Pinot Dev, I’m Tim Berglund. The barest intro of me: I run Developer Relations at StarTree. I wanted to go over a change I’m making to our Slack workspace so it is not a surprise to you and we have a chance to talk through any questions.
On June 1, 2022, we will rename the Apache Pinot™ Slack Workspace to the StarTree Community Slack Workspace. Let me explain my thinking here. First, of the top ten lifetime contributors in this Slack, six are StarTree employees, accounting for about 80% of messages. I’m concerned by the StarTree-heavy presence in a workspace that borrows the Apache branding. It made sense to name the workspace “Apache Pinot” when Kishore first made it, but as its usage has evolved and will continue to evolve, keeping the Apache name is not appropriate. StarTree is committed to making Pinot famous—that’s my actual job, in fact—and to helping users of the open-source project be successful with it, but we need to keep the boundaries between the ASF and StarTree clearly defined. Renaming this Slack is an important part of that distinction, and something I’d rather do sooner than later. Second, the continued evolution of the workspace is sure to include channels to support StarTree’s cloud service and other community-licensed products we might release in the future. Our broad commitment to and investment in the support and advocacy for Apache Pinot will remain. Renaming of the Slack will not cause it to become a place for vendor sales pitches. (Indeed, those are forbidden, and sales people who come into Slack to sell will answer to me.) The Slack is home to many other community members who have no association with the ASF at all, and of course will continue to be an inclusive space open to anyone who wants to talk about Pinot. It’s our goal for it to continue to grow and thrive, and for StarTree to continue to invest heavily in it as a helpful and welcoming place. Warmly, Tim Berglund VP Developer Relations StarTree
