Hi all,
Below are some comments on the Project Steering Committee and Governance from Arnulf Christl that could use some discussion internally. So PSC and others, please comment if you can/want. I put my comments as a start.
I’ve taken the liberty to shorten the message. The full message can be found in the OSGeo Incubator list archive.
See below:
Begin forwarded message:
From: Arnulf Christl <arnulf.christl@anonymised.com>
Date: April 7, 2008 10:38:46 AM GMT+02:00
To: OSGeo-incubator <Incubator@anonymised.com>
Cc: Jeroen Ticheler <Jeroen.Ticheler@anonymised.com>
px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject: Re: [Incubator] GeoNetwork motioned for graduation
Jody Garnett wrote:
Incubator list:
I move that we recommend the GeoNetwork project to the OSGeo Board for graduation, with Jeroen Ticheler acting as the project representative.
The GeoNetwork project has been diligent in meeting incubation requirements. I have been especially pleased to watch the project steering committee form and start making decisions in public (including the decision to apply for graduation at this time).
== PSC and Governance ==
Comments and Questions on: http://trac.osgeo.org/geonetwork/wiki/PSCDetailed process:
- Proposals are written up and submitted o ing list for discussion and voting, by any interested party, not just committee members.
Does this mean that anybody can also vote (not only discuss)? There is some potential in this passage if a malicious group wants to take over. Is a quorum required? What is the minimum +1 needed to pass a motion. Imagine someone posting a hairy proposal in the afternoon of December 24th and make it pass December 26th.
It means everybody can write proposals that will go up for discussion and voting. It does not give others than the PSC the right to vote.
- Proposals need to be available for review for at least two business days before a final decision can be made.
That seems a very short time to me. I would not be able to review that quick. Su gg t three and add “business days”.
Seems acceptable to me as a change. We can also change this a bit, indicating that a PSC member can ask for more time to review a proposal, which will than be granted for x days!? Just to ensure the days do not forcefully delay business.
- Respondents may vote “+1” to indicate support for the proposal and a willingness to support implementation.
- Respondents may vote “-1” to veto a proposal, but must provide clear reasoning and alternate approaches to resolving the problem within the two days.
- A vote of -0 indicates mild disagreement, but has no effect. A 0 indicates no opinion. A +0 indicate mild support, but has no effect.
- Anyone may comment on proposals on the list, but only members of the Project Steering Committee’s votes will be counted.
- A proposal will be accepted if it receives +2 (including t (-1).
- If a proposal is vetoed, and it cannot be revised to satisfy all parties, then it can be resubmitted for an override vote in which a majority of all eligible voters indicating +1 is sufficient to pass it. Note that this is a majority of all committee members, not just those who actively vote.
Who are “eligible voters”? (see above q. wrt to quorum)
As mentioned under 6, only PSC votes will be counted. A veto can be issued after which a majority vote is required.
- Upon completion of discussion and voting the proposer should announce whether they are proceeding (proposal accepted) or are withdrawing their proposal (vetoed).
- The Chair gets a vote.
- The Chair is responsible for keeping track of who is a member of the Project Steering Committee .< val of members from the committee, as well as selection of a Chair should be handled as a proposal to the committee. The selection of a new Chair also requires approval of the OSGeo board.
- The Chair adjudicates in cases of disputes about voting.
#Who is the TSC? It is only mentioned once here:
http://trac.osgeo.org/geonetwork/wiki/release_strategy
This needs to be corrected into PSC (we used TSC before, but changed to PSC to be more inline with common practice in OSGeo).
Currently it is possible to edit all pages in the Trac Wiki including this one: http://trac.osgeo.org/geonetwork/wiki/PSC
with the standard OSGeo user account. Maybe this page should be copied to a more restricted place (geonetwork.osgeo.org) or it s (thought I doubt that Trac allows for this).
Yes, good idea.
Cheers,
Jeroen
As far as I am concerned none of these issues are blockers but I would like to see them addressed or acknowledged before giving my plusone.
Best regards, Arnulf.
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