[aur-general] AsciiDoc version of the TU bylaws

Wed Oct 31 12:49:25 EDT 2012

Hi!

I converted our TU bylaws to AsciiDoc and imported he converted document
into a Git repository that I temporarily hosted on [1]. Maybe we can
eventually move that to one of the Arch Linux servers.

Benefits of the new version:

* Much less noise in bylaw patches (HTML patches were unreadable).
* History of bylaw amendments.
* AsciiDoc style that we use in a couple of other places already.

Kyle and me will probably also send one or two patches to the content,
so if there's anything else that you would like to add/amend, now would
be a good time to do that.

I also temporarily hosted a preview of the new HTML document on [2].

Opinions? Any objections to the AsciiDoc conversion?

[1] http://git.cryptocrack.de/tu-bylaws.git/
[2] http://cryptocrack.de/tmp/tu-bylaws.html
-------------- next part --------------
Trusted User Bylaws
===================
Trusted Users <aur-general at archlinux.org>
1.2, 18 January 2011

Summary
-------

This document describes the bylaws of the Trusted User group, its mission, and
duties.

Mission
-------

The Trusted Users serve the following purposes:

1. Maintain +[community]+ as an intermediary between Archlinux's official
repositories and the +unsupported+ package collection in the AUR.

2. Maintain, manage, and watch over the operation of the AUR.

Bylaws
------

The bylaws are written to be consistent with the mission of the Trusted Users,
and to ensure that Trusted Users continue to be *Trusted* in the future. They
are also written with the intent to keep the Trusted User organization a
thriving one, fulfilling their purpose.

Standard Voting Procedure
-------------------------

Standard Voting Procedure (SVP) describes the formal procedure used by TUs to
accept or reject proposals regarding TU affairs.

SVP begins with a proposal, for example the addition of a TU or an amendment to
the bylaws. The proposal should be clear and concise and it must be posted on
the aur-general mailing list (aur-general). The proposal must also be worded
unambiguously, and such that a YES or NO answer may be given.

The discussion period begins when the proposal is posted on aur-general. The
duration of the discussion period shall be 5 full days UNLESS otherwise stated
in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. Official discussion
shall take place on aur-general. During the discussion period, votes shall not
be cast.

The voting period begins when the discussion period ends. The duration of the
voting period shall be 7 full days UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the
bylaws pertaining to the proposal. During the voting period, TUs may vote YES,
NO or ABSTAIN. Votes shall be cast under the Trusted User section of the AUR
homepage. At the end of the voting period, all votes shall be tallied.

In the context of SVP, TUs are considered active if they are marked as active
when the voting period ends.

Quorum shall be 66% of all active TUs and participation shall be measured by
the sum of YES, NO and ABSTAIN votes, UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of
the bylaws pertaining to the proposal.

The proposal is accepted if EITHER

1. the number of YES votes is greater than half the number of active TUs OR

2. quorum has been established and the number of YES votes is greater than the
number of NO votes

UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal.

The proposal is rejected if EITHER

1. the number of NO votes is greater than or equal to half the number of active
TUs OR

2. quorum was established and the number of NO votes is greater than or equal
to the number of YES votes

UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal.

A rejected proposal may not be presented again before a waiting period has
passed. The duration of the waiting period shall be 3 full months UNLESS
otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. The
waiting period begins at the end of the voting period.

If quorum is not established by the end of the voting period then the proposal
is neither accepted nor rejected. A second SVP shall begin to establish the
status of the proposal. If the proposal is not accepted at the end of the
second SVP then it shall be rejected.

[[Q]]
Quorum
------

This section deals with quorums, and the consequences for those that repeatedly
keep the group from meeting them.

Quorums were established to make sure that all TUs are having a say in the
matters that they vote on, and to ensure that TUs remain active in the job that
they have taken on. All active TUs should be participating in discussions and
voting procedures in order to continue meeting the quorums.  For this reason,
active TUs that keep quorum from being established on a voting procedure for
three consecutive voting procedures (they need not be on the same motion) are
automatically brought up for removal procedure, by reason of unwarranted
inactivity.

Active vs. Inactive
-------------------

A Trusted User will have an activity status at all times. Only two statuses
exist, +active+, and +inactive+. A TU should remain active whenever possible,
and avoid being inactive, especially without declaring it.

An active TU participates in all TU tasks and activities normally.

A TU may declare themselves inactive, for instance if they are going on
vacation, by sending a message to
https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general]. TUs
are expected to step down altogether if they plan on becoming inactive for a
period longer than 2 months.  It is expected that while inactive, a TU is
unable to maintain packages and partake in normal TU activities. They are
exempt from quorums and in fact cannot vote. A TU becomes active again at the
stated date on their original inactivity declaration, or when they declare
themselves such.

If a TU becomes inactive without declaring it, "disappears", someone must
motion for their removal for reason of unwarranted and undeclared inactivity,
and the normal procedure for the motion is followed.

Addition of a TU
----------------

The addition of a Trusted User may occur at any time.

In order to become a Trusted User, one must first find a sponsoring active TU,
and arrange privately with them to announce their candidacy on the
https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general] mailing
list.  Following the announcement, standard voting procedure commences with a
discussion period of 5 days, a quorum of 66%, and a voting period of 7 days.

----
SVP( addition_of_TU, 5, 0.66, 7 );
----

If a candidate is rejected by SVP, they may not reapply to become a Trusted
User for a period of three months.

Removal of a TU
---------------

The removal of a Trusted User may also occur at any time.

A motion must be made by at least two active Trusted Users for the removal of a
Trusted User. The motion must be sent to
https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general], and
contain a detailed and valid reason that the TU in question should be removed.
Following the motion, standard voting procedure commences with a discussion
period of 7 days, a quorum of 75%, and a voting period of 7 days.

----
SVP( general_removal_of_TU, 7, 0.75, 7);
----

The Trusted User brought up for removal may defend themselves during the
discussion period, but may not vote during the voting period, nor may they vote
on any other matters while SVP for their removal is in progress. 

There is one special case for removal, removal due to unwarranted and
undeclared inactivity, for which standard voting procedure deviates from the
above. This motion is also automatically triggered by repeated quorum offenses,
as described in the <<Q,Quorum>> subsection of this document. For this special
case, SVP is followed with a discussion period of three days, a quorum of 66%,
and a voting period of 5 days.

----
SVP( inactivity_removal_of_TU, 3, 0.66, 5 );
----

Amendment of Bylaws
-------------------

These bylaws may be amended at any time.

An active Trusted User must motion for an amendment by sending an announcement
to  https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general].
The message must either contain, or have attached, a patch against this
document which accomplishes the suggested change. SVP is commenced at the time
of the motion, with a discussion period of 5 days, a quorum of 75%, and a
voting period of 7 days.

----
SVP( amend_bylaws, 5, 0.75, 7);
----

If the amendment fails, the same amendment may not be motioned for for a period
of three weeks.