Trusted User Bylaws =================== Trusted Users 1.3, 2013-08-07 Summary ------- This document describes the bylaws of the Trusted User group, its mission, and duties. Mission ------- The Trusted Users (TUs) serve the following purposes: 1. Maintain +[community]+ as an intermediary between Archlinux's official repositories and the +unsupported+ package collection in the AUR. 2. Maintain, manage, and watch over the operation of the AUR. Bylaws ------ The bylaws are written to be consistent with the mission of the TUs, and to ensure that TUs continue to be *Trusted* in the future. They are also written with the intent to keep the TU organization a thriving one, fulfilling its purpose. Standard Voting Procedure ------------------------- Standard Voting Procedure (SVP) describes the formal procedure used by TUs to accept or reject proposals regarding TU affairs. SVP begins with a proposal, for example the addition of a TU or an amendment to the bylaws. The proposal should be clear and concise and it must be posted on the https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general mailing list] (aur-general). The proposal must also be worded unambiguously, and such that a YES or NO answer may be given. The discussion period begins when the proposal is posted on https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general]. The duration of the discussion period shall be 5 full days UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. Official discussion shall take place on https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general]. During the discussion period, votes shall not be cast. The voting period begins when the discussion period ends. The duration of the voting period shall be 7 full days UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. During the voting period, TUs may vote YES, NO or ABSTAIN. Votes shall be cast under the Trusted User section of the https://aur.archlinux.org/[AUR website]. At the end of the voting period, all votes shall be tallied. The proposal is accepted if EITHER 1. the number of YES votes is greater than half the number of TUs OR 2. quorum has been established and the number of YES votes is greater than the number of NO votes UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. The proposal is rejected if EITHER 1. the number of NO votes is greater than or equal to half the number of TUs OR 2. quorum was established and the number of NO votes is greater than or equal to the number of YES votes UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. A rejected proposal may not be presented again before a waiting period has passed. The duration of the waiting period shall be 3 full months UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. The waiting period begins at the end of the voting period. If quorum is not established by the end of the voting period then the proposal is neither accepted nor rejected. A second SVP shall begin to establish the status of the proposal. If the proposal is not accepted at the end of the second SVP then it shall be rejected. [[Q]] Quorum ------ Quorums were established to ensure that all matters decided by vote are representative of the TU group. All TUs are expected to participate in all votes and the preceding discussions whenever possible. Quorum shall be 66% of all active TUs and participation shall be measured by the sum of YES, NO and ABSTAIN votes, UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal. In the context of quorum, TUs are considered active if they are marked as active on the AUR at any time during the voting period. A TU who knows in advance that he or she will be unable to participate in votes must mark himself or herself as inactive on the AUR. Addition of a TU ---------------- The addition of a TU may occur at any time. In order to become a TU, one must first find a sponsoring TU, and arrange privately with them to announce their candidacy on the https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general] mailing list. Following the announcement, standard voting procedure commences with a discussion period of 5 days, a quorum of 66%, and a voting period of 7 days. ---- SVP( addition_of_TU, 5, 0.66, 7 ); ---- If a candidate is rejected by SVP, they may not reapply to become a Trusted User for a period of three months. Removal of a TU --------------- The removal of a TU may also occur at any time. A motion must be made by at least two TUs for the removal of a TU. The motion must be sent to https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general], and contain a detailed and valid reason that the TU in question should be removed. Following the motion, standard voting procedure commences with a discussion period of 7 days, a quorum of 75%, and a voting period of 7 days. ---- SVP( general_removal_of_TU, 7, 0.75, 7); ---- The TU brought up for removal may defend themselves during the discussion period, but may not vote during the voting period, nor may they vote on any other matters while SVP for their removal is in progress. An exception to the standard removal procedure is made if a TU has not done ANY of the following for a period of at least 2 months: 1. added, removed or updated a package in +[community]+ or the AUR 2. performed any action that required TU privileges on the AUR 3. posted a message to https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general] In this special case, SVP is followed by a discussion period of three days, a quorum of 66%, and a voting period of 5 days. ---- SVP( removal_of_inactive_TU, 3, 0.66, 5 ); ---- Amendment of Bylaws ------------------- These bylaws may be amended at any time. A TU must motion for an amendment by sending an announcement to https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/aur-general[aur-general]. The message must either contain, or have attached, a patch against this document which accomplishes the suggested change. SVP is commenced at the time of the motion, with a discussion period of 5 days, a quorum of 75%, and a voting period of 7 days. ---- SVP( amend_bylaws, 5, 0.75, 7); ---- If the amendment fails, the same amendment may not be motioned for a period of three weeks.