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diff --git a/includes/common/doc/constitution.txt b/includes/common/doc/constitution.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..191f73b --- /dev/null +++ b/includes/common/doc/constitution.txt @@ -0,0 +1,603 @@ + Debian Constitution + + Constitution for the Debian Project (v1.0) + +1. Introduction + + The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made + common cause to create a free operating system. + + This document describes the organisational structure for formal + decisionmaking in the Project. It does not describe the goals of the + Project or how it achieves them, or contain any policies except those + directly related to the decisionmaking process. + +2. Decisionmaking bodies and individuals + + Each decision in the Project is made by one or more of the following: + 1. The Developers, by way of General Resolution or an election; + 2. The Project Leader; + 3. The Technical Committee and/or its Chairman; + 4. The individual Developer working on a particular task; + 5. Delegates appointed by the Project Leader for specific tasks. + 6. The Project Secretary; + + Most of the remainder of this document will outline the powers of + these bodies, their composition and appointment, and the procedure for + their decisionmaking. The powers of a person or body may be subject to + review and/or limitation by others; in this case the reviewing body or + person's entry will state this. In the list above, a person or body is + usually listed before any people or bodies whose decisions they can + overrule or who they (help) appoint - but not everyone listed earlier + can overrule everyone listed later. + + 2.1. General rules + + 1. Nothing in this constitution imposes an obligation on anyone to do + work for the Project. A person who does not want to do a task + which has been delegated or assigned to them does not need to do + it. However, they must not actively work against these rules and + decisions properly made under them. + 2. A person may hold several posts, except that the Project Leader, + Project Secretary and the Chairman of the Technical Committee must + be distinct, and that the Leader cannot appoint themselves as + their own Delegate. + 3. A person may leave the Project or resign from a particular post + they hold, at any time, by stating so publicly. + +3. Individual Developers + + 3.1. Powers + + An individual Developer may + 1. make any technical or nontechnical decision with regard to their + own work; + 2. propose or sponsor draft General Resolutions; + 3. propose themselves as a Project Leader candidate in elections; + 4. vote on General Resolutions and in Leadership elections. + + 3.2. Composition and appointment + + 1. Developers are volunteers who agree to further the aims of the + Project insofar as they participate in it, and who maintain + package(s) for the Project or do other work which the Project + Leader's Delegate(s) consider worthwhile. + 2. The Project Leader's Delegate(s) may choose not to admit new + Developers, or expel existing Developers. If the Developers feel + that the Delegates are abusing their authority they can of course + override the decision by way of General Resolution - see s.4.1(3), + s.4.2. + + 3.3. Procedure + + Developers may make these decisions as they see fit. + +4. The Developers by way of General Resolution or election + + 4.1. Powers + + Together, the Developers may: + 1. Appoint or recall the Project Leader. + 2. Amend this constitution, provided they agree with a 3:1 majority. + 3. Override any decision by the Project Leader or a Delegate. + 4. Override any decision by the Technical Committee, provided they + agree with a 2:1 majority. + 5. Issue nontechnical policy documents and statements. + These include documents describing the goals of the project, its + relationship with other free software entities, and nontechnical + policies such as the free software licence terms that Debian + software must meet. + They may also include position statements about issues of the day. + 6. Together with the Project Leader and SPI, make decisions about + property held in trust for purposes related to Debian. (See + s.9.1.) + + 4.2. Procedure + + 1. The Developers follow the Standard Resolution Procedure, below. A + resolution or amendment is introduced if proposed by any Developer + and sponsored by at least K other Developers, or if proposed by + the Project Leader or the Technical Committee. + 2. Delaying a decision by the Project Leader or their Delegate: + 1. If the Project Leader or their Delegate, or the Technical + Committee, has made a decision, then Developers can override + them by passing a resolution to do so; see s4.1(3). + 2. If such a resolution is sponsored by at least 2K Developers, + or if it is proposed by the Technical Committee, the + resolution puts the decision immediately on hold (provided + that resolution itself says so). + 3. If the original decision was to change a discussion period or + a voting period, or the resolution is to override the + Technical Committee, then only K Developers need to sponsor + the resolution to be able to put the decision immediately on + hold. + 4. If the decision is put on hold, an immediate vote is held to + determine whether the decision will stand until the full vote + on the decision is made or whether the implementation of the + original decision will be be delayed until then. There is no + quorum for this immediate procedural vote. + 5. If the Project Leader (or the Delegate) withdraws the + original decision, the vote becomes moot, and is no longer + conducted. + 3. Votes are taken by the Project Secretary. Votes and tallies + results are not be revealed during