the open
data lakehouse.
+
+### What is Apache Polaris?
+
+For those who are new to the project, Polaris is a **cloud-native, open-source
catalog for Apache Iceberg**.
+It provides a centralized service to manage your data across different engines
and clouds,
+ensuring that your Iceberg tables remain interoperable and secure.
+
+By providing a vendor-neutral implementation of the **Apache Iceberg REST
Catalog spec**,
+Polaris solves one of the biggest headaches in modern data architecture:
**vendor lock-in.**
+Whether you are using Dremio, Snowflake, Apache Spark, Trino, or Apache Flink,
Polaris ensures they are all looking
+at the same source of truth.
+
+### Why Graduation Matters
+
+Graduating to a TLP is more than just a change in title. It’s a "seal of
approval" from the ASF that
+the project has demonstrated:
+
+* **The Apache Way:** Demonstrated the ability to operate as a healthy,
self-governing Apache project with
+ the commitment to collaborative, transparent, peer-based, and meritocratic
development using
+ consensus-based decision-making and responsible oversight.
+* **Community Health:** A diverse, sustainable, and growing group of
contributors from various organizations.
+ Open governance driven by the community, in transparency, vendor neutrality.
+* **Technical Maturity:** A stable codebase that is ready for enterprise-grade
production environments.
+
+### The Journey So Far
+
+Since entering the incubator, the progress has been nothing short of
remarkable.
+We’ve seen a surge in contributions that have helped us implement:
+
+1. **Cross-Engine Interoperability:** Seamlessly sharing Iceberg tables across
multiple processing engines.
+2. **Fine-Grained Access Control:** Centralized security policies that follow
your data,
+ no matter who is querying it.
+3. **Multi-Cloud Support:** The flexibility to run your catalog wherever your
data lives.
+
+### What’s Next for Polaris?
+
+While we are celebrating today, our eyes are firmly on the horizon.
+As a Top Level Project, our focus will shift toward:
+
+* Expanding support for even more storage backends and engines.
+* Deepening our integration with the broader Apache Iceberg ecosystem.
+* Continuing to lower the barrier to entry for organizations adopting an open
data lakehouse.
+
+### A Heartfelt Thank You
+
+This achievement belongs to **you**, our community of developers, users, and
mentors.
+Whether you submitted a pull request, reported a bug, or shared your feedback
on the mailing list,
+you played a vital role in getting us here.
+
+### Get Involved!
+
+There has never been a better time to join the Polaris community.
+Whether you're a data engineer looking for a better way to manage Iceberg
tables or a developer
+interested in open-source governance, we want your help.
+
+**Onward to the next chapter of open data management!**
