Ubuntu Wiki

Initial Notes

This a draft. Everything here is completely open for discussion and reevaluation. It is, as of the time of writing, the work of only two people and will only represent those views until you start on it. Additionally, this document can updated with time when it stops working. For example, if a 3-5 person board becomes problematic, we can change it. Changes to this can be made by agreement of both the FC and the CC.

Finally, it should go without saying but may still benefit from being said:

• This document is not meant as an attack on the current forums staff or administrators.

• The forums are one of the largest and smoothest running parts of the Ubuntu community. This document aims to help create a more documented, democratic, accessible governance structure for the forums and to integrate it into the rest of the Ubuntu community.

  The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from ever happening. At a moment when the forums are running more smoothly than ever, it seems an ideal moment to help pave the road for a long and smooth future.

Forums Community Governance Codification

The forums represent many people's first meeting with Ubuntu and is an important resource for support and social interactions and have become one of the most important subprojects within Ubuntu. They are the single largest GNU/Linux support forums and one of the most important venues for community support and interaction. Started independently by "Ryan Troy two years ago, their rapid success was officially recognized when they were designated as the Official Ubuntu Forums.

In a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons, the forums have not been given the recognition that they deserve. Their governance systems remain both separate and isolated from the Ubuntu decision-making systems. While the forums have built successful and effective internal governance systems, including their resolution center, their relationship to the rest of the Ubuntu is less clear. The forums currently have no CC-delegated governance council and no official team delegation.

In short, the Official Ubuntu Forums have not been given an opportunity to live up to their name. This specification, which ultimately aims to be approved by both the current forum staff and the Ubuntu Community Council, tries to lay out a plan for bringing the Ubuntu forums into the fold.

A closer relationship between Ubuntu and the forums will:

• Increase recognition of contributions in the forums with membership which is ultimately used to approve community council members.
• Provide a clear delegation and codifications of the existing leadership in the forums and plan for handling these decisions in the future.
• Describe clear democratic and meritocratic processes for the appointment of leadership and staff positions in the forums.
• Remove several "single points of failure". (this is not an attack on the people who currently fill those roles, but a recognition that single points of failure are problematic)
• Describe methods for both preventing and resolving any future inter-administrator or inter-staff conflicts within the forums.
• Recognize the hard work of the forums staff through recognition as an integral and *integrated* part of the forums community.
• Provide a straightforward process for top forums contributors to be recognized as full members in Ubuntu, with the right to vote on resolutions posed by the Community Council.
• Provide for a reporting process so that news, ideas and work done in the project by Forums users will be communicated to the broader community and appropriately recognized.

Changes to Current Ubuntu Policy

The proposal includes both new policy and the codification of a few existing Ubuntu policies. These should be discussed with the CC and the forum staff. After it has been approved by the CC we will add it to the community governance page (http://www.ubuntu.com/community/processes/governance) in the Ubuntu website.

Note that the document is structured to describe NOT JUST the Forums, but instead all the areas of the project which are large and independent enough to have their own dedicated leadership structures.

Team Councils

For active teams and subprojects with Ubuntu, the Ubuntu Community council delegates many of its responsibilities to "Team Councils." These councils act as proxies for the Community Council over a particular team or scope of activity within the Ubuntu community. These governance councils are ultimately responsible for the actions and activity within their team or scope and resolves disputes and manage policies and procedures internal to their team and frequently appoint Ubuntu members on behalf of the CC.

The Ubuntu Forums Council (FC) is the team governance council for the the official Ubuntu forums.

Forums Council Charter

The following text is a draft of the charter for a forums council. It is subject to acceptance or amendment by the Community Council in consultation with the forums council members. If anything in this document needs updating or changing, the forums council should submit a amended version to the CC for approval.