the voting period; after the + vote the Project Secretary lists all the votes cast. The voting + period is 2 weeks, but may be varied by up to 1 week by the + Project Leader, and may be ended by the Project Secretary when the + outcome of a vote is no longer in doubt. + 4. The minimum discussion period is 2 weeks, but may be varied by up + to 1 week by the Project Leader. The Project Leader has a casting + vote. There is a quorum of 3Q. + 5. Proposals, sponsors, amendments, calls for votes and other formal + actions are made by announcement on a publicly-readable electronic + mailing list designated by the Project Leader's Delegate(s); any + Developer may post there. + 6. Votes are cast by email in a manner suitable to the Secretary. The + Secretary determines for each poll whether voters can change their + votes. + 7. Q is half of the square root of the number of current Developers. + K is Q or 5, whichever is the smaller. Q and K need not be + integers and are not rounded. + +5. Project Leader + + 5.1. Powers + + The Project Leader may: + 1. Appoint Delegates or delegate decisions to the Technical + Committee. + The Leader may define an area of ongoing responsibility or a + specific decision and hand it over to another Developer or to the + Technical Committee. + Once a particular decision has been delegated and made the Project + Leader may not withdraw that delegation; however, they may + withdraw an ongoing delegation of particular area of + responsibility. + 2. Lend authority to other Developers. + The Project Leader may make statements of support for points of + view or for other members of the project, when asked or otherwise; + these statements have force if and only if the Leader would be + empowered to make the decision in question. + 3. Make any decision which requires urgent action. + This does not apply to decisions which have only become gradually + urgent through lack of relevant action, unless there is a fixed + deadline. + 4. Make any decision for whom noone else has responsibility. + 5. Propose draft General Resolutions and amendments. + 6. Together with the Technical Committee, appoint new members to the + Committee. (See s.6.2.) + 7. Use a casting vote when Developers vote. + The Project Leader also has a normal vote in such ballots. + 8. Vary the discussion period for Developers' votes (as above). + 9. Lead discussions amongst Developers. + The Project Leader should attempt to participate in discussions + amongst the Developers in a helpful way which seeks to bring the + discussion to bear on the key issues at hand. The Project Leader + should not use the Leadership position to promote their own + personal views. + 10. Together with SPI, make decisions affecting property held in trust + for purposes related to Debian. (See s.9.1.) + + 5.2. Appointment + + 1. The Project Leader is elected by the Developers. + 2. The election begins nine weeks before the leadership post becomes + vacant, or (if it is too late already) immediately. + 3. For the following three weeks any Developer may nominate + themselves as a candidate Project Leader. + 4. For three weeks after that no more candidates may be nominated; + candidates should use this time for campaigning (to make their + identities and positions known). If there are no candidates at the + end of the nomination period then the nomination period is + extended for three further weeks, repeatedly if necessary. + 5. The next three weeks are the polling period during which + Developers may cast their votes. Votes in leadership elections are + kept secret, even after the election is finished. + 6. The options on the ballot will be those candidates who have + nominated themselves and have not yet withdrawn, plus None Of The + Above. If None Of The Above wins the election then the election + procedure is repeated, many times if necessary. + 7. The decision will be made using Concorde Vote Counting. The quorum + is the same as for a General Resolution (s.4.2) and the default + option is None Of The Above. + 8. The Project Leader serves for one year from their election. + + 5.3. Procedure + + The Project Leader should attempt to make decisions which are + consistent with the consensus of the opinions of the Developers. + + Where practical the Project Leader should informally solicit the views + of the Developers. + + The Project Leader should avoid overemphasizing their own point of + view when making decisions in their capacity as Leader. + +6. Technical committee + + 6.1. Powers + + The Technical Committee may: + 1. Decide on any matter of technical policy. + This includes the contents of the technical policy manuals, + developers' reference materials, example packages and the + behaviour of non-experimental package building tools. (In each + case the usual maintainer of the relevant software or + documentation makes decisions initially, however; see 6.3(5).) + 2. Decide any technical matter where Developers' jurisdictions + overlap. + In cases where Developers need to implement compatible technical + policies or stances (for example, if they disagree about the + priorities of conflicting packages, or about ownership of a + command name, or about which package is responsible for a bug that + both maintainers agree is a bug, or about who should be the + maintainer for a package) the technical committee may decide the + matter. + 3. Make a decision when asked to do so. + Any person or body may delegate a decision of their own to the + Technical Committee, or seek advice from it. + 4. Overrule a Developer (requires a 3:1 majority). + The Technical Committee may ask a Developer to take a particular + technical course of action even if the Developer does not wish to; + this requires a 3:1 