1 / 5
"The project uses a Contributor Ladder" — what is it?
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Option A is correct. The contributor ladder is documented in GOVERNANCE.md and defines the path to increased responsibility.
Contributor ladder levels (CNCF pattern):| Level | Typical privileges |
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| Contributor | Submit PRs, open issues |
| Committer / Reviewer | Approve PRs in specific areas |
| Maintainer | Merge PRs, set direction |
| Steering committee | Governance, strategic decisions |
Key vocabulary: contributor ladder, committer, maintainer, OWNERS file
2 / 5
"The proposal was submitted as an RFC" — what is an RFC in OSS?
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Option D is correct. RFC stands for Request For Comments — a design-first process used in major OSS communities.
RFC process flow:| Stage | Activity |
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| 1. Proposal | Author opens RFC as a PR to the RFC repo |
| 2. Community review | Comment period — anyone can add feedback |
| 3. Decision | Accepted / Rejected / Revised |
| 4. Implementation | Approved RFC drives implementation PRs |
Used by: Rust, TC39 (JavaScript), IETF standards, Kubernetes KEPs.
Key vocabulary: RFC, design proposal, community review period
3 / 5
"The project has an open governance model" — what does this mean?
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Option B is correct. Open governance is about
how decisions are made, not just code visibility.
Open vs. single-vendor governance:| Open governance ✓ | Single-vendor ✗ |
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| Public roadmap decisions | Roadmap set internally by one company |
| Community-elected maintainers | Maintainers are company employees only |
| CNCF / Apache neutral hosting | Repo owned by a single company |
Key vocabulary: open governance, vendor-neutral governance, CNCF sandbox/incubating/graduated
4 / 5
"This fix would be a breaking change to the public API" — what does this mean for OSS versioning?
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Option C is correct. Breaking changes follow SemVer rules and require community migration support.
SemVer breakdown:| Version part | When to bump | Example |
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| MAJOR (x.0.0) | Breaking change | Removed a method, changed return type |
| MINOR (1.x.0) | Backward-compatible new feature | Added a new optional parameter |
| PATCH (1.0.x) | Backward-compatible bug fix | Fixed edge case without API change |
OSS break policy: deprecate in current MAJOR (with warnings), remove in next MAJOR.
Key vocabulary: breaking change, SemVer MAJOR bump, migration guide
5 / 5
"The PR was closed as 'wontfix'" — what does this mean and how should a contributor respond?
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Option B is correct. "Wontfix" is a scope/direction decision, not a technical rejection.
How to respond to wontfix:| Do ✓ | Don't ✗ |
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| Ask for clarification on scope bounds | Argue or reopen immediately |
| Explore plugin/extension approach | Take it personally |
| Fork if the need is real for your use case | Spam other issues asking for reconsideration |
Key vocabulary: wontfix, project scope boundary, fork as valid response, plugin/extension approach