Here's another cut at the Constitution.
Still not there, but making some progress. I think I got most of the
comments on the thread thus far. If you commented on parts that I took
out (project creation process or membership process), we can update
those separately since those documents will have to be edited. If I
missed other comments, just flag me.
This document is now based only in part on the previous Constitution.
What text I kept from the Constitution I edited heavily and in some
cases changed intent (such as the Disputes section). We can discuss
these changes during this process. Generally, I cut out a great deal of
information, so it's not helpful to do a line by line analysis. We as a
community do not follow all of the Constitution as written, so I'd like
to see us consider starting with a much shorter document that doesn't
necessarily consider every possible situation. Then we can build up from
there if needed.
Here's a rough review of changes:
Article 1. Name: Removed. I'm not sure how to handle this because this
section refers to the Charter, and we have to consider the Charter in
this as well. I never really saw a connection between the Charter and
Constitution, so my view is that we don't even need a Charter and the
Constitution should stand on its own. But we can deal with that in
subsequent drafts.
Article 2. Purpose: Edited parts of this into other sections and removed
other parts.
Article 3. Structure, Participation, and Roles: Replaced with new
roles/groups content approved by the OGB. Elevated Disputes to its own
section. Changed #4 of Disputes to say a suspended member may /not/
vote. This is for discussion.
Article 4. Membership: Replaced with the new membership approved by the
OGB.
Article 5. Meetings of Members: Edited.
Article6. Governing Board: Edited.
Article 7 Community Groups: Removed. The new structure is flat and
doesn't require the OGB to specify in detail how groups operate. Also,
some content in this section is covered in the new group creation process.
Article 8. Community Group Voting Procedures: Removed. The OGB may very
well decide to publish some suggested ways to run a group (voting,
management, etc), but it's not the role of the OGB to get down to this
level of detail for each group.
Article 9 Amendments: Edited
Article 10. Dissolution: Edited
==============================================
The OpenSolaris Constitution
Overview
This Constitution outlines the basic structure and operation of the
OpenSolaris community and the OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB).
Previous versions of the Constitution can be found at the OGB's website.
Structure
Groups. The OpenSolaris community is structured as a distributed
organization of participants in which Members are given the right to
vote on community-wide issues, the most important of which is to elect
the OGB. The OGB, in turn, delegates the organization, operations, and
decision-making processes for OpenSolaris activities to participants
running their own groups. From a governance perspective, all groups are
considered equal in status, there are no hierarchal relationships
between groups, and the number of groups within a given category can
vary greatly. There are three operational categories of groups and one
non-operational group:
1. Communities: Social groups gathered around issues or technologies.
2. Projects: Development groups gathered around code repositories and
integration tools.
3. User Groups: Groups of users gathered around issues or
technologies in a specific geography.
4. Electorate: A group that holds voting Members of the overall
OpenSolaris Community. This group is not considered operational in
that its Members participate in the activities of the other three
groups.
The OGB specifies a single process for creating, changing, archiving,
and reactivating all groups. The document outlining those procedures can
be found at the OGB's website, and it may be updated as the community's
needs evolve.
Roles. There are three operational roles in the OpenSolaris community:
1. Participants: Those registered on opensolaris.org are eligible to
be participants in a Community, Project, or User Group.
2. Contributors: Those recognized as having substantially helped with
the goals of a given group. That person may be given the right to
edit web pages, commit code, or help moderate mailing lists, for
example.
3. Leaders: Those responsible for leading a Community, Project, or
User Group. Leaders may decide the technical direction of a given
Project, for example. Leaders may also appoint Participants to be
Contributors and Leaders.
All of the groups may have have different standards for recognizing
people as Participants, Contributors, or Leaders within their respective
groups. However, if a participate wants to become a Member of the
OpenSolaris community and be engaged in community-wide issues, then he
or she has to apply for Membership at the OGB.
Membership
Membership: Participants, Contributors, and Leaders from Communities,
Projects, and User Groups may become associated with the Electorate
group as voting Members of the OpenSolaris community. Only those who
have substantially and verifiably contributed to a group may apply for
Membership. Qualification for Membership is for life; however,
Memberships must be renewed every two years. The OGB specifies a single
process for membership applications. The document outlining those
procedures can be found at the OGB's website, and it may be updated as
the community's needs evolve.
Meetings of Members
Meetings. A Meeting of the Members will be held annually to elect the
OGB and ratify any proposed Constitutional changes. The OGB will notify
the community not less than ten days or more than sixty days before the
meeting with the necessary logistics. One-third of the Members,
represented in person or by proxy, constitutes a quorum, and the
affirmative vote of a majority of the Members shall be the act of the
Members. The OGB can call for Special Meetings of the Members outside
the Annual Meetings, and Members can also call for Special Meetings if
more than 10 percent of the Membership agrees.