majority. For example, the Committee may + determine that a complaint made by the submitter of a bug is + justified and that the submitter's proposed solution should be + implemented. + 5. Offer advice. + The Technical Committee may make formal announcements about its + views on any matter. Individual members may of course make + informal statements about their views and about the likely views + of the committee. + 6. Together with the Project Leader, appoint new members to itself or + remove existing members. (See s.6.2.) + 7. Appoint the Chairman of the Technical Committee. + The Chairman is elected by the Committee from its members. All + members of the committee are automatically nominated; the + committee vote starting one week before the post will become + vacant (or immediately, if it is already too late). The members + may vote by public acclamation for any fellow committee member, + including themselves; there is no None Of The Above option. The + vote finishes when all the members have voted or when the outcome + is no longer in doubt. The result is determined according to + Concorde Vote Counting. + 8. The Chairman can stand in for the Leader, together with the + Secretary + As detailed in s.7.1(2), the Chairman of the Technical Committee + and the Project Secretary may together stand in for the Leader if + there is no Leader. + + 6.2. Composition + + 1. The Technical Committee consists of up to 8 Developers, and should + usually have at least 4 members. + 2. When there are fewer than 8 members the Technical Committee may + recommend new member(s) to the Project Leader, who may choose + (individually) to appoint them or not. + 3. When there are 5 members or fewer the Technical Committee may + appoint new member(s) until the number of members reaches 6. + 4. When there have been 5 members or fewer for at least one week the + Project Leader may appoint new member(s) until the number of + members reaches 6, at intervals of at least one week per + appointment. + 5. If the Technical Committee and the Project Leader agree they may + remove or replace an existing member of the Technical Committee. + + 6.3. Procedure + + 1. The Technical Committee uses the Standard Resolution Procedure. + A draft resolution or amendment may be proposed by any member of + the Technical Committee. There is no minimum discussion period; + the voting period lasts for up to one week, or until the outcome + is no longer in doubt. Members may change their votes. There is a + quorum of two. + 2. Details regarding voting + The Chairman has a casting vote. When the Technical Committee + votes whether to override a Developer who also happens to be a + member of the Committee, that member may not vote (unless they are + the Chairman, in which case they may use only their casting vote). + 3. Public discussion and decisionmaking. + Discussion, draft resolutions and amendments, and votes by members + of the committee, are made public on the Technical Committee + public discussion list. There is no separate secretary for the + Committee. + 4. Confidentiality of appointments. + The Technical Committee may hold confidential discussions via + private email or a private mailing list or other means to discuss + appointments to the Committee. However, votes on appointments must + be public. + 5. No detailed design work. + The Technical Committee does not engage in design of new proposals + and policies. Such design work should be carried out by + individuals privately or together and discussed in ordinary + technical policy and design forums. + The Technical Committee restricts itself to choosing from or + adopting compromises between solutions and decisions which have + been proposed and reasonably thoroughly discussed elsewhere. + Individual members of the technical committee may of course + participate on their own behalf in any aspect of design and policy + work. + 6. Technical Committee makes decisions only as last resort. + The Technical Committee does not make a technical decision until + efforts to resolve it via consensus have been tried and failed, + unless it has been asked to make a decision by the person or body + who would normally be responsible for it. + +7. The Project Secretary + + 7.1. Powers + + The Secretary: + 1. Takes votes amongst the Developers, and determines the number and + identity of Developers, whenever this is required by the + constitution. + 2. Can stand in for the Leader, together with the Chairman of the + Technical Committee. + If there is no Project Leader then the Chairman of the Technical + Committee and the Project Secretary may by joint agreement make + decisions if they consider it imperative to do so. + 3. Adjudicates any disputes about interpretation of the constitution. + 4. May delegate part or all of their authority to someone else, or + withdraw such a delegation at any time. + + 7.2. Appointment + + The Project Secretary is appointed by the Project Leader and the + current Project Secretary. + + If the Project Leader and the current Project Secretary cannot agree + on a new appointment they must ask the board of SPI to appoint a + Secretary. + + If there is no Project Secretary or the current Secretary is + unavailable and has not delegated authority for a decision then the + decision may be made or delegated by the Chairman of the Technical + Committee, as Acting Secretary. + + The Project Secretary's term of office is 1 year, at which point they + or another Secretary must be (re)appointed. + + 7.3. Procedure + + The Project Secretary should make decisions which are fair and + reasonable, and preferably consistent with the consensus of the + Developers. + + When acting together to stand in for an absent Project Leader the + Chairman of the Technical Committee and the Project Secretary should + make decisions only when absolutely necessary and only when consistent + with the consensus of the Developers. + +8. The Project Leader's Delegates + + 8.1. Powers + + The Project Leader's Delegates: + 1. have powers delegated to them by the Project Leader; + 2. may make certain decisions which the Leader may not make directly, + including approving or expelling Developers or designating people + as Developers who do not maintain packages. This is to avoid + concentration of power, particularly over membership as a + Developer, in the hands of the Project Leader. + + 8.2. Appointment + + The Delegates are appointed by the Project Leader and may be replaced + by the Leader at the Leader's discretion. The Project Leader may not + make the position as a Delegate conditional on particular decisions by + the Delegate, nor may they override a decision made by a Delegate once + made. + + 8.3. Procedure + + Delegates may make decisions as they see fit, but should attempt to + implement good technical decisions and/or follow consensus opinion. + +9. Software in the Public Interest + + SPI and Debian are separate organisations who share some goals. Debian + is grateful for the legal support framework offered by SPI. Debian's + Developers are currently members of SPI by virtue of their status as + Developers. + + 9.1. Authority + + 1. SPI has no authority regarding Debian's technical or nontechnical + decisions, except that no decision by Debian with respect to any + property held by SPI shall require SPI to act outside its legal + authority, and that Debian's constitution may occasionally use SPI + as a decision body of last resort. + 2. Debian claims no authority over SPI other than that over the use + of certain of SPI's property, as described below, though Debian + Developers may be granted authority within SPI by SPI's rules. + 3. Debian Developers are not agents or employees of SPI, or of each + other or of persons in authority in the Debian Project. A person + acting as a Developer does so as an individual, on their own + behalf. + + 9.2. Management of property for purposes related to Debian + + Since Debian has no authority to hold money or property, any donations + for the Debian Project must made to SPI, which manages such affairs. + + SPI have made the following undertakings: + 1. SPI will hold money, trademarks and other tangible and intangible + property and manage other affairs for purposes related to Debian. + 2. Such property will be accounted for separately and held in trust + for those purposes, decided on by Debian and SPI according to this + section. + 3. SPI will not dispose of or use property held in trust for Debian + without approval from Debian, which may be granted by the Project + Leader or by General Resolution of the Developers. + 4. SPI will consider using or disposing of property held in trust for + Debian when asked to do so by the Project Leader. + 5. SPI will use or dispose of property held in trust for Debian when + asked to do so by a General Resolution of the Developers, provided + that this is compatible with SPI's legal authority. + 6. SPI will notify the Developers by electronic mail to a Debian + Project mailing list when it uses or disposes of property held in + trust for Debian. + +A. Standard Resolution Procedure + + These rules apply to communal decisionmaking by committees and + plebiscites, where stated above. + + A.1. Proposal + + The formal procedure begins when a draft resolution is proposed and + sponsored, as required. + + A.1. Discussion and Amendment + + 1. Following the proposal, the resolution may be discussed. + Amendments may be made formal by being proposed and sponsored + according to the requirements for a new resolution, or directly by + the proposer of the original resolution. + 2. A formal amendment may be accepted by the resolution's proposer, + in which case the formal resolution draft is immediately changed + to match. + 3. If a formal amendment is not accepted, or one of the sponsors of + the resolution does not agree with the acceptance by the proposer + of a formal amendment, the amendment remains as an amendment and + will be voted on. + 4. If an amendment accepted by the original proposer is not to the + liking of others, they may propose another amendment to reverse + the earlier change (again, they must meet the requirements for + proposer and sponsor(s).) + 5. The proposer or a resolution may suggest changes to the wordings + of amendments; these take effect if the proposer of the amendment + agrees and none of the sponsors object. In this case the changed + amendments will be voted on instead of the originals. + 6. The proposer of a resolution may make changes to correct minor + errors (for example, typographical errors or inconsistencies) or + changes which do not alter the meaning, providing noone objects + within 24 hours. In this case the mininum discussion period is not + restarted. + + A.2. Calling for a vote + + 1. The proposer or a sponsor of a motion or an amendment may call for + a vote, providing that the minimum discussion period (if any) has + elapsed. + 2. The proposer or a sponsor of a motion may call for a vote on any + or all of the amendments individually or together; the proposer or + sponsor of an amendment may call for a vote only on that amendment + and related amendments. + 3. The person who calls for a vote states what they believe the + wordings of the resolution and any relevant amendments are, and + consequently what form the ballot should take. However, the final + decision on the form of ballot(s) is the Secretary's - see 7.1(1), + 7.1(3) and A.3(6). + 4. The minimum discussion period