Discussion of Linux Picnic Charter in SBAY.ORG

This is the proposed Linux Picnic charter. It was approved by vote of the Linux Picnic participants on January 1-3, 2008.

This page held discussion intended to capture and maintain the traditions of the Linux Picnic for its charter under the SBAY.ORG By-Laws. This is the full proposed charter text. It has now been approved - it will be posted on http://corp.sbay.org/ after it is accepted by the Board of Directors.

Some parts were borrowed from the StratofoxCharterDiscussion and RadioExamCharterDiscussion.

In some places this refers to SBAY.ORG's By-Laws, which can be found at http://corp.sbay.org/bylaws/

Purpose

The Linux Picnic is an annual picnic event as a celebration of the anniversary of the Linux operating system and the accomplishments of the Open Source Software community. The Linux Picnic organization operates a picnic in the Silicon Valley area and may provide non-monetary non-asset assistance for similar locally-operated celebrations around the world.

The Linux Picnic is a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the South Bay Community Network, Inc., a California non-profit corporation, also known as SBAY.ORG or SBAY. The Linux Picnic is organized under Article 12 of the corporation's By-Laws.

Definitions

"The corporation" refers to the South Bay Community Network, Inc.

A "simple majority vote" is a vote where the minimum number to pass must be greater than a fraction of the total votes that were cast. If no other fraction or percentage is specified then the vote must be greater than 1/2 to pass.

An "absolute majority vote" is a vote there the minimum number to pass must be greater than a fraction of the total eligible voters. If no other fraction or percentage is specified then the vote must be greater than 2/3 to pass.

Officers

The Steering Committee oversees the organization including policy setting. All members of the Steering Committee are officers of the Linux Picnic organization.

Each calendar year and any time that there is a vacancy, the Steering Committee shall elect one of its members to act as the Linux Picnic Coordinator. If the Steering Committee does not select a Coordinator by Feb 1 in any year, the appointment may be made by the Board of Directors of the corporation. If the Board of Directors selects an individual who is not already a member of the Steering Committee, that individual shall become a member of the Steering Committee.

The Coordinator shall act as the chair of the Steering Committee. All activities which represent the Linux Picnic externally shall be under the authority of the Coordinator.

The Coordinator shall have day-to-day responsibility and authority to lead the Linux Picnic organization within the bounds of this charter.

The Steering Committee shall have the authority to do and to delegate the following:

• create or remove volunteer positions
• appoint or remove individual volunteers in any existing position

The corporation's Board of Directors may remove any Steering Committee member or volunteer from their position.

The Steering Committee shall have responsibility to ensure that the Linux Picnic complies with (in order from highest to lowest precedence)

• applicable federal, state and local laws
• the corporation's By-Laws
• Linux Picnic's charter (this document)
• the corporation's rules and policies
• Linux Picnic rules and policies

The Steering Committee shall have authority to make any decisions necessary to implement this requirement.

SIG Coordinator

The Linux Picnic Coordinator shall serve as the SIG Coordinator according to the corporation's By-Laws, and represent the Linux Picnic to the corporation.

Qualifications of Steering Committee members

Each Steering Committee member shall be a member in good standing of the corporation. The Steering Committee may nominate pending new Steering Committee members for membership in the corporation if necessary in order to meet this qualification.

Each Steering Committee member shall be a member in good standing of the Linux Picnic.

Open Source Partner Organizations

The Steering Committee shall maintain a list of organizations which qualify as Open Source Partner Organizations. If there is no current list, organizations which participated in the previous year's picnic and would otherwise be eligible by the conditions below shall qualify.

Any non-profit organization, informal association or SIG of the corporation which is related to Open Source Software shall qualify to be an Open Source Partner Organization if it agrees to the following:

• It will encourage its members to participate in the Linux Picnic
• It will encourage readers of its mail lists, web sites and other means of communication that it operates to attend the picnic.

Additional conditions may be set by a policy on "Conditions for Open Source Partner Organizations" for the purpose of maintaining a viable group of organizations which represent the Open Source Software community and are able to participate in the Linux Picnic. If no such policy exists then there are no additional conditions. Unless otherwise indicated in such a policy, the conditions apply only upon being admitted as a new Open Source Partner Organization. Such a policy is allowed to set conditions for maintenance of Open Source Partner Organization status.

An organization's failure to comply with this agreement shall be considered grounds for disqualification at any time.

Procedures for election and removal of Steering Committee members

Steering Committee members shall serve on a calendar year term.

The Steering Committee shall consist of the following:

• up to 6 members elected by the Linux Picnic membership
• up to 6 members selected by Open Source Partner Organizations
• up to 3 members selected by the corporation's Board of Directors

If an individual is chosen for more than one seat on the Steering Committee, the individual shall only be qualified for the first seat, and disqualified from the remaining seats. In any case, no individual shall have more than one vote on the Steering Committee.

If more than 6 Linux Picnic members volunteer for the Steering Committee, a policy on "Election of Linux Picnic Members to the Steering Committee" shall determine the method of election, which shall be required to use a form of preference voting by the membership. If no such policy exists, the election shall use the Single Transferable Vote method.

If more than 6 individuals are nominated by Open Source Partner Organizations, a policy on "Selection of Parter Organization Nominees to the Steering Committee" shall determine the method of selection. If no such policy exists, the remaining members of the Steering Committee shall select 6 from the list of nominees.

