Package Maintainer Bylaws

This document describes the bylaws of the Package Maintainer group, its mission, and duties.

The Package Maintainers serve the following purposes:

The bylaws are written to be consistent with the mission of the Package Maintainers, and to ensure that Package Maintainers continue to be Trusted in the future. They are also written with the intent to keep the Package Maintainer organization a thriving one, fulfilling its purpose.

Standard Voting Procedure (SVP) describes the formal procedure used by Package Maintainers to accept or reject proposals regarding Package Maintainer affairs.

SVP begins with a proposal, for example the addition of a Package Maintainer or an amendment to the bylaws. The proposal should be clear and concise and it must be posted on the aur-general mailing list (aur-general). The proposal must also be worded unambiguously, such that a YES or NO answer may be given.

The discussion period begins when the proposal is posted on 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 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, Package Maintainers may vote YES, NO or ABSTAIN. Votes shall be cast under the Package Maintainer section of the AUR website. At the end of the voting period, all votes shall be tallied.

The proposal is accepted if EITHER

UNLESS otherwise stated in a section of the bylaws pertaining to the proposal.

The proposal is rejected if EITHER

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.

Quorums ensure that all matters decided by vote are representative of the Package Maintainer group. All Package Maintainers are expected to participate in all votes and the preceding discussions whenever possible.

Quorum shall be 66% of all Package Maintainers 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. The total number of Package Maintainers is recorded at the beginning of the voting period.

The addition of a Package Maintainer may occur at any time.

In order to become a Package Maintainer, one must first find two sponsoring Package Maintainers following the guidelines outlined below, and arrange privately with them to announce their candidacy on the aur-general mailing list. Following the announcement, standard voting procedure commences with a discussion period of 14 days, a quorum of 66%, and a voting period of 7 days.

If a candidate is rejected by SVP, they may not reapply to become a Package Maintainer for a period of three months.

The removal of a Package Maintainer may also occur at any time.

A motion for the removal of a Package Maintainer must be made by at least 2 Package Maintainers. The motion must be sent to aur-general, and contain a detailed and valid reason why the Package Maintainer in question should be removed. Following the motion, standard voting procedure commences with a discussion period of 7 days, a quorum of 75% of all Package Maintainers except for the Package Maintainer being considered for removal, and a voting period of 7 days.

The Package Maintainer brought up for removal may defend themselves during the discussion period, but may not vote on the proposal.

These bylaws may be amended at any time.

A Package Maintainer must motion for an amendment by sending an announcement to aur-general.

The message must contain a link to a merge reqest in the official package-maintainer-bylaws repository and the merge request description should contain a meaningful description and motivation for the 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.

If the amendment fails, the same amendment may not be motioned for a period of three weeks.