Criteria for a successful DPL board

[Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>]

Hello,

I've been talking about having a DPL board and I might want to go further
and try the principles out by proposing a DPL board in the upcoming
elections. So I'm explaining here how I expect such a board to work.
Feel free to comment, ask questions and give suggestions on how to enhance
it.

Composition:
------------
* Around 10 members representing if possible the various tendencies that
  exist within Debian.
* All members should have good communication skills and be generally
  constructive even when engaging with diverging opinions.
* Ultimately, this might mean that the board should be fully elected.
  However this is not going to happen this year since it requires
  constitutional change. I'd rather try first and make the change during
  the course of the year, even I can prove that the DPL board is a good
  principle. That's why I'll try to have a diversified board.

Internal working:
-----------------
* The leader@d.o alias would point to all members of the board. This would
  be used for private communications and as a way to reach all board
  members.
* board@d.o would be created as a publically archived ML where only board
  members can post.
* There's a decision mechanism within the board. It should be a simple
  yes/no/further discussion vote. Issues should be brought up by board
  members (either by themselves or because someone else convinced them to
  bring up an issue there). That proposer should lead the discussion,
  draft a simple resolution and will decide when to call for a vote.
  All the votes and any discussion which can be public will happen on the
  board public ML. The quorum would be low (~4 votes) and the voting
  period quite short (1 week).
* Since the board list is restricted to board members, other DD are free
  to comment via private mails or via -project and/or -devel depending on
  the case. Some board members will obviously follow those lists. The
  eclectic constitution of the board should allow each DD to "associate"
  himself with a person from the board (in the sense that he find that
  person to be the best conveyer of his point of view). The hope is that
  we can channel various inputs and still have a civilized discussion on
  problematic issues.

Cheers,
-- 
Raphaël Hertzog

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