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Membership

The Commonhaus Foundation (CF) is a membership organization. Your involvement in the CF, whether as a project representative or a general member, shapes the future of open source innovation. We value each contribution and encourage active participation in our diverse and vibrant community.

The following section outlines the different types of membership and the process for becoming a member.

Projects

A project within the CF represents collaborative innovation in open source technology. These projects are dynamic collectives of individual contributors, functioning as self-organizing units rather than formal legal entities.1

Flexible and Inclusive Structure: Projects vary in size and scope—a project might have a single repository, or it might encompass multiple repositories. Whether it's a single focused effort or a collection of related initiatives, each project is defined by common goals and shared assets, including code, trademarks, and domains. While the CF uses GitHub as the primary platform for collaboration, projects may be hosted on other platforms as well.

Project Representation

Diverse Voices, Unified Decision-Making: Each project within the Commonhaus Foundation (CF) has its unique perspective, and its own legitimate interests in decisions taken by the foundation as a whole. To ensure that every project has a say in the direction of the foundation, each project appoints a representative to the Extended Governance Committee (EGC).

The EGC representative:

  • is chosen according to the project's own governance practices,
  • is not required to have or maintain general membership in the foundation, but
  • must have a GitHub account to participate in CF discussions and votes.

Dedicated Representation: If an EGC representative is elected to the CF Council (CFC), we recommend appointing an additional representative for the EGC (if possible) to ensure project-specific needs are represented.

General Members

Join as an individual2. Membership to the CF is open to all individuals who meet the outlined eligibility criteria and want to support the foundation's mission or the development of its projects.

  • Eligibility Criteria: Eligibility requires active and meaningful engagement with CF or its projects for at least three months. Meaningful contributions include commits and merged pull requests (code, documentation, or applications for demonstration, education, or advocacy); triage, maintainer or moderator roles for CF project repositories; or substantive participation in community forums.
  • Application Process: Submit an application to formalize membership (details TBD). The CFC reviews applications to ensure eligibility criteria are met.
  • Transparent Review Process: Applicants satisfying criteria are accepted. Declinations are clearly explained based on set criteria, with an appeal process available for further evaluation.

Membership Rights and Requirements

As a member, you're not just a part of our community; you shape its future. You're entitled to:

  • Voice and Vote: Contribute to discussions, sponsor issues, and vote in elections and referendums.
  • Individual Representation: Remember, your membership represents you, not your employer or any legal entity. Companies can engage through the advisory board.

Relevant Florida Statute(s):

  • 617.0601 Members, generally.
  • 617.0604 Liability of members.
  • 617.0605 Transfer of membership interests.
  • 617.0608 Purchase of memberships.
  • 617.0701 Meetings of members, generally; failure to hold annual meeting; special meeting; consent to corporate actions without meetings; waiver of notice of meetings.

Membership Dues and Renewal

While the CF thrives on the passion and contributions of its members, nominal membership dues play a small but vital role in sustaining our operations.

  • The Role of Dues: These nominal fees support administrative tasks to ensure the smooth functioning of the CF.
  • Annual Renewal: The initial payment of dues and the annual renewal process reaffirms your commitment to CF values and agreement to abide by its policies.

Inactive or Retired Members

Life happens, and we understand that. Members may choose to step back or retire, and we respect that decision.

  • Voluntary Resignation: Members can choose to retire at any time, transitioning to an emeritus or inactive role while remaining part of our community.
  • Inactivity: Members who fail to meet the eligibility criteria for 12 months will transition to an inactive status.

Inactive members (of any type) do not have the right to vote in elections and are ineligible for CFC membership.

To transition from inactive to active status, a member must meet eligibility criteria for active membership.

Relevant Florida Statute(s):

Suspension and Revocation of Membership

The CFC may suspend or revoke the membership of any member that is found to be in violation of CF policies.

  • Suspension: The CFC may suspend a member for up to 90 days, during which the member may not participate in CF activities or vote in CFC elections.
  • Revocation: The CFC may act to revoke or suspend membership if it believes (in good faith) that the member is engaging in willful misconduct.

These situations will be recorded as violations of the Code of Conduct and handled as per the Code of Conduct Resolution process.

The decision to revoke or suspend membership is made by a supermajority vote of the CFC. The member in question will be notified of the decision and the reasons for it.

Relevant Florida Statute(s):

  • 617.0607 Termination, expulsion, and suspension.

Footnotes

  1. Contributors may be affiliated with various organizations or companies, but they contribute as individuals. ↩

  2. Companies (or similar legal entities) can ensure their views are represented by appointing a representative to the advisory board. ↩