OpenSolaris Governance

• 1 ARTICLE I. Name
• 2 ARTICLE II. Purpose
• 3 ARTICLE III. Structure, Participation, and Roles
• 4 ARTICLE IV. Membership
• 5 ARTICLE V. Meetings of Members
• 6 ARTICLE VI. Governing Board
• 7 ARTICLE VII. Community Groups
• 8 ARTICLE VIII. Community Group Voting Procedures
• 9 ARTICLE IX. Amendment
• 10 ARTICLE X. Dissolution

ARTICLE I. Name

This Constitution defines the operational bylaws of an organization, to be known as the OpenSolaris Community, that has been formed by Sun Microsystems, Inc., via the The OpenSolaris Charter (the "Charter"). The Charter has established an OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB) to manage and direct the OpenSolaris Community, including the construction, ratification, and ongoing maintenance of this Constitution to define membership in the OpenSolaris Community and the procedures by which the Community shall make decisions, adopt new policies, resolve disputes, elect future OGB members, and further amend the Constitution.

In all cases herein, the term "written", as in written request, written consent, written notice, and written waiver of notice, shall be construed as including any form of written correspondence that is readable by the receiving party, including (but not limited to) messages written and received on paper, facsimile, revision control system, or electronic mail. Likewise, the term "signed" shall be construed as including any verifiable mechanism for identifying the originator of a message, including (but not limited to) handwritten signatures and electronic signatures.

ARTICLE II. Purpose

The OpenSolaris Community is an organization of individuals dedicated to the collaborative production of open source software related to the OpenSolaris family of operating systems and committed to fostering the evolution and adoption of the OpenSolaris code base. All software produced by the OpenSolaris Community shall be licensed to the public free of charge under one or more open source licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative.

The OpenSolaris Community has the authority and responsibility for all decisions pertaining to the OpenSolaris software and collaborative infrastructure within the scope defined by the OpenSolaris Charter. This Constitution defines the procedures by which the OpenSolaris Community makes decisions in order to sustain itself as a self-governing institution. OpenSolaris Community procedures and decisions, including these bylaws, are subject to, and shall not be inconsistent with, all applicable laws and regulations.

ARTICLE III. Structure, Participation, and Roles

3.1. Structure. The OpenSolaris Community is structured as an organization of volunteer participants in which Members are given the right to vote on Community-wide decisions, the most significant of which is to elect an OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB) to be responsible for overall day-to-day operations and representation of the organization to third parties. The OGB, in turn, delegates the organization and decision-making for specific OpenSolaris activities, such as product development and marketing tasks, through the creation of Community Groups. Each Community Group consists of participants and contributors, a subset of whom become long-term Core Contributors and are given the responsibility for governance within the Community Group. Finally, the set of all individuals that have been named by one or more Community Groups as Core Contributors are the Members who are given the right to vote on Community-wide decisions.

3.2. Participation. Although anyone may view the development discussions of the OpenSolaris Community and use the products of the OpenSolaris Community in accordance with each product's associated licenses, participation in development or decision-making within the OpenSolaris Community is restricted to persons registered with the OpenSolaris Community. Registration shall be available free of charge to any person who has not been removed by previous action of the Community or forbidden by applicable law or regulation.

3.3. Roles. Various terms are used to describe the people who are involved in the OpenSolaris Community efforts, based on their recognized contributions, length of commitment, and current activity. The OpenSolaris Community recognizes four levels of involvement by registered persons:

1. Participant. Any registered person who participates in the OpenSolaris Community, either through general discussion areas or within one or more Community Group efforts, shall be termed an OpenSolaris Participant.
2. Contributor. A participant who has been acknowledged by one or more Community Groups as having substantively contributed toward accomplishing the tasks of that Community Group, or by the OGB for at-large contributions, shall be termed an OpenSolaris Contributor. Such designation is permanent and persists regardless of the person's current level of activity or status within the Community. A Contributor may request that their status not be published or published only in the form of a pseudonym that is unique within the Community.
3. Core Contributor. A Contributor who is an active and sustained contributor to any Community Group and accepts designation as such by said Group shall be termed a Core Contributor for said Group and granted the status of Member for the OpenSolaris Community as a whole.
4. Emeritus Contributor. A former Core Contributor whose prior grants of Core Contributor status have all expired, or who has voluntarily resigned from Core Contributor status by declining all grants, is termed an Emeritus Contributor. Emeritus Contributor is a designation of respect for Core Contributors who have moved on to activities outside the OpenSolaris Community or who are temporarily unable to perform the duties of a Member. An Emeritus Contributor can return to Core Contributor status by acquiring and accepting new designations of Core Contributor status.

3.4. Disputes. Disputes among participants arising from their participation in any Community Group effort shall be resolved by said Group according to its normal decision-making procedures. If such a dispute falls outside the scope of any existing Community Group, or extends to the OpenSolaris Community at-large, then any of the participants may appeal to the OGB, or to one or more committees designated by the OGB, to serve as an arbitrator in order to resolve the dispute.

3.5. Suspension of Participants. The OGB is responsible for ensuring that participation in the OpenSolaris Community is constructive in nature and not harmful to other participants. When abuse of the Community is reported to the OGB, the OGB shall review a participant's actions according to the following procedure:

1. The OGB shall notify the participant via electronic mail that his or her participation in the OpenSolaris Community is under review and that the review will be completed within thirty (30) days. The review shall occur in a closed session and shall not be made public unless an action is made to suspend the participant.
2. The OGB may order a temporary removal of the participant's write access to the OpenSolaris Community infrastructure until the review is complete.
3. Upon conclusion of the review, the OGB may, upon affirmative vote by two-thirds (2/3) of the OGB in office, suspend the participant's write access to the OpenSolaris Community infrastructure for a period of up to six (6) months and, if said participant has previously been subjected to such a suspension, recommend expulsion of the participant from the OpenSolaris Community .
4. A suspended Member may attend and vote at a meeting of the Members, in person or by proxy, subject to the normal rules of conduct for that meeting.

3.6. Expulsion of Participants. A Participant under suspension may be expelled from the OpenSolaris Community by an affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the Members of record. The effect of such a removal shall be the immediate expiration of any grants of Core Contributor status to that Participant and removal of the Participant's write access to the OpenSolaris Community infrastructure until such time as a subsequent act of the Members revokes the expulsion.

ARTICLE IV. Membership

4.1. Powers. The OpenSolaris Community is a membership-based organization in which active long-term contributors are given the authority to participate in decisions through voting and consensus. These Members are responsible for ratifying this Constitution, electing an OGB to oversee the day-to-day operations of the OpenSolaris Community, and providing guidance to the OGB.

4.2. Admission of Members. The initial set of Members for the OpenSolaris Community shall be those natural persons designated by the existing OpenSolaris projects as Core Contributors to their projects. The initial set is intended to be a representative sample of the Community's existing core contributors and need not include every person that might fit that level of involvement. The initial set shall be admitted upon the affirmative vote of the OGB at the initial meeting of the OGB. Thereafter, persons shall be admitted as Members of the OpenSolaris Community upon accepting the designation of Core Contributor for one or more OpenSolaris Groups and receipt by the Secretary of their willingness to accept the status of Member.

4.3. Termination of Membership. Each grant of Core Contributor status, including the grants that form the initial set of Members, shall have a duration of two (2) years and is renewable by the granting Community Group. A Member may be recognized as a Core Contributor by multiple Community Groups, thereby qualifying for Member status multiple times, and each grant is independent from any others. Each such person counts as only one (1) Member regardless of the number of grants upon which their Member status is based. A Member's membership shall be terminated upon the expiration of all prior grants of Core Contributor status or upon his or her earlier resignation, removal, or death.