Voting. Members are entitled to one vote on each matter submitted at a
Meeting of the Members. A Member may vote in person, by proxy, or, when
a vote is conducted by electronic ballot, by submitting a completed
ballot to the voting mechanism.
Proxies. Every Member may authorize another person to act on his or her
behalf as a Member by Proxy. Every proxy must be signed by the Member
and delivered to the Secretary. Proxies are valid for up to one year.
All proxies shall be revocable.
Minutes. Minutes of any Meeting of the Members shall be posted in a
public forum within thirty days.
Governing Board
OGB. The OGB consists of a minimum of three and a maximum of seven
people who provide guidance to the OpenSolaris community, maintain the
community's Constitution, run elections, and to help mediate disputes.
The OGB values transparency, prefers delegation and empowerment, and
strives to be enablers, facilitators and behind-the-scenes
troubleshooters. OGB members, upon change of corporate affiliation or
other interests related to OpenSolaris, must notify the Membership of
their new status.
Election and Term. At the annual meeting of Members, the Members shall
elect OGB Members to hold office starting the first day of the calendar
month following the election and continuing until the first day of the
calendar month following the next annual meeting. Each OGB member shall
hold office for the term for which he or she is elected, until his or
her successor us elected, or until his or her earlier resignation,
removal, or death. OGB members can serve for up to three consecutive terms.
Candidates and Voting. Candidates for election to the OGB must be
nominated by a current Member. Nominations shall be open seven days
prior to ballot completion. An election ballot must be complete and
publicly viewable seven days prior to the start of voting. Once voting
has started, the voting shall remain open for seven days. Candidates for
election must publish a list of their commercial affiliations or other
interests related to OpenSolaris, so voting Members can understand the
context from which they would act on the OGB. Candidates who do not
publish such a statement shall not be eligible for election. The
Secretary of the OGB shall maintain a public register of OGB Members'
affiliations.
Voting. The OGB election shall use the balloting method known as Single
Transferable Vote with the Meek algorithm.
Resignations, Removals, and Vacancies. An OGB Member may resign or be
removed by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members. If the
entire OGB resigns or if a majority of the community expresses "no
confidence" in an affirmative vote, then a special election will be held
within thirty days. In the event of a resignation, removal, or death,
the OGB shall review the ballot results of the previous election and
appoint the next available candidate to fill the vacancy. If there are
no further candidates from the prior election, the vacancy shall not be
filled until the next OGB election.
Quorum. A majority of the OGB members in office shall constitute a
quorum. The vote of a majority of the OGB members present at a meeting
at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the OGB.
Meetings. OGB meetings should be held at least once a quarter. Meetings
may be held in person or via teleconference, IRC, or equivalent medium
for shared communication. OGB meetings are open, but occasionally the
OGB may need to discuss confidential items in a closed session. Any
decisions resulting from a closed session must be approved in an open
meeting.
Officers. The officers of the OGB shall consist of a Chair, a
Vice-Chair, and a Secretary, each of whom shall be appointed by the OGB.
The offices of Chair and Vice Chair must be held by OGB members, but the
Secretary need not be an OGB member. The officers shall have the
following duties:
* The Chair shall preside at all Meetings of the Members and of the OGB.
* The Vice Chair shall, in the absence or the Chair, perform the
duties of the Chair.
* The Secretary shall publish records of all public meetings and
maintain Membership records of the OpenSolaris community.
Board Committees. The OGB may create board committees, each consisting
of at least one OGB member and composed of participants appointed by the
OGB.
Dispute Resolution
Disputes. Disputes should be resolved within groups according to their
normal decision-making procedures. If a dispute can not be resolved in a
group or spreads into to the OpenSolaris community generally, then the
participants may ask the OGB to help mediate a reasonable solution. The
OGB will consider disputes on a case-by-case basis.
Suspensions. If outright abuse is reported to the OGB, the situation
will be reviewed in the following way:
1. The OGB will notify the individual that his or her participation
in the community is under review and that the review will be
completed within thirty days. The review should occur in a closed
session and remain private unless an action is made to suspend the
participant.
2. The OGB may temporarily remove the participant's write access to
community infrastructure until the review is complete.
3. When the review is completed, the OGB may suspend the
participant's write access to community infrastructure for up to
six months. If the participant has previously been suspended, the
OGB may recommend expulsion.
4. A suspended member may not attend or vote at Annual Meetings or
Special Meetings.
Expulsion. The OGB may expel a participant by an affirmative vote of a
two-thirds majority of the Members. Expulsion involves the removal of
all grants of Membership and the removal of the participant's write
access to community infrastructure until a subsequent act of the Members
revokes the expulsion.
Amendments
The Constitution may be changed by an affirmative vote if a majority of
the Members during Annual Meetings or Special Meetings.
Dissolution
If the OGB is reduced in membership below three members, Sun
Microsystems will appoint a new board and community operations will
continue under the Constitution.
==============================================
Jim
--
http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
<http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/ogb-discuss/attachments/20081015/4a101bdf/attachment.html>
