[- incorporated comments from Joey - slight reogranization for better continuity in preamble
This is the proposal to establish a commttee in SPI to handle all things related to teh OS mark. This charter defines the powers and scope of the committee, and the procedures by which it operates will be defined by the committee itself and approved by the board of directors (see recent resolutions and bylaws for details if interested). Please comment if you think that there are important things that need to be mentioned, otherwise, please feel free to comment to the committee when the proposal is approved and looking for input from teh community. --Nils.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DRAFT Resolution Charter for the Open Source Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A charter is hereby granted for the formation and operation of a committee within the guidelines and objectives stated herein. The committee shall operate in the best interest of SPI and is responsible to the board of directors and to the membership of the organization. Preamble- Why open software development? ---------------------------------------- Open development principally encourages an exchange and exploration of new ideas. By enabling and encouraging community development of the software faster technological advancement is possible. The software also tends to become more reliable because more people can work on and fix problems in the code. With this model, it becomes easier for standards to evolve as development is open, and agreed upon by the parties involved in the development. Interoperability with other software is another benefit of open development as access to the code enables it to be more easily integrated with other programs. The Open Source mark also provides advantages to businesses. If a business releases code, a larger developerer base has access to it while the company still controls the development direction of the product. This, in turn, can lead to them being the 'keeper of the standard' which automatically commands a certain user base since the community has accepted and helped develop the software according to its needs. Not releasing software to the open community could potentially result in duplication of the softwares functionality in open software, thus producing an open competing product that can be adopted by the community at large. The mark represents a standard way of developing software that allows everyone access to the source code and encourages open development. It also sets a standard to measure licences against, and draws the line between what can be and can not be considered free software. The definition of the mark ensures the licenses it is applied to comply with its standards and objectives. The Open Source mark has become recognized by developers and users as a mark of quality of software development. Since software released as Open Source implies high quality, proper security and ongoing development it has become important to ensure that its standards of development are upheld. Businesses wish to rely on this and also wish to use the mark on their products to convey compliance with these standards to their users. Thus, these standards must be clearly defined and upheld as this provides a reliable way of determining the quality of the software produced by this development model. SPI was founded to assist, support and defend the creation of this type of software and is a recognized leader in the community. The Open Source definition is rooted in the definition of free software used by the Debian Project, an SPI member organization. The Open Source mark is a central element to the SPI mission because it is a recognized term both among developers and businesses. SPI is committed to using its influence and resources to help ensure that the Open Source name represents the tenets and beliefs of the community from which it grew. Purpose of the Committee ------------------------ The Open Source mark was established to recognize software that upholds the free and open exchange of source code in order to further the development of new ideas and concepts in software development. It also represents the values of the free software community at large. It is the responsibility of this committee to represent and further these common goals of the mark and free software community. The committee is hereby granted the power to develop communications and marketing initiatives to raise industry and community awareness for open software. Operating Guidelines -------------------- The committee shall operate openly in the view of the public whenever possible, but may, at the discretion of the commitee members, operate privately from time to time if this is deemed necessary. Subject to the approval of the board, the committee shall make reasonable procedures for transacting its business (including delegating it to other members of the organization). The committee should set up appropriate and reasonable guidelines for its operation and decisions as soon as possible. The committee will have only limited powers until it has developed a governing policy and selected a board to direct its actions. It will be granted the following "Interim Powers" in order to facilitate the creation of the committee. Interim Powers -------------- The committee shall have the following powers while the membership and operating guidelines of the committee are being defined: - The committee may solicit members of the free software community for membership on the board. - The committee may announce its presence to other individuals or organizations to discuss potential policy options and committee membership. - The committee may request information services from the projects committee, to be granted at their discretion. When the committee has finalized its operating policy and organization these will be submitted to the SPI board of directors for final approval. Membership and Organization --------------------------- This committee will be run by an interim committee that will fulfill the task of soliciting the formal committee. This working committee will use the "Interim Powers" outlined above for that task. Upon finalization of the formal committee and operating policy the interim committee will be dissolved and replaced with the formal committee. -- Nils Lohner Software in the Public Interest, Inc. E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] PO Box 1326 Board Of Directors <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Boston, Ma. 02117 USA
