ForumsGovernance
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
Whereas small teams are governed by consensus and frequently directed by a team leader appointed by the Community Council, several projects within Ubuntu (e.g., Kubuntu, Edubuntu, the Ubuntu Forums) are large and established enough that they have their own internal governance structures. These most important of these structures is the *Team Council*.
The members of team councils are appointed by the community council under consideration of input from the existing team council and leaders and participants of the subproject or team. In all cases, the CC aims to choose leaders who are well known, experienced, and respected within team and in the larger community. The input of the current team leadership and members play the single most important role in appointing team council members.
Councils play different roles in different sub-projects but they act as an extension of and serve a role similar to the CC within their subproject. They create and review rules and guidelines and resolve conflicts or enforce rules where necessary. In some situations, consideration of membership applications is delegated to team councils by the community council. Like all teams in Ubuntu, their technical and non-technical decisions are subject to review or appeal to the Ubuntu Technical Board and Community Council respectively. Conflicts within team councils are resolved by the Community Council.
This would attempt to describe both what we're planning on doing here and would apply to the current Kubuntu and Edubuntu councils.
New Forums Governance Policy
The following new policy will be implemented after drafting and approval by the current forums administrators an the Ubuntu community council.
It should also be added to the forums guidelines page (http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php?page=policy).
Forums Council
The Ubuntu Community Council will create a new Forums Council (FC) (similar in effect to the Kubuntu and Edubuntu councils). The FC will consist of and take on the roles of the administrators.
The FC and Administrators should be separate roles. FC members should exist only to deal with disputes that are not satisfied in the resolution center. FC members should also deal with interpersonal staff issues if they arise. If either of these situations are not correct by the FC then it should goto the CC. Notation: Ryan Troy
This board would:
- Consist of between 3-5 members. Membership should be public and published. FC members should be accessible by and responsive to the forums community.
- 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-area on the forums. (Of course, "meeting" is perhaps a bad term in this case. Input/help describing this would be nice.) This can be in addition to existing private staff-only forums.
- Be appointed by the Ubuntu Community Council. Nominations would be public but would be considered and evaluated by the CC based on a number of criteria. In order of importance, this criteria would include:
There should be a general consensus between the CC and the FC when electing new FC members. Both sides should have weight to the decision of the elected candidates. It should not be group or the other. As stated above the FC and administrator/moderator duties should be separated. The role of the FC will not need to have the permission set of an administrator unless the FC member is a forum staff member, this can also apply to normal moderator staff. Notation: Ryan Troy
- - Opinions and testimonials (positive and negative) of 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 Ubuntu forums. - Clear evidence of activity within the forums (quality, quantity and duration);
- Serve terms of three (3) 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). We might want to add another admin next year or appoint/reappoint two members next year.
The FC would have a number of rights and responsibilities. These include:
First and foremost, the current rights responsibilities of the Ubuntu forums administrators.
- Appointing new moderators and forums staff. While the criteria for these appointments are ultimately up to the FC, these appointments should take into account similar criteria to the CC in considering new FC members.
- 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, sending a representative to CC members to weigh in on issues of membership and to update the council on the FC business.
- With time and once things are running smoothly, the CC will delegate membership decisions to the council so that the FC can appoint new Ubuntu members without direct oversight or permission from the CC.
Forums Staff
Forums staff will be appointed by the forums council. They have terms of one year and can be reappointed to additional terms by the FC when their terms expire.
Forums staff should be Members of Ubuntu, and should set an example that is consistent with the Ubuntu Code of Conduct.
Ubuntu Membership for Forums Participants
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
There need to be no significant changes to the way that inter-user or staff-user disputes are handled in the forums. The FC will continue to maintain the forums guidelines and the resolution center.
There should be a method whereby any disagreements or conflicts *between* moderators can request a hearing by the FC.
In extreme situations only, 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.
All forums issues, including those that involve the CC, should occur not in IRC, but in a special, public forum in the Ubuntu Forums.