A policy for abandoned project names

docs/abandoned-projects.rst

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+Abstract
+========
+
+This document describes the process by which a RTD project name may be changed.
+
+
+Rationale
+=========
+
+Conflict between the current use of the name and a different suggested use of
+the same name occasionally arise.  This document aims to provide general
+guidelines for solving the most typical cases of such conflicts.
+
+
+Specification
+=============
+
+The main idea behind this document is that RTD serves the community.  Every
+user is invited to upload content under the Terms of Use, understanding that it
+is at the sole risk of the user.
+
+While RTD is not a backup service, the maintainers do their best to keep that
+content accessible indefinitely in its published form.  However, in certain
+edge cases the greater community's needs might outweigh the individual's
+expectation of ownership of a project name.
+
+The use cases covered by this document are:
+
+* Abandoned projects:
+
+    * renaming a project so that the original project name can be used by a
+      different project.
+
+* Active projects:
+
+    * resolving disputes over a name.
+
+
+Implementation
+==============
+
+Reachability
+------------
+
+The user of RTD is solely responsible for being reachable by the maintainers
+for matters concerning projects that the user owns.  In every case where
+contacting the user is necessary, the maintainers will try to do so at least
+three times, using the following means of contact:
+
+* e-mail address on file in the user's profile;
+* e-mail addresses found in the given project's documentation; and
+* e-mail address on the project's home page.
+
+The maintainers will stop trying to reach the user after six weeks and the user
+will be considered *unreachable*.
+
+
+Abandoned projects
+------------------
+
+A project is considered *abandoned* when ALL of the following are met:
+
+* owner is unreachable (see Reachability above);
+* no releases within the past twelve months; and
+* no activity from the owner on the project's home page (or no home page
+  found).
+
+All other projects are considered *active*.
+
+
+Renaming of an abandoned project
+--------------------------------
+
+Projects are never renamed solely on the basis of abandonment.
+
+An *abandoned* project can be renamed (by appending "-abandoned" and a
+uniquifying integer if needed) for purposes of reusing the name when ALL of the
+following are met:
+
+* the project has been determined *abandoned* by the rules described above;
+* the candidate is able to demonstrate their own failed attempts to contact the
+  existing owner;
+* the candidate is able to demonstrate that the project suggested to reuse the
+  name already exists and meets notability requirements;
+* the candidate is able to demonstrate why a fork under a different name is not
+  an acceptable workaround;
+* access statistics for the existing package indicate the project is not being
+  heavily used; and
+* the maintainers do not have any additional reservations.
+
+
+Name conflict resolution for active projects
+--------------------------------------------
+
+The maintainers of RTD are not arbiters in disputes around *active* projects.
+The maintainers recommend users to get in touch with each other and solve the
+issue by respectful communication.
+
+
+Prior art
+=========
+
+The Python Package Index (PyPI) policy for claiming abandoned packages
+(`PEP-0541 <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0541>`_) heavily
+influenced this document.
+
+
+Copyright
+=========
+
+This document has been placed in the public domain.