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Re: Updated proposed ballot for the constitutional amendment (clarification of section 4.1.5)



Hi folks,

	Here is the current incarnation.

	manoj

######################################################################

     Votes must be received by Tue, Oct 28 23:59:59 UTC 2003.

The following ballot is for voting on a General Resolution to amend the
Debian Constitution to disambiguate section 4.1.5.  The vote is being
conducted in accordance with the policy delineated in Section A, Standard
Resolution Procedure, of the Debian Constitution.

The text of the amendment can also be found at:
http://www.debian.org/vote/2003/vote_0003

HOW TO VOTE

Do not erase anything between the lines below and do not change the
choice names.

In the brackets next to your most preferred choice, place a 1. Place a
2 in the brackets next to your next most preferred choice. Do not
enter a number smaller than 1 or larger than 4. You may rank options
equally (as long as all choices X you make fall in the range 1<= X <= 4).

To vote "no, no matter what" rank "Further Discussion" as more
desirable than the unacceptable choices, or you may rank the "Further
Discussion" choice, and leave choices you consider unacceptable
blank. Unranked choices are considered equally least desired choices,
and ranked below all ranked choices. (Note: if the "Further
Discussion" choice is unranked, then it is equal to all other unranked
choices, if any -- no special consideration is given to the "Further
Discussion" choice by the voting software).

Then mail the ballot to [address to be filled in]@vote.debian.org.
Don't worry about spacing of the columns or any quote characters (">")
that your reply inserts. NOTE: The vote must be GPG signed (or PGP
signed) with your key that is in the Debian keyring. Do _NOT_ encrypt
your ballot; the voting mechanism shall not be able to decrypt your
message.

- - -=-=-=-=-=- Don't Delete Anything Between These Lines =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[   ] Choice 1: Proposal A [3:1 super majority needed]
[   ] Choice 2: Proposal B [3:1 super majority needed]
[   ] Choice 3: Proposal C [3:1 super majority needed]
[   ] Choice 4: Further Discussion
- - -=-=-=-=-=- Don't Delete Anything Between These Lines =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the following text, the proposals are to amend the constitution as
follows, by deleting the text marked with minus (-) signs at left, and
inserting the text marked with plus (+) signs at left.  All three of
these proposals require a 3:1 super-majority in order to pass (as they
modify the constitution).

Proposal A: Clarifies status of non-technical documents.  Creates
Foundation Documents class which requires 3:1 majority to change and
includes the Social Contract and the DFSG.

======================================================================

 4. The Developers by way of General Resolution or election

   4.1. Powers

    Together, the Developers may:
     1. Appoint or recall the Project Leader.
     2. Amend this constitution, provided they agree with a 3:1 majority.
     3. Override any decision by the Project Leader or a Delegate.
     4. Override any decision by the Technical Committee, provided they
        agree with a 2:1 majority.
-    5. Issue nontechnical policy documents and statements.
-       These include documents describing the goals of the project, its
-       relationship with other free software entities, and nontechnical
-       policies such as the free software licence terms that Debian
-       software must meet.
-       They may also include position statements about issues of the day.
+    5. Issue, supersede and withdraw nontechnical policy documents and
+       statements.
+       These include documents describing the goals of the project, its
+       relationship with other free software entities, and nontechnical
+       policies such as the free software licence terms that Debian
+       software must meet.
+       They may also include position statements about issues of the day.
+   5.1 A Foundation Document is a document or statement regarded as
+       critical to the Project's mission and purposes.
+   5.2 The Foundation Documents are the works entitled "Debian
+       Social Contract" and "Debian Free Software Guidelines".
+   5.3 A Foundation Document requires a 3:1 super-majority for its
+       supersession.  New Foundation Documents are issued and
+       existing ones withdrawn by amending the list of Foundation
+       Documents in this constitution.
     6. Together with the Project Leader and SPI, make decisions about
        property held in trust for purposes related to Debian. (See
        s.9.1.)

======================================================================
 Rationale: The clause being modified has been seen to be quite
 ambiguous. Since the original wording appeared to be amenable to two
 wildly different interpretations, this change adds clarifying the
 language in the constitution about _changing_ non technical
 documents. Additionally, this also provides for the core documents of
 the project the same protection against hasty changes that the
 constitution itself enjoys. An assumption of this proposal is that
 the Debian Social Contract and Debian Free Software Guidelines are
 distinct works.
======================================================================

______________________________________________________________________

Proposal B: Clarifies status of non-technical documents.  Does *not*
create a class of Foundation Documents.