is counted from the time the last + formal amendment was accepted, or the last related formal + amendment was accepted if an amendment is being voted on, or since + the whole resolution was proposed if no amendments have been + proposed and accepted. + + A.3. Voting procedure + + 1. Each independent set of related amendments is voted on in a + separate ballot. Each such ballot has as options all the sensible + combinations of amendments and options, and an option Further + Discussion. If Further Discussion wins then the entire resolution + procedure is set back to the start of the discussion period. No + quorum is required for an amendment. + 2. When the final form of the resolution has been determined it is + voted on in a final ballot, in which the options are Yes, No and + Further Discussion. If Further Discussion wins then the entire + procedure is set back to the start of the discussion period. + 3. The vote taker (if there is one) or the voters (if voting is done + by public pronouncement) may arrange for these ballots to be held + simultaneously, even (for example) using a single voting message. + If amendment ballot(s) and the final ballot are combined in this + way then it must be possible for a voter to vote differently in + the final ballot for each of the possible forms of the final draft + resolution. + 4. Votes may be cast during the voting period, as specified + elsewhere. If the voting period can end if the outcome is no + longer in doubt, the possibility that voters may change their + votes is not considered. + 5. The votes are counted according to the Concorde Vote Counting. If + a quorum is required then the default option is Further + Discussion. + 6. In cases of doubt the Project Secretary shall decide on matters of + procedure (for example, whether particular amendments should be + considered independent or not). + + A.4. Withdrawing resolutions or unaccepted amendments + + The proposer of a resolution or unaccepted amendment may withdraw it. + In this case new proposers may come forward keep it alive, in which + case the first person to do so becomes the new proposer and any others + become sponsors if they aren't sponsors already. + + A sponsor of a resolution or amendment (unless it has been accepted) + may withdraw. + + If the withdrawal of the proposer and/or sponsors means that a + resolution has no proposer or not enough sponsors it will not be voted + on unless this is rectified before the resolution expires. + + A.5. Expiry + + If a proposed resolution has not been discussed, amended, voted on or + otherwise dealt with for 4 weeks then it is considered to have been + withdrawn. + + A.6. Concorde Vote Counting + + 1. This is used to determine the winner amongst a list of options. + Each ballot paper gives a ranking of the voter's preferred + options. (The ranking need not be complete.) + 2. Option A is said to Dominate option B if strictly more ballots + prefer A to B than prefer B to A. + 3. All options which are Dominated by at least one other option are + discarded, and references to them in ballot papers will be + ignored. + 4. If there is any option which Dominates all others then that is the + winner. + 5. If there is now more than one option remaining Single + Transferrable Vote will be applied to choose amongst those + remaining: + + The number of first preferences for each option is counted, + and if any option has more than half it is the winner. + + Otherwise the option with the lowest number of first + preferences is eliminated and its votes redistributed + according to the second preferences. + + This elimination procedure is repeated, moving down ballot + papers to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. preferences as required, until + one option gets more than half of the `first' preferences. + 6. In the case of ties the elector with a casting vote will decide. + The casting vote does not count as a normal vote; however that + elector will usually also get a normal vote. + 7. If a supermajority is required the number of Yes votes in the + final ballot is reduced by an appropriate factor. Strictly + speaking, for a supermajority of F:A, the number of ballots which + prefer Yes to X (when considering whether Yes Dominates X or X + Dominates Yes) or the number of ballots whose first (remaining) + preference is Yes (when doing STV comparisons for winner and + elimination purposes) is multiplied by a factor A/F before the + comparison is done. This means that a 2:1 vote, for example, means + twice as many people voted for as against; abstentions are not + counted. + 8. If a quorum is required, there must be at least that many votes + which prefer the winning option to the default option. If there + are not then the default option wins after all. For votes + requiring a supermajority, the actual number of Yes votes is used + when checking whether the quorum has been reached. + + When the Standard Resolution Procedure is to be used, the text which + refers to it must specify what is sufficient to have a draft + resolution proposed and/or sponsored, what the minimum discussion + period is, and what the voting period is. It must also specify any + supermajority and/or the quorum (and default option) to be used. + +B. Use of language and typography + + The present indicative (`is', for example) means that the statement is + a rule in this constitution. `May' or `can' indicates that the person + or body has discretion. `Should' means that it would be considered a + good thing if the sentence were obeyed, but it is not binding. Text + marked as a citation, such as this, is rationale and does not form + part of the constitution. It may be used only to aid interpretation in + cases of doubt. |