[ogb-discuss] Community Group Guidelines

[Glynn Foster]

Hey,

At the last meeting I volunteered to write some *informal* guidelines of what
the various Community Groups were expected to do in the day to day activities.

The message that we're trying to express is that it is up to the Community
Groups to figure out how to self-govern themselves in whatever way works best,
rather than the OGB being involved all the time.

Here's what I currently have as a first draft. There's probably heaps missing,
or unclear content that I'd appreciate feedback on. What parts of what you need
to get done are confusing? undocumented? hurdles? What suggestions do you have
for other Community Groups?


Glynn

==

Guidelines for Community Groups, v0.1

1) Introduction

   Under the terms of the constitution, Community Groups have been set up
   to self-govern their own interests and activities, particularly around
   initiating and managing projects to accomplish those activies.

   While Community Groups may self-govern how they see fit, the following
   are a set of recommendations for the day to day running of such a group.

   1.1) Grant Updates

        Under the constitution (Article III, Section 3.3), a set of roles
        are mapped out for involvement in OpenSolaris. Among the roles
        to note for Community Groups are 'contributors' and 'core
        contributors'.

        It is up to the Community Group to determine a process for recognizing
        their community involvement.

        For example, a Community Group may decide that three or more +1's
        are required from core contributors to update an individual to either
        'contributor' or 'core contributor' status.

        When a Community Group has decided on this, a facilitator must
        acknowledge these status updates to ogb-discuss at opensolaris.org where
        the current OGB secretary can record them.

        All 'core contributors' should be strongly encouraged to be active,
        and enthusiastic members of the Community Group, and help to grow
        their respective communities through good communication and
        mentoring. They should be subscribed to the relevant -discuss
        mailing lists, and actively following the discussion.

   1.2) Mailing Lists

        A Community Group may request a mailing list for their needs as
        appropriate. Mailing list names should give some indication of
        their purpose, and have one of the following set of suffixes:

          -dev:     Developer dsicussion related to the topic
          -code:    Code discussion related to the topic
          -discuss: General discussion related to the topic

        It is up to the Community Group to decide whether a new project
        warrants a new mailing list, or whether an existing mailing list
        could serve that purpose. It may not neccessarily be the best
        decision to split discussion off into a separate forum.

        To request a new mailing list, or changes to existing ones, a
        facilitator of the Community Group should mail
        website-discuss at opensolaris.org with details of their request.
        Any requests for a private mailing list must get the approval
        from the OGB first.

   1.3) Web Page Maintenance

        Community Group and Project web pages can be currently edited
        by designated leaders as listed in the 'Leaders' sections. This
        does not correspond to membership status (contributor or
        core contributor) of OpenSolaris.

        It is up to the current set of designated leaders to make that
        call to add additional people to maintain the web pages in
        question, and this can be done by using the web application
        as detailed in

        http://www.opensolaris.org/os/communities/lead_reference/

   1.4) Project Creation

        Project creation is dependant on the endorsement of a Community
        Group as detailed in

      http://opensolaris.org/os/community/ogb/policies/project-instantiation.txt

        Essentially this means that contributors within a Community Group
        may ask for endorsement by the core contributors of that Community
        Group. It is up to the Community Group to decide on their guidelines
        for what may be an acceptable process to determine whether a project
        gets endorsement.

        For example, a Community Group may decide that three or more +1's
        are required from core contributors within that community before
        a project is endorsed.

        When a project has officially been endorsed by a Community Group,
        a facilitator must acknowledge that endorsement to
        ogb-discuss at opensolaris.org.

        During this time, the project may be granted web hosting facilities
        by mailing website-discuss at opensolaris.org with the following
        information

            - Project Name, ascii only
                eg. nwam
                    (http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/nwam)

            - Project Title, single line title
                eg. "Network Auto-Magic"

            - Project Description, short description
                eg. "A project for simplifying and automating network
                     configuration on Solaris"

        A mailing list may also be created using the guidelines detailed in
        section 1.2.

   1.4) Community Group Decisions

        It is the responsibility of the Community Groups to come to a set
        of decisions during their day to day activities and interests. This
        can be done by an informal consensus, or more formal vote. All
        Community Groups, and in particular 'core contributors' should be
        encouraged to act responsibly and with the agreement of the
        community. While formal votes help to bring a decision to a precise
        conclusion, they may also alienate those who do not have a vote.

2) Feedback

   If you have any comments on these guidelines, or would like to see the
   guidelines address something that isn't covered, please email
   ogb-discuss at opensolaris.org with details of what you would like to
   change.