======================================================================
 4. The Developers by way of General Resolution or election

   4.1. Powers

    Together, the Developers may:
     1. Appoint or recall the Project Leader.
     2. Amend this constitution, provided they agree with a 3:1 majority.
     3. Override any decision by the Project Leader or a Delegate.
     4. Override any decision by the Technical Committee, provided they
        agree with a 2:1 majority.
-    5. Issue nontechnical policy documents and statements.
-       These include documents describing the goals of the project, its
-       relationship with other free software entities, and nontechnical
-       policies such as the free software licence terms that Debian
-       software must meet.
-       They may also include position statements about issues of the day.
+    5. Issue, withdraw, and supersede nontechnical policy documents
+       and statements.  These include documents describing the goals of
+       the project, its relationship with other free software entities,
+       and nontechnical policies such as the free software licence
+       terms that Debian software must meet.
+       They may also include position statements about issues of the day.

======================================================================
 Rationale: The clause being modified has been seen to be quite
 ambiguous.  Since the original wording appeared to be amenable to two
 wildly different interpretations, this change adds clarifying the
 language in the constitution about _changing_ non technical
 documents.
======================================================================
______________________________________________________________________

Proposal C: Clarifies status of non-technical documents.  Creates
Foundation Documents class which requires 3:1 majority to change and
includes _only_ the Social Contract, and *not* the DFSG.

======================================================================
 4. The Developers by way of General Resolution or election

   4.1. Powers

    Together, the Developers may:
     1. Appoint or recall the Project Leader.
     2. Amend this constitution, provided they agree with a 3:1 majority.
     3. Override any decision by the Project Leader or a Delegate.
     4. Override any decision by the Technical Committee, provided they
        agree with a 2:1 majority.
-    5. Issue nontechnical policy documents and statements.
-       These include documents describing the goals of the project, its
-       relationship with other free software entities, and nontechnical
-       policies such as the free software licence terms that Debian
-       software must meet.
-       They may also include position statements about issues of the day.
+    5. Issue, supersede and withdraw nontechnical policy documents and
+       statements.
+       These include documents describing the goals of the project, its
+       relationship with other free software entities, and nontechnical
+       policies such as the free software licence terms that Debian
+       software must meet.
+       They may also include position statements about issues of the day.
+   5.1 A Foundation Document is a document or statement regarded as
+       critical to the Project's mission and purposes.
+   5.2 The Foundation Document is the work entitled "Debian
+       Social Contract".
+   5.3 A Foundation Document requires a 3:1 super-majority for its
+       supersession.  New Foundation Documents are issued and
+       existing ones withdrawn by amending the list of Foundation
+       Documents in this constitution.
     6. Together with the Project Leader and SPI, make decisions about
        property held in trust for purposes related to Debian. (See
        s.9.1.)
======================================================================
There may be some people who may wish to afford the Debian Social
Contract the opportunity of a 25% minority veto, but who do not wish
to extend this opportunity to the Debian Free Software Guidelines.  An
assumption of this proposal is that the Debian Social Contract and
Debian Free Software Guidelines are distinct works.
======================================================================


The responses to a valid vote shall be signed by the vote key created
for this vote. The public key for the vote, signed by the Project
secretary, is appended below.

gpg: armor header: Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
pub  1024D/D49177F9 2003-10-13 The Section 4.15 Constitutional Amendment GR key (This is a temporary, insecure key to be used for a single vote only) <gr_sec415@vote.debian.org>
sig        D49177F9 2003-10-13   [selfsig]
sig        BF24424C 2003-10-13   Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@golden-gryphon.com>
sub  1024g/A2C1E191 2003-10-13  [expires: 2003-11-03]
sig        D49177F9 2003-10-13   [keybind]

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-- 
...the Soviets have the capability to try big projects.  If there is a
goal, such as when Gorbachev states that they are going to have
nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the case is closed -- that is it.
They will concentrate on the problem, do a bad job, and later pay the
price.  They really don't care what the price is. Victor Belenko,
MiG-25 fighter pilot who defected in 1976 "Defense Electronics", Vol
20, No. 6, pg. 100
Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta@debian.org>  <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
1024R/C7261095 print CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05  CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B  924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C



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