[IAEP] Membership issues

[Edward Cherlin]

Please add your thoughts on members' rights and duties. Showing up at
meetings, in person or online? Voting? If so, on what? Who qualifies
for a title and an e-mail address? Discounts on anything of interest,
such as Sugar Labs events? A t-shirt?

How do you propose to choose among these possibilities for a
structure, or any others that may be proposed?

On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 3:25 PM, David Farning <dfarning at sugarlabs.org> wrote:
> When setting up the membership structure for Sugar Labs we have several
> issues to consider. Below is a brief analysis of those issues and how
> they relate to sugar Labs. Feed back on issues I have missed or
> misunderstood is appreciated. Monday I will post an initial Membership
> document to the wiki and this list for more review
>
>
> Principles of Membership
>
>
> One way to define the 'spirit' of membership is to explicitly define
> membership principles.
>
> Open – Sugar Labs is open to all; Sugar Labs provides the same
> opportunity to all. Everyone participates with the same rules; there are
> no rules to exclude any potential contributors which include, of course,
> direct competitors in the marketplace.
>
> Transparent - Project discussions, minutes, deliberations, project
> plans, plans for new features, and other artifacts are open, public, and
> easily accessible.
>
> Meritocracy – Sugar Labs is a meritocracy. The more you contribute the
> more responsibility you will earn. Leadership roles in Sugar Labs are
> also merit-based and earned by peer acclaim.
>
>
> Purposes of membership
>
>
> Keeping track of membership will be costly. There is the initial setup
> costs and the ongoing maintenance cost of keeping the membership roles
> up to date. These cost must be out weighed by the benefits of
> Governance, Recognition of Merit, Fund Raising, and Defense.
>
>
> Governance. - On the first level a membership body give Sugar Labs the
> ability govern itself. Member will be able to vote directly on issues.
> Members will be able to vote for elected representatives. Member will be
> able to call referendums.
>
>
> Recognition of Merit – Individual membership in will be a sign of Merit.
> Membership, responsibility, and authority will reflect the value of an
> individuals contributions.
>
>
> Fund Raising - Organizational membership will indicate levels of support
> Sugar Labs receives from outside entities. Support can include cash,
> engineering resources, event and travel sponsorship.
>
>
> Defensive – Broad definitions of membership will help prevent the Sugar
> Labs foundation from being hijacked by a hostile entity.
>
>
>
> Membership types
>
>
> Individual – Most projects have a category for individual membership.
> Membership is earned through quality of work.
>
>
> Organizational – Some projects have categories for organizational
> memberships. The fee structure for Organization membership can vary
> based on the size of the organization and the degree of influence the
> organization has over the Project.
>
>
>
> Membership Documents
>
>
> In order to keep track of members and their contributions we will need a
> basic set of documents.
>
>
> Application – The membership application will ensure that Sugar Labs has
> at a minimum the real name and contact information for members.
>
> Code of Conduct – The code of conduct will establish a set of principles
> and expectations for Sugar Labs Members.
>
>
>
> Membership structures
>
>
> Now that we have defined why we want a membership we need to chose a
> membership structure that reflects our needs. Below are some categories
> of Membership, projects using them, and pros and cons to their use.
>
>
> None – One of the most successful foss projects has no formal membership
> criteria. The closest thing the Linux Kernel has to a membership list is
> who receives an invitation to OLS. Pros: Very cheap. Cons: Requires a
> dictator to govern the project.
>
>
> Twin – RedHat/Fedora, Ubuntu/Canonical, Open Office/Sun are examples of
> tight couplings between community projects and specif commercial
> entities. In twins, the commercial entity provides resources to the
> community in exchange for community involvement. Pros: Form the basis
> for sound business models. Limited fund raising required by the
> community. Cons: Possible tensions between the needs of the community
> vs. the needs of the corporation.
>
>
> Stand alone – Gnome is an example of a stand alone project. They are not
> aligned with any single entity. In stand alone projects, the members can
> have differing levels of control over their project. Sometimes members
> can affect technical decision, other times a separate group of commiters
> make technical decisions while the membership governs the infrastructure
> needs of the project. Commercial entities can have membership status.
> Pros: The most common form of membership. Well understood. Cons: There
> is no 'vision' provided by the twin, the membership must determine the
> projects direction internally. Requires fund raising.
>
>
> Umbrella – Apache is an example of an Umbrella organization. Umbrellas
> tend to form when there are a number of closely related projects that
> share a common goal. They introduce and additional level of management
> as the individual projects are governed independently. The umbrella
> organization can play an active role in individual projects or it can
> focus on providing the infrastructure of sub project. Pros: Good for
> establishing ecosystem. Cons: Can be complex.
>
>
> Space Shuttle – Eclipse is an example of a space shuttle project. It is
> so complicated that it is amazing it gets off the ground;) On the other
> hand, it was designed to handle some hostile situations. Eclipse
> provides a common standard and platform for competitors to collaborate.
>
>
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