[Board] On constitutional re-engineering

[Jo Walsh]

> Perhaps it is useful to recall why the membership model for OSGeo was
> created in the form it has taken. It was designed from the Apache model for
> meritocracy whereby recognition is given to individuals who have
> demonstrated a high level of contribution to the foundation and it's
> projects. In this way it ensures that the future of the organization is
> shaped by those who have a proven record of the greatest commitment to the
> Foundation.

Well, the GNOME model (which I am admiring) does preserve the
meritocracy aspect in a clear way - when applying for membership
you point to SVN commits you've made (or open documentation
you've published, or events you've organised, for non-coders who are
actively involved).

The ASF bylaws cover "Emeritus membership" in some detail,
http://apache.org/foundation/bylaws.html#4.1
We have all this stuff in our bylaws (it looks close to a copy-paste)
but we've never used it.
We've never really used the second-class "Associate Membership" either.
http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html

Neither our bylaws or ASF's place an upper limit on membership.
An opening up of the membership would mean revision of
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/New_Membership_Process
but wouldn't impact the bylaws, or depart OSGeo from the spirit of ASF.

I'm recalling the situation last year where we set the new member limit
at Board level, then it turned out that only three more people than the
limit were recommended as members, that year. I don't think we would
get an unrepresentative flood of new people - especially if it were combined
with an effective way to 'emeritise' old members who have drifted away.

Please bear in mind that my aim in this is to find ways to make
the process simpler, not to delve into process-wank complexity.
Easier to administer and easier to hop in and out of active involvement.
I think that opening up membership would encourage more people
to get involved and contribute (to the goals of the foundation, beyond
the goals of the projects).

Arnulf, did we find a volunteer from the discuss list to run this
year's election
as mooted at the last Board meeting?

cheers,


jo
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