OSGeo FAQ Review

[warmerdam]

Eli writes:

Board,

I have noticed that some of the items on the OSGeo FAQ are not current. I occasionally noticed that other OSGeo website or wiki items fall out of date, however, I currently only have specific examples from the FAQ.

​http://www.osgeo.org/content/faq/foundation_faq.html

Specifically,

"What are the detailed rules of governance of the foundation?

The foundation's governance model is still being developed, but it is expected that the foundation will emulate certain features of the governance models employed by other successful open source projects such as Apache. Individual foundation projects are expected to be governed by their own Project Steering Committees (PSCs), which will be appointed by the foundation's Board of Directors."

"Can my project operate as a benevolent dictatorship?

Detailed requirements for project administration have not yet been worked out, but it is anticipated that rules somewhat related to those for Apache will be followed. Projects should have a Project Steering Committee responsible for technical decisions and these committees should operate openly and with a consensus based approach. A benevolent dictatorship is not likely to be considered suitably open and consensus based."

Am I correct that these need updating? Can they be updated?

Best Regards, Eli

[warmerdam]

Eli,

In some ways, it is still fair to say things are being developed, but we have in fact mostly settled into a pattern so we should revise this to reflect it. I propose:

What are the detailed rules of governance of the OSGeo?

OSGeo is governed by a board of directors elected by the charter members. The board selects a President, Treasurer and Secretary as officers with particular areas of responsibility. Projects are operated by Project Steering Committees which select a chair or board liaison who is designated an officer of OSGeo after confirmation by the board. The board also designates some special purpose committees responsible for particular areas with a chair who is an officer. Typical committees and projects operate fairly autonomously and largely by consensus. However, as needed, the board can step in address issues inconsistent with the goals and responsibilities of OSGeo. By virtue of their selection of the board, the charter membership are the ultimate authority at OSGeo. ...

I would alter this to:

Can my project operate as a benevolent dictatorship?

OSGeo projects are typically governed by a Project Steering Committee. The PSC should operate openly and with a consensus based approach. While the PSC may delegate specific responsibilities to particular project members it is ultimately intended to be the governing body for the project. A benevolent dictatorship is not considered a suitable open and consensus based approach to governance.

--

Any objections from anyone to these updates to the FAQ? If not I'll apply them (possibly after a bit more fine editing) in the next few days.

[warmerdam]

Changes applied as above with one small edit.

I also updated the OGC/OSGeo question to point to fuller MOU information and to reference the open source and open standards white paper as suggested by Arnulf.