A member of the Steering Committee may be removed by one of the following methods:

• requiring a statement of cause, a 2/3 absolute majority vote of the Steering Committee
• requiring a statement of cause, a 2/3 simple majority vote of the members of the Linux Picnic cast by e-mail on the mail list, including a minimum number of votes in favor of removal of 3 in total or 10% of the total membership, whichever is greater
• requiring a statement of cause, a 3/4 absolute majority vote of the Open Source Partner Organizations
• with or without cause by the corporation's Board of Directors

E-mail lists

The Linux Picnic shall maintain e-mail lists for discussion. New e-mail lists may be created with the approval of the Linux Picnic Coordinator or Steering Committee.

The Linux Picnic shall adhere to the corporation's e-mail list policies including e-mail etiquette. The Linux Picnic may make its own policies according to the Policies and Rules section below.

Procedures for voting

The following procedure applies to votes on issues put before the Steering Committee or membership of the Linux Picnic.

Voting may take place by e-mail with the following requirements. This procedure is called an "e-mail vote".

• Voting shall take place within a minimum period set by policy. In the absence of such a policy, the minimum period shall be 24 hours.
• Only votes e-mailed to the entire votership will be counted. Votes shall be known to the entire votership. The smallest mail list including all the valid voters is recommended. Votes sent to an incorrect destination may be re-sent by the voter or forwarded with the voter's permission to the mail list.
• Only members in good standing shall be eligible to vote.
• Votes use the style from the BSD and Apache open source projects:
  • "+1" is a positive vote
  • "0" is an abstention
  • "-1" is a veto, which requires an explanation and follow-up discussion, in which the vote may be changed if reasons for the objection or question are resolved. Unless voting periods are specified by policy, the following rules shall apply:
    • If a veto occurs with less than 6 hours remaining in the vote, then the discussion period may continue until 6 hours after the veto.
    • Any period after the end of the 24 hours is called the "extended voting period".
    • A veto during an extended voting period shall not cause an additional extension.
  • Members may change their votes during the discussion period.
• Unless a specific margin to pass is specified by this charter, the following criteria are required for a vote to pass:
  • A vote on an issue fails if there are any unresolved vetos at the end of the voting period and extended discussion period.
  • Votes on any issue require a minimum of 3 positive votes in order to pass.

For votes on issues put before the Open Source Partner Organizations, each organization shall use their own decision-making procedures to decide on the matter. The decision shall be reported to the Linux Picnic Steering Committee for counting. A deadline may be set for valid votes to be received on any issue. If no voting deadline is set, the issue remains open until enough votes are received for a result to be known, or until withdrawl of the issue by its originator.

Votes cast by Open Source Partner Organizations shall not be considered private information, and must be available for viewing to all Linux Picnic members and the Steering Committee.

Policies and Rules

Policies and Rules may be enacted, amended or removed by simple majority vote of any of the following:

• simple majority vote of the Linux Picnic membership
• simple majority vote of the Linux Picnic Steering Committee
• 2/3 absolute majority vote of the Open Source Partner Organizations

Any Linux Picnic member in good standing may submit proposals for policies and rules. A draft of the policy shall be posted to the members mail list for a minimum of 24 hours of review, unless cancelled by its author.

Policy and rule votes by the membership take precedence over those by the Steering Committee and the Open Source Partner Organizations.

Policy and rule votes by the Steering Committee take precedence over those by the Open Source Partner Organizations.

Any Linux Picnic policy or rule may be removed by the corporation's Board of Directors.

In case of conflict, the corporation's by-laws, the corporation's policies, US Federal law, and laws of applicable state and local governments take precedence over any Linux Picnic policy. A policy or proposed policy found by the Steering Committee or the corporation to be in violation shall be canceled and returned to its author with recommendations as a new proposal.

Qualifications for membership in Linux Picnic

There are no dues for membership.

There is no minimum age for membership. Under 18 years requires parental permission.

Linux Picnic members are not required to be members of the corporation. The Linux Picnic shall encourage its members to support the corporation by joining.

An individual shall be eligible for membership in the Linux Picnic under the following conditions:

• The individual has volunteered to participate in the Linux Picnic, or has participated in any previous Linux Picnic.
• The individual has not been expelled for misconduct.

Membership in the Linux Picnic shall be renewable each calendar year at the option of the member.

Removal or suspension of Linux Picnic Members for misconduct

Any Linux Picnic member who is found by the Steering Committee to have broken rules or committed behavior contrary to the purpose of Linux Picnic shall be subject to disciplinary action. If the individual is on the Steering Committee, the decision shall be made by the remainder of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall decide whether the degree of the offense warrants requiring an apology, temporary suspension of some or all membership privileges, or in the most severe circumstances expulsion from the Linux Picnic. Expulsion of a Linux Picnic member requires a 2/3 vote of the Steering Committee - all others require a simple majority vote.

A Linux Picnic member shall not be considered on good standing while a suspension of any membership privileges is in effect.

Decision-making procedures and conflict resolution

Decision-making procedures of Article 6 of the corporation's By-Laws shall also govern decisions within the Linux Picnic. It shall be the responsibility of the Coordinator to ensure that these procedures are followed and to perform or delegate the role of conflict resolution arbitration when necessary.

The Steering Committee shall act as the final arbiter of conflict resolution within the organization.

Amendments to the Linux Picnic Charter

This document may be amended when a proposed amendment is announced to the Linux Picnic members and approved by either of the following:

• A 2/3 absolute majority vote of the Linux Picnic members and approval by a simple majority vote of the corporation's Board of Directors.
• A 3/4 absolute majority vote of the Open Source Partner Organizations and approval by a simple majority vote of the corporation's Board of Directors.
• A 2/3 absolute majority vote of the corporation's Board of Directors.

Revisions

Comments