Cycle 5: Astropy as a platform of stability (Clément Robert SSE)

[neutrinoceros]

Request funding for continuing my mission within the astropy core library and ecosystem at large.

[kelle]

Could you please confirm that the requested amount is in addition to your current contract amount of $32174.35. So if approved, that would bring your total contract up to $112174.35?

[neutrinoceros]

Yes, that is correct.

[kelle]

It would be useful for this funding request to have a budget range.

[neutrinoceros]

done

[kelle]

Please react to this comment to vote on this proposal (👍, 👎, or no reaction for +0).

[kelle]

The Cycle 5 funding request process has been hugely successful! On the downside, that means our funds are severely oversubscribed. Even after the Finance Committee and SPOC have taken into consideration community feedback/voting and alignment with the roadmap, there are still more funding requests than we can afford in 2026.

We would like to stretch the budget as far as possible, and to fund as many activities as possible, while making sure the Project remains volunteer-driven. Hence, we would like to know if this project will still meet its deliverables if your minimum budget is reduced by 25%, 50%, or 100%. Or if there’s some other minimum, feel free to specify that instead.

As a reminder, there will be more funding for 2027 and we expect the Cycle 6 call for 2027 funding requests to begin in the Fall of 2026.

Thank you for your engagement and understanding as we continue to optimize our funding and budgeting processes and the balance of volunteer vs funded work!

(@neutrinoceros )

[neutrinoceros]

Here are some adjusted lists of minimal¹ deliverables.

If the FR is not funded (100% reduced), no deliverables can be expected.

All of the following implicitly include fixing old bugs and regular triage: even though there are no specific deliverables attached, because the list of bugs to be addressed and PRs to review cannot be defined precisely in advance (and the time needed to fix any specific one is practically impossible to predict). In other words, any funded time I get beyond minimal goals would be dedicated to these general tasks, and the more time I have the more (and/or the bigger) of them I can tackle.

Also note that I'm removing the first item from the FR (reproducible builds in "oldestdeps" testing environments) because it was already delivered (thanks to previously allocated fundings).

50% minimal requested budget ($ 25k, 250 hrs)

• ensure compatibility with PEP 803/809 (the future of CPython's Limited API for 2026)
  throughout coordinated packages
• developer guidelines for maintainable new APIs
• detailed, quarterly reports of bug reports closed and PRs reviewed

75% minimal requested budget ($ 37.5k, 375 hrs)

All of the above, with

• split out extension modules to a astropy-core package²

OR

• reforge astropy's configuration discovery system to improve maintainability and
  unblock missing features ENH: (gradually) evolving astropy's config and cache directory discovery system astropy#18964

100% minimal requested budget ($ 50k, 500 hrs)

All of the above, including all options (OR ➡️ AND).

Anything beyond minimal requested budget

• handle in-scope-but-unpredicted compatibility issues (for instance CPython 3.15 compat, JIT experimentations, build system migration, security, thread-safety ...)
• more time for fixing bugs
• help out with general maintenance of astropy and its ecosystem
• reach out to stake holders and improve prioritisation strategies

Footnotes

1. I want to emphasise that in all cases, I expect I'll be doing more. I'm setting realistic goals with the intention to outperform them. ↩

2. pending the APE is accepted in some shape or form ↩