The forums council is the group that is ultimately responsible for the governing the forums and interfacing between the forums and the rest of the Ubuntu community and governce systems. It will:

• Consist of five (5) members. Membership should be public and published.
• Decisions will be made by a majority of voting forums council members when at least three and more than half of the total members have voted.
• FC members should be accessible by and responsive to the forums community (i.e., through a dedicated forum).
• Hold "meetings" regularly and visibly. Meetings can either be in IRC in the "ubuntu-meeting" channel or in a special, publicly visible area or sub-forum.
• Be appointed by the Ubuntu Community Council in consultation with the Forums Council, forums staff, and active contributors to the forums. Nominations would be open and public and would be considered and evaluated by the CC. Each candidate should prepare a wiki page summarizing their nomination and their contributions and including and referencing testimonials (e.g., something similar to what is prepared for Ubuntu membership). The CC commits to evaluating all nominations on the following criteria, listed in order of importance:

  • - The nominees active status as an Ubuntu member (essential).

    - The nominees support from at least one active forum staff member (essential). - Opinions and testimonials (positive and negative) from current members of the forums council; - Opinions and testimonials from current forums staff; - Opinions and testimonials from Ubuntu Members, Ubunteros, and other active participants in the forums; - Clear evidence of activity within the forums (quality, quantity and duration);

• Serve terms of two (2) years. FC members could serve multiple or repeated terms. Weight will be given to proved contributors and reelection of consistently active members should be both easy and common.
• Be formed, initially, of the current forums administrators (i.e., Ryan Troy, John Dong, and Mike Braniff). As forums founder, Ryan Troy will be assigned lifetime membership dependent on his continued desire to serve on the council and continued compliance with the Ubuntu Code of Conduct and Leadership Code of Conduct.
• Have a chairman with a casting vote, appointed by the Community Council, initially to be Ryan Troy.

The FC would have a number of rights and responsibilities, and be ultimately responsible for the smooth operation of the forums. These include:

• Appointing or recalling administrators, moderators and forums staff or determining criteria by which they are appointed.
• Resolving disputes between forums staff and moderators as per the existing dispute resolution system and forums guidelines.
• With advice, feedback, and help from the forums staff, maintaining and enforcing the Forums Guidelines and associated infrastructure (e.g., the resolution center).
• Regularly and when possible (i.e., monthly), sending reports or representatives to CC members to weigh in on issues of membership and to update the council on the FC business.

Staff and Ubuntu Membership

Forums staff will be appointed by the forums council. Forums staff are expected to uphold and set an example that is consistent with the Code of Conduct.

Forums staff and participants have the option to become Ubuntu members. Current staff can apply for membership at an Ubuntu CC meeting. Their contributions as staff members and contributors on the forums should provide more than sufficient evidence of a sustained and significant contribution to the Ubuntu community.

Dispute Resolution

The FC will be responsible for maintaining forum guidelines and systems for internal conflict resolution (e.g., the forums resolution center).

Additionally, there should provide a documented method whereby any disagreements or conflicts between moderators can request a hearing by the FC.

In extreme situations, users and moderators who feel that they have not been given a fair hearing by the FC can appeal a decision to the CC. The CC considers the FC to be a greater authority on forums matters and in the majority of these cases, the CC will likely refer these issues back to the FC.

Any deadlock within the FC will can be referred to the community council for resolution.

Commentary on Changes

As per our discussion with Ryan yesterday, we have changed this document into a "charter" for a team council subject to approval at a community council meeting.

Additionally, we have made the following changes:

• Added an explicit lifetime appointment to the FC for Ryan Troy subject to continued active involvement as described in the CoC.
• Created a chairman position with a casting vote, initially to be filled by Ryan.
• Clarified that the procedure for appointing staff is fully under the discretion of the FC. Current ad-hoc systems are fine as long as they have the approval of the FC and can be changed without consultation of the CC.
• Clarified that meeting procedures are entirely up to the FC. If the the FC wants to hold these "meetings" on the forums, that is their decision.
• Reaffirmed a committment by the CC to follow the guidelines in this document for appointment of FC members. This document describes the responsiblities of the CC as well as the FC and they both need to live up to their ends of the deal.