[TEAM] Council-related changes to the Strategy Document

[Pasi Lallinaho]

Hello team,

as Kev noticed some time ago (thanks!), we didn't thouroughly replace 
all mentions to the Xubuntu Project Lead with mentions to the Xubuntu 
Council yet.

We have prepared a branch that holds all of these changes. The diff for 
the changes can be seen at
http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~knome/xubuntu-docs/council-changes/revision/613?remember=609&compare_revid=609

However, there are a few changes that aren't simple replacements, but 
need larger changes. I believe these changes are significant enough to 
require team input.

The changes in question are:


1) Team leader appointing (strategy-document.xml:131)

OLD: The individuals wanting to join the Xubuntu team are required to 
meet the criteria described below prior to applying or they will be 
automatically declined. The XPL is responsible for moderating the 
Xubuntu team. From this group, the XPL can appoint specific team leads.

NEW: The individuals wanting to join the Xubuntu team are required to 
meet the criteria described below prior to applying or they will be 
automatically declined. Leaders for subteams can be appointed from this 
team. The Xubuntu team is moderated by the council.

Here, we don't assign any specific person to appoint new team leaders, 
but only mention that they can be appointed from the Xubuntu team.

We've had the convention that the XPL proposes new team leads and if no 
objections are made within a week or so, the changes are applied – 
rather than the XPL appointing new people without input from the team. I 
hope we can keep using this organic way to appoint new leaders – and I 
believe the change in the Strategy Document still allows for that.


2) Casting vote for team leads (strategy-document.xml:133)

OLD: In case a team lead is in the minority when voting on an issue that 
concerns their area of expertise, the team lead should be given another 
hearing, after which the team should take extra care in deciding about 
the issue and may want to consider voting on it again after more 
discussion. If the XPL abstains from the vote, the team leader in 
question has a casting vote.

NEW: In case a team lead is in the minority when voting on an issue that 
concerns their area of expertise, the team lead should be given another 
hearing, after which the team should take extra care in deciding about 
the issue and may want to consider voting on it again after more 
discussion. If required, the issue can be raised to the council for 
further consideration.

Since the council doesn't technically have a casting vote (none is 
granted on the Strategy Document), neither should anybody else have one. 
We still want to reconsider issues when the appropriate team lead is in 
the minority and ask for further discussion. If during that discussion 
no consensus can be found, we point the people to ask the council.


3) Process to become a member of the Xubuntu team 
(strategy-document.xml:141-142)

OLD: Commit meaningful contributions to one of the subteams, after which 
one will be approved to the subteam for "probation" by a subteam 
adminstrator
OLD: Demonstrate motivation to contribute perpetually, after which one 
will be approved to the Xubuntu team by the XPL

NEW:Commit meaningful contributions to one of the subteams, after which 
one can be approved to the subteam for "probation" by a subteam 
administrator
NEW: Demonstrate motivation to contribute perpetually, after which one 
can be approved to the Xubuntu team

Here, we change the word "will" to "can". On the later point, we simply 
remove the mention to the XPL.


4) Notes on package selection and development guidelines 
(strategy-document.xml:256,276)

OLD: While the Xubuntu Project Lead and the Xubuntu Technical Lead have 
the last word on package selection, it's recommended that the whole team 
is involved in the discussion, bringing up well thought out arguments 
both for and against. When appropriate, tests should be conducted to 
gather meaningful measurements.

NEW:While the Xubuntu Technical Lead has the last word on package 
selection with the approval of the Xubuntu Council, it's recommended 
that the whole team is involved in the discussion, bringing up well 
thought out arguments both for and against. When appropriate, tests 
should be conducted to gather meaningful measurements.

Here we still consider the Technical Lead one of the ones with most 
weight on their words, but mention that the council still has to approve 
the direction they have chosen to follow. Mention of XPL is removed.


5) Requirements for XPL candidates (processes.xml:77)

We remove this section.

Since all the nominees are from the (well established) Xubuntu team, it 
is unlikely that the other members of the team were unaware of the 
direction the nominees are willing to take. In this case, they should 
simply ask.


If you have any concerns about these changes, please reply to this 
thread within approximately a week, after which I will start the process 
to push these changes to the main branch and production docs.

Cheers,
Pasi

-- 
Pasi Lallinaho (knome)       › http://open.knome.fi/
Leader of Shimmer Project    › http://shimmerproject.org/
Xubuntu Website Lead         › http://xubuntu.org/