Proposal: Towards A Sustainable Open Source Project
Date 2007/10/24 13:09:14 | Topic: XOOPS
| The proposal that follows below is tabled for open discussion by the XOOPS Community. The ultimate goal of the proposal is to develop an improved management for the XOOPS project that will encourage community participation and carry the project forward for the long term. It is proposed to achieve this through four steps :
1. Seeking general agreement from the community on the process outlined in this document.
2. Establishment of a team of community members to prepare a draft proposal on Management Structure of the XOOPS Project.
3. Publish the draft proposal for discussion and feedback from the community.
4. Implement the finalised management arrangements.
This document is the first step in this process. If there appears to be broad support for this proposal we will proceed to step 2 (note, a more detailed implementation schedule is included below).
We request community members to submit constructive comments and suggestions on the process for developing a management structure for the XOOPS Project outlined in this document. It must be emphasised that this proposal is simply the starting point for beginning discussions, not the end point.
Objectives:
1. Develop an improved structure for the management of the XOOPS project.
2. Provide a starting point to initiate discussions.
3. Collect feedback from community to improve the proposal.
The Overall Structure:
XOOPS is managed by a committee or "Council", supported by a couple of "working groups", composed of functionality-oriented "teams" as follows:
XOOPS Council:
The Council will consist of the Group Leaders (which are elected by the members of their constituent teams). The XOOPS Council makes overall decisions on generic issues of the XOOPS entity by consensus or majority vote. The number of Council members should be three or five to avoid voting deadlocks. The membership of the Council will consist of:
* Development Group: 2 representatives
* Documentation and Promotion Group: 1 representative
* Community Operation Group: 1 representative
* Site Maintenance Group: 1 representative
If a member is identified as inactive or their conduct is unsatisfactory the existing active Council members may appoint a temporary replacement by majority vote until a replacement is found.
XOOPS Groups:
1. Development Group: Responsible for development related tasks. The Group Leader will be the Core Development Team Leader assisted by a Coordinator elected from amongst the other Team Leaders in this group (Theme and Template Design Team, Modules and Addons Team, Test and Quality Assurance Team, etc.).
2. Documentation and Promotion Group: Responsible for preparing XOOPS documents and promoting the XOOPS CMS as well as promoting an Open Source Culture in the community. The Group Leader will be elected from the Team Leaders in this group (Documentation Team, News and Promotion Team).
3. Community Operation Group: Responsible for operating the XOOPS official web sites. The Group leader will be elected from the Team Leaders in this group (Coordination Team, Site Operation Team).
4. Site Maintenance Group: Responsible for maintaining XOOPS servers, code used by official websites and making proposals for site organization, building official websites. The Group leader will be elected from the Team Leaders in this group (Server Administration Team, Site Organization and Construction Team).
XOOPS Teams:
Terms of reference will be developed for each team, outlining its area of responsibility. As a general principal team membership will be open to active members of the community, and teams will establish mechanisms to facilitate community participation and utilisation of community contributions.
Teams will elect their own leaders, develop their own internal decision-making procedures and assume responsibility for maintaining an active membership. However, if any team cannot reach internal agreement on its leader by consensus or vote the Group leader or Council may appoint one.
Questions for community discussion:
1. Should the Operation Group and Maintenance Group be merged into one group?
2. Should we set up an Advisory Group?
XOOPS Foundation:
The XOOPS Foundation will serve as a treasury and legal support entity for the XOOPS Project. The Foundation will be managed by a Foundation Team directed by the XOOPS Council directly, consisting of the Team Coordinator, Treasurer and other Board members as required by the Foundation's legal obligations under Netherlands law.
The Foundation Team coordinator is appointed by the XOOPS Council and serves a one-year term inconsecutively. Candidates for the position of Foundation Treasurer are recommended by Foundation Coordinator and the final selection will be made by the XOOPS Council. Board members will be consist of, or be selected from the XOOPS Council members.
XOOPS Project Leader:
The XOOPS Core Development Leader will be the overall Project Leader. In this regard, the Project Leader is an ordinary member of the XOOPS Council.
Implementation schedule:
1. Establish a XOOPS Structure Proposal Preparation team: phppp to invite expressions of interest in joining the draft proposal preparation team from the community from anyone who would like to help compose it (only for the draft proposal, literally), by October 26th;
2. Request agreement on XOOPS Foundation's position from Herko, who is currently responsible for the Foundation, expected by October 29th;
3. Finalize the draft XOOPS Structure Proposal with detailed specifications and schedule, by November 1st. Once accepted by the XOOPS Project Council and the Proposal Preparation team members, the proposal is going to be published for public feedback and finalisation;
4. Announce the draft XOOPS Structure plan, by November 1st;
5. Establish or tune the various teams, by November 17th;
6. Establish the various groups, by November 24th;
7. On December 1st: Announce the establishment of the XOOPS Council; Appoint XOOPS Foundation team coordinator, delivering information from existent Foundation team; Dismiss the existent "XOOPS Project Council" or transform to another functional entity, determined by the new XOOPS Council;
8. Review Foundation team members, on December 15th;
9. Announce the new XOOPS Foundation, on December 22nd.
Credits
XOOPS Project Council and all community members who participated in the discussion on 'Improving XOOPS Governance': https://xoops.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=61138
Note: in order to keep it convenient for discussion, please don't post comments in the news article but please dis uss in forum.
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