4.4. Removal from Membership. A Member who is expelled from the OpenSolaris Community as described by sections 3.5 and 3.6 shall also be removed from the Membership and shall not be eligible for subsequent grants of Member status until such time as a subsequent act of the Members revokes the expulsion.

ARTICLE V. Meetings of Members

5.1. Place of Meetings. Meetings of the Members shall be held via a shared electronic communication medium, such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or an equivalent medium for shared communication, by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear or read each others' comments at the same time. Participating by such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting. Subject to the bylaws specifically stated in this Constitution, meetings of the Members shall be conducted in accordance with The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (A. Sturgis, 4th ed.).

5.2. Annual Meeting. A meeting of the Members shall be held annually at such time as the OGB may determine (which shall be, in the case of the first annual meeting, not more than thirteen (13) months after ratification of this Constitution and, in the case of all other meetings, not more than thirteen (13) months after the date of the last annual meeting), at which annual meeting the Members shall elect an OGB and transact other proper business.

5.3. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Members shall be held when directed by the OGB or when requested in writing by not less than ten percent (10%) of all Members. The call for the meeting shall be issued by the Secretary, unless the OGB or Members requesting the meeting shall designate another person to do so.

5.4. Notice. Written notice stating the place, date and hour of the meeting and, in the case of a special meeting, the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, shall be delivered by electronic mail not less than ten (10) nor more than sixty (60) days before the date of the meeting, by or at the direction of the Secretary or the persons calling the meeting, to each Member of record.

5.5. Notice of Adjourned Meetings. When a meeting is adjourned to another time or place, notice of the time and place of the adjourned meeting shall not be required if the time and place to which the meeting is adjourned are announced at the meeting at which the adjournment is taken. At the adjourned meeting, any business may be transacted that might have been transacted at the original meeting. If, however, the adjournment is for more than thirty (30) days, or if after the adjournment the OGB fixes a new record date for the adjourned meeting, a notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as provided in Section 5.4 above to each Member of record on the new record date.

5.6. Waiver of Notice. Whenever notice is required to be given to any Member, a waiver thereof in writing, signed by the person or persons entitled to such notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be the equivalent to the giving of such notice. Attendance by a person at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except when the person attends a meeting for the express purpose of objecting, at the beginning of the meeting, to the transaction of business because the meeting is not lawfully called or convened. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of any regular or special meeting of the Members need be specified in the written waiver of notice.

5.7. Fixing Record Date. For the purpose of determining Members entitled to notice of, or to vote at, any meeting of members or any adjournment thereof, entitled to consent to action in writing without a meeting, or entitled to exercise any other rights of Members, the OGB may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the OGB, and which record date shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting. If no record date is fixed by the OGB, the record date shall be the date 10 days before the date of such meeting or exercise of such rights.

5.8. Record of Members Having Voting Rights. The Secretary shall prepare and make, at least ten (10) days before each meeting of members, a complete list of the Members entitled to vote at such meeting, arranged in alphabetical order, and showing the name and electronic mail address of each Member. For a period of ten (10) days prior to such meeting, the list shall be open to the examination of any Member. The Secretary may make factual corrections to that list, by request of the OGB or the effected Member(s), until three (3) days prior to such meeting, after which point the list shall be the official record of members entitled to vote at such meeting.

5.9. Member Quorum. One-third (1/3) of the Members of record, represented in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum at a meeting of members. If a quorum is present, the affirmative vote of a majority of the Members represented at the meeting shall be the act of the members, unless the vote of a greater number is required elsewhere by this Constitution. After a quorum has been established at a meeting of the Members, the subsequent withdrawal of Members, so as to reduce the number of Members in person or represented by proxy entitled to vote at the meeting below the number required for a quorum, shall not affect the validity of any action taken at the meeting or any adjournment thereof. Likewise, the subsequent admission of new Members, so as to increase the number of Members required for a quorum above the number of Members present in person or represented by proxy, shall not affect the validity of any action taken at the meeting or any adjournment thereof.

