Ubuntu Wiki

The Ubuntu has always been a very openly governed community from the beginning of the project. This open governance means that we have some community organized and run decision-making groups that help to lead and make decisions about different elements of Ubuntu.

In the early days of the project we had the Community Council and the Technical Board, but as the Ubuntu community has grown we have needed to add additional sub-councils to help lead their specific parts of the community.

The current governance map of Ubuntu looks like this:

This is what the different groups do:

• Community Council - makes decisions about community processes and provides a place where community members and other leaders can resolve conflict.

• Technical Board - decided on technical policy for the project. Note that the Technical Board does not choose features and packages that go into Ubuntu, that is something the wider community works on.

• LoCo Council - leads the LoCo Teams community as well as reviewing and re-approving Approved LoCo Team applications.

• IRC Council - leads the IRC and IRC operator community and ensures our IRC channels are operating in a safe and respectful manner.

• Forums Council - leads the Ubuntu Forums community and it's moderators.

• Americas | EMEA | Oceania Membership Boards - this is where community contributors can apply to become Ubuntu members.

• Application Review Board - reviews Free Software applications submitted via the MyApps portal on http://developer.ubuntu.com (commercial applications are reviewed by Canonical).

• Developer Membership Board - reviews applications for developers to get upload access to the Ubuntu archives.

You can also see the Canonical Community Team floating in the middle - this team is employed by Canonical to grow, motivate, and build the community in different areas.

Each of the governance bodies report to someone and their parent body ensures they are elected and performing useful work. While the Community Council and Technical Board don't report to Mark Shuttleworth, Mark has a veto power to overrule decisions, although this power is rarely if ever used.

Governance Boards

Here is a breakdown of the different governing boards, who is on them, and where you can contract them.

Community Council

• Members:

• Mailing List: community-council@lists.ubuntu.com

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to propose changes to community processes.
  • If you have a conflict you cannot resolve and need help.
  • If you would like to propose a new team or leadership board in the community.
  • Other general community topics.

LoCo Council

• Members:

• Mailing List: loco-council@lists.ubuntu.com

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to apply to get your LoCo Team approved or re-approved.

  • If there is a conflict in your LoCo Team that you need help with.

  • If you need help or guidance for running your LoCo Team.

IRC Council

• Members:

• Mailing List:

• How They Can Help:

  • Foo.

Forums Council

• Members:

• Mailing List: ubuntu-forums-council@lists.ubuntu.com

• How They Can Help:

  • If you have an idea or proposed changed for the Ubuntu Forums.
  • If you have a conflict with a moderator that you need help resolving.

Americas Membership Board

• Members:

• Where To Apply: Click Here

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to apply to become an Ubuntu Member and live in the Americas region.

EMEA Membership Board

• Members:

• Where To Apply: Click Here

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to apply to become an Ubuntu Member and live in the Europe, Middle East, or Africa region.

Oceania Membership Board

• Members:

• Where To Apply: Click Here

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to apply to become an Ubuntu Member and live in the Asia, Oceania, or Australasia region.

Technical Board

• Members:

• Mailing List: technical-board@lists.ubuntu.com

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to propose a change to technical policy in Ubuntu.
  • If you have a legal or other concern about technical policy in Ubuntu.

Application Review Board

• Members:

• Mailing List: app-review-board@lists.ubuntu.com

• How They Can Help:

  • If you have submitted an application via MyApps and need to enquire on it's status.

  • If you have queries about how to get your app in Ubuntu.

Developer Membership

• Members:

• Mailing List: developer-membership-board@lists.ubuntu.com

• How They Can Help:

  • If you want to apply to be a developer and get upload access to the Ubuntu archives.