5.10. Voting. Each Member shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote at a meeting of the members. A Member may vote in person, by proxy executed in writing by the member, or, when a vote is conducted by electronic ballot, by submitting a completed ballot to the voting mechanism during the time specified in the meeting notice for voting by ballot. Participating in a vote by electronic ballot shall constitute presence in person at a meeting.

5.11. Proxies. Every Member may authorize another person or persons to act for said Member by proxy. Every proxy must be signed by the Member and delivered to the Secretary. No proxy shall be valid after one (1) year from its date, unless otherwise provided in the proxy. All proxies shall be revocable.

5.12. Action by Members Without a Meeting. Any action required to be taken or which may be taken at any annual or special meeting of the Members, may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a written consent setting forth the action so taken shall be signed by Members having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all Members entitled to vote thereon were present and voted; provided, however, that no written consent shall be effective unless such consent (i) bears the date of signature by each Member signing such consent and (ii) is delivered to the Secretary within sixty (60) days of the date on which the earliest consent was delivered to the Secretary. Prompt notice of the taking of the action without a meeting by less than unanimous written consent shall be given to those Members who have not consented in writing.

5.13. Minutes. The minutes of any meeting of the Members shall be posted in a public forum within thirty (30) days of the meeting. A record of any Member action by written consent shall be posted in a public forum within thirty (30) days of the action having taken effect.

ARTICLE VI. Governing Board

6.1. Powers. The business and affairs of the OpenSolaris Community shall be managed by or under the direction of the OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB), which may exercise all such powers granted by the Charter for the operation and sustenance of the OpenSolaris Community efforts, maintenance of the accepted procedures for making decisions within the OpenSolaris Community, and enforcement of those procedures when deemed necessary. The OGB shall serve as the official liaison between the OpenSolaris Community and Sun Microsystems, Inc., and shall represent the OpenSolaris Community to external organizations.

6.2. Composition. The OGB shall consist of a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of seven (7) natural persons ("OGB members") elected by the Members.

6.3. Election and Term. At the first annual meeting of Members and at each annual meeting thereafter, the Members shall elect OGB members to hold office during the term commencing with the first day of the calendar month following the election and continuing until the first day of the calendar month following the next succeeding annual meeting. Each OGB member shall hold office for the term for which he or she is elected, until his or her successor shall have been elected and qualified, or until his or her earlier resignation, removal, or death.

Candidates for election to the OGB must be nominated by a current Member and be registered as an OpenSolaris Participant. An OGB member in his or her third consecutive term of office shall not be eligible for nomination for the OGB elections held during that third consecutive term. Nominations shall be open for a minimum of seven (7) days prior to ballot completion. An OGB election ballot must be complete and publicly viewable no less than seven (7) days prior to the start of voting. Once voting has started, the voting shall remain open for at least seven (7) days and shall close at a time specified by the meeting notice.

The OGB election shall be conducted, and the results determined, according to the balloting method known as Single Transferable Vote, specifically using the Meek algorithm.

6.4. Resignation and Removal of OGB Members. An OGB member may resign at any time upon written request to the OGB. An OGB member may be removed, with or without cause, by an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Members of record. Furthermore, an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members of record expressing "no confidence" in the current OGB, or an act by the entire OGB to resign from office, shall have the effect of requiring a special election to be held for a replacement OGB within thirty (30) days of such act.

6.5. Vacancies. In the event of a resignation or death, the OGB or a committee it designates shall review the ballot results of the previous OGB election and appoint the next available and willing candidate, in the order as determined by the election's voting method, to fill the vacancy. In the event that there are no further candidates from the prior election, or if the vacancy is due to the removal of an OGB member, the vacancy shall not be filled until the next OGB election.

6.6. Quorum and Voting. A majority of the current OGB members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The vote of a majority of the OGB members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the OGB.

6.7. Place of Meetings. Regular and special meetings of the OGB may be held in person or via a shared teleconference, IRC, or equivalent medium for shared communication by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear or read each others' comments at the same time. Participating by such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting. OGB meetings are, in general, open to attendance by any Members provided that such attendance does not interfere with attendance by OGB members and officers. The OGB may, when appropriate, choose to discuss items of confidential or sensitive nature in a closed session, but any acts of the OGB taken as a result of such discussion must be approved in open session and recorded for public review.

6.8. Time, Notice and Call of Meetings. Regular meetings of the OGB shall be held immediately following the annual meeting of the Members each year and at such times thereafter as the OGB may fix that are no more than three (3) months apart. No notice of regular OGB meetings shall be required.

Special meetings of the OGB shall be held at such times as called by the Chair or any two (2) OGB members. Written notice of the time and place of special meetings of the OGB shall be given to each OGB member by either personal delivery or email at least seven (7) days before the meeting.

Notice of a meeting of the OGB need not be given to any OGB member who signs a waiver of notice, either before or after the meeting. Attendance of an OGB member at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting and waiver of any and all objections to the place of the meeting, the time of the meeting, or the manner in which it has been called or conveyed, except when an OGB member states, at the beginning of the meeting, any objection to the transaction of business because the meeting is not lawfully called or convened.

6.9. Action Without a Meeting. Any action required or permitted to be taken at a meeting of the OGB may be taken without a meeting if all the members of the OGB consent thereto in writing, and such writing is filed with the minutes of the proceedings of the OGB. Such consent shall have the same effect as a unanimous vote.

6.10. Minutes. The minutes of any meeting of the OGB shall be posted in a public forum within fourteen (14) days of the meeting. In addition, at least one month prior to each annual meeting of the Members, the OGB shall publish an Annual Report to the OpenSolaris Community.

6.11. Officers. The officers of the OGB shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and a Secretary, each of whom shall be appointed by the OGB and shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until his or her earlier resignation, removal, or death. The offices of Chair and Vice Chair must be held by current OGB members during the term of their office. The office of Secretary need not be held by an OGB member. The officers shall have the following duties:

• The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Members and OGB, and shall have such other duties and authority as may be conferred by the OGB.
• The Vice Chair shall, in the absence or disability of the Chair, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Chair. The Vice Chair shall also perform whatever duties and have whatever powers the OGB may from time to time assign.
• The Secretary shall keep accurate records of the acts and proceedings of all meetings of the Members and of the OGB, including attendance at such meetings, and make such records available to OpenSolaris Participants. The Secretary shall have general charge of the membership records of the OpenSolaris Community and shall keep a record of the Members that shall include each Member's participant identifier, name, and electronic mail address. The participant identifiers shall be considered public information and made available for the review of eligible voters. All other Member personal information shall be considered confidential and handled with appropriate procedures to ensure privacy unless otherwise designated as public by the Member.

6.12. Board Committees. The OGB may designate, by resolution adopted by an affirmative vote of a majority of the OGB members, any number of Board Committees, each consisting of at least one OGB member and composed of persons appointed by the OGB from time to time. Each committee, to the extent provided in such authorizing resolution, shall have and may exercise all the power and authority of the OGB in the management of the business and affairs of the OpenSolaris Community within the limits imposed by the Charter.

ARTICLE VII. Community Groups

7.1. Purpose. In order to promote a diversity of activities within the OpenSolaris Community and to provide a means for self-governance within those activities, the OpenSolaris Community is held to be composed of Community Groups that are initiated by the OGB for the purpose of focused management and accomplishment of a given set of activities. Community Groups are, in turn, responsible for initiating and managing projects to accomplish those activities.

7.2. Composition. Each Community Group consists of a named set of Contributors, Core Contributors, and Emeritus Contributors, and may include any number of Participants beyond those specifically named. A minimum of three (3) Core Contributors are required for the operation of a Community Group.

7.3. At-large Community. A standing Community Group, named the "at-large" community, shall consist of the current OGB members and any Core Contributors so named by the OGB. The at-large community shall have the purpose of recognizing general contributions to the OpenSolaris Community and a scope encompassing all activities of the OpenSolaris Community that are not within the scope of any other Community Group.

7.4. Initiation. Aside from the at-large community, each Community Group is initiated by an act of the OGB. Prior to such initiation, the Community Group must be nominated by at least three (3) Members in accordance with the following process:

1. The nomination shall include a statement of purpose that explains the proposed Community Group's focus for activity and the scope within which that activity shall be limited by the OGB.
2. The nomination shall include a proposed name for the Community Group that is not already in use by the OpenSolaris Community (aside from its use within the scope of the proposed Community Group) and that does not incorporate a trademark, trade name, or service name for software or software services owned by any entity outside the OpenSolaris Community.
3. The nomination shall include a list of initial Core Contributors that will participate in the Community Group, numbering no less than three (3) individuals who are existing participants in the OpenSolaris Community.
4. The nomination shall include at least one Member nominated to be the initial Facilitator of the proposed Community Group.
5. The nomination shall be posted to a public forum at least fourteen (14) days prior to any vote on initiation of the Community Group.

7.5. Facilitator. The OGB shall appoint for each Community Group a Facilitator. The Facilitator shall be responsible for ensuring that Community Group records are properly maintained, communicating the Community Group's status to the OGB, ensuring that communication from the OGB to the Community Group is properly disseminated to participants, and performing the duties of chair for meetings of the Community Group. Nominations to the office of Facilitator shall be made by the Core Contributors of the Community Group, but the OGB shall not be limited in their appointment to those nominated. The Chair of the OGB shall serve as the Facilitator for the at-large community.

7.6. Records. Each Community Group shall maintain records of participation within that Community Group's activities, including a list of Contributors, Core Contributors, and Emeritus Contributors.

7.7. Contributors. The Contributors of a Community Group shall include every person who has been designated by the Core Contributors of that Group to have contributed substantively to that Group's efforts, including (but not limited to) every person who has contributed intellectual property to the OpenSolaris Community as a result of those efforts.

7.8. Core Contributors. The initial Core Contributors of a Community Group shall be determined by the OGB when the Community Group is initiated; thereafter, the Core Contributors shall consist of those Participants that have accepted the Group's designation as a Core Contributor for that Group. Designation as a Core Contributor requires nomination of a Participant by an existing Core Contributor, followed by a Group decision by consensus vote to approve that designation, and finally acceptance of the designation by the Participant. Each such designation shall hold for a period of two (2) years, or until that Core Contributor's earlier resignation, removal, or death. In addition, each designation of Core Contributor status results in a grant of Member status for the OpenSolaris Community as a whole, with a duration of two (2) years from the date of said grant, as described in sections 4.2 and 4.3 above. A Core Contributor may be removed by consensus vote of the other Core Contributors or by expulsion from the OpenSolaris Community.

7.9. Emeritus Contributors. The Emeritus Contributors of a Community Group shall consist of all former Core Contributors of that Group that are not current Core Contributors.

7.10. Meetings. Each Community Group is considered "in meeting" from the moment it is initiated by the OGB to the moment it is terminated. All Community Group meetings shall take place using asynchronous collaboration mechanisms, such as electronic mailing lists, that are open to the public for read access, archived for later review, and able to accept communication from all participants such that it is reasonably believed to be delivered to all participants in a timely manner. In addition, each Community Group shall be assigned an archived private mailing list for limited use by the Community Group's Core Contributors for discussion of matters related to pre-publication security defects in products managed by the Community Group, nominations to Core Contributor status, and other personnel issues for which public discussion is inappropriate. Non-public discussion related to the Community Group, such as in-person meetings or private communication, shall not be considered part of the Community Group activities unless or until a record of such discussion is made available via the normal meeting mechanism. A decision shall be an act of the Community Group when an issue is discussed within the ongoing Community Group meeting, a specific proposal is made to that meeting, and such proposal is agreed to in accordance with the Community Group voting procedure defined in Article VIII.

7.11. Community Group Disputes. Each Community Group has the right, in the case that a dispute arises with another Community Group in the OpenSolaris Community, to have that dispute arbitrated by the OGB or by one or more committees designated by the OGB.

7.12. Termination. A Community Group is terminated by act of the OGB or by reduction of its named Core Contributors to a number less than three (3). Upon termination, the OGB may re-initiate the Community Group with a new set of Core Contributors or reassign the resources that were assigned to the Community Group, such as mailing lists, forums, and website information, to the at-large community or to some other Community Group of the OGB's choosing.

ARTICLE VIII. Community Group Voting Procedures

8.1. Purpose. Most of a Community Group's work is simply done by individual Contributors within a climate of ongoing discussion, informal group consensus, and a general desire to meet the community's shared objectives. However, occasional conflict is an inevitable part of working together to solve complex problems. The Community Group voting procedures are designed to support both friendly collaboration and individual innovation, while at the same time providing adequate oversight for the OpenSolaris Community as a whole by enabling equal participation in formal decisions regardless of a person's location or time zone. The Community Group voting procedures determine how future conflicts will be resolved so that volunteers on a project need not fear differences of opinion: contrary ideas can be voiced without derailing progress. The objective is to avoid unnecessary conflict over changes, while at the same time encouraging opinions that work towards producing quality products in a timely manner.

8.2. Location. Decisions by a Community Group are made by vote or consensus on a public meeting place of the Community Group that is most applicable to the action being discussed. For example, Community Group decisions that are specific to a single project are made through discussion and voting/consensus on the asynchronous meeting place (e.g., mailing list) for that project, whereas general Community Group decisions are made on the Community Group's general discussion place. Some discussions, such as investigation of security issues prior to their publication and nominations for Core Contributor status, are expected to take place in private prior to any public vote by the Community Group.

8.3. Votes. Each Core Contributor of a Community Group has the right to one binding vote on each proposed action of the Community Group. Other Participants may express their opinions through non-binding votes. A Core Contributor may change their own vote on a given action until such time as the action is no longer applicable (e.g., decisions regarding a given product release are final once the release is made public). Votes are expressed in the range [-1,1] with the following meanings:

8.4. Voting Systems. Decisions of a Community Group are determined by several related voting systems, chosen per action type based on the degree of consensus or quorum needed to make the decision:

8.5. Voting Period. Actions requiring a vote shall have a voting period of no less than seventy-two (72) hours. Actions are actionable before the voting period expires if all Core Contributors have voted and the issue would be approved by those votes.

8.6. Appeal. Once a decision is made, an action can only be revisited (brought to another vote) if at least one voter on the prevailing side of that decision declares a desire to change their vote and proposes a new vote on the action. There is no mechanism for escalation of decisions legitimately made according to these Community Group voting procedures. If it is believed that these procedures were not followed and, after being informed, the Community Group refuses to revisit the decision, then a review of the Community Group's procedures may be requested of the OGB. Upon review, the OGB may act to terminate the Community Group, partition the Community Group into multiple Community Groups, or provide advice to the Community Group; the OGB shall not make decisions for the Community Group.

ARTICLE IX. Amendment

This Constitution and its bylaws may be altered, amended, added to, or repealed by an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members of record, provided that the proposed deletions and additions, when applied to the Constitution, will result in a new Constitution that remains in complete compliance with the OpenSolaris Charter. The complete text of the proposed deletions and additions must be delivered in a notice by electronic mail to the Members no less than ten (10) days prior to any vote on said deletions and additions.

ARTICLE X. Dissolution

If, for any reason, the OGB is reduced in membership below the Charter's required minimum of three (3) OGB members, custody of the OpenSolaris Community shall revert to Sun Microsystems, Inc., until such time as the Members elect a new OGB or the Charter is dissolved.

• This page was last modified 04:54, 5 